Charles Robert Darwin

(1809-1882)

Biography and inventions of Charles Robert Darwin

In 1825, a young man of 16 joined the

Edinburgh University to study medicine. The

young man had been an average student at

school. His father was a doctor and he came

from a very well-known and prosperous

family. He managed to stay on for three years,

but one day the sight of surgery being

performed without an aesthesia (as was the

case then), became too much for him. Young

Charles Darwin could not stand the sight of

blood and it was obvious that he would not be

a doctor. He transferred to Cambridge

University to study theology so that he could

become a clergyman. It was here that he came

under the influence of a geologist and

botanist. Darwin went on many weekend

expeditions with them and learnt the value of

collecting samples and observing natural

phenomena. In 1831, he graduated with a degree from Cambridge and found himself

without a job. It was then, that on his

professor's recommendation, he was taken on

as a naturalist to accompany the ship HMS

Beagle on a five-year voyage which took him

to South America, the Pacific Islands and

other places. In some sense, this voyage

proved to be as important for humanity as

those of Vasco da Gama or Columbus. The

voyage changed not only Darwin's life and

career but also was of profound significance

for science. What Darwin observed during his

travels on the Beagle made him formulate a

theory of the origin of species that is still

considered among the highest intellectual

achievements of humankind. Darwin served as

zoologist, geologist, botanist and a general

man of science while aboard the Beagle since

it was unusual to have a literate person on a

ship, leave alone a scientist. Darwin took with

him a copy of the Bible and several other

books including a book on geology, binoculars and jars of spirit for preserving the

specimens that he collected. For many weeks

Darwin was extremely seasick and ate nothing

but raisins. The ship was only about 100 feet

long and had 74 people! It was only when the

ship reached the southern tip of South

America that he felt better and started his

observations. Darwin saw many strange and

new plants and animals and began to wonder

how they came to be. In particular, he was

struck by the astounding variety of animals on

the remote Galapagos Islands in the Pacific

Ocean. These islands were isolated and had a

very small human population. Thus, life here

had remained unchanged for thousands of

years. The islands had tortoises, lizards and

turtles that, since they had no contact with

humans, were not afraid of people, and

Darwin could study them very closely. He

kept a meticulous record of his observations,

and when he got back to England in 1837, he

wrote a book called The Voyage of the Beagle in which he described his observations but did

not attempt to explain them. He also started

working on his ideas of natural selection

which he thought would explain the enormous

diversity and similarities among various

species. But the long voyage took its toll on

Darwin's health and he fell ill. Darwin

remained ill for the rest of his life and was not

able to travel from his home. But he used his

time well and read a lot ion botany, geology

and even economics. The ideas that were

forming in his mind were very disturbing.

Imagine person who set out to be a clergyman,

now thinking about the origin of species in a

way which is directly opposed to the teachings

of the scriptures. For, according to Genesis, all

the species were created at once and have

remained unchanged throughout the ages.

Darwin, on the other hand, was proposing that

the species in which the individual animals

have the greatest variation had the best chance

of survival and ability to bread. In this way, favorable characteristics pass down

generations. This was the Theory of Natural

Selection, which became the basis of his book

The Origin of Species. The book was released

in 1859 and was sold out on the first day

itself!

Facts at a Glance:

. Charles Robert Darwin's theory of natural

selection is one of the most important

advances in biology and evolution.

. His book Origin of Species remains one of

the most important scientific works of all

times. In it, Darwin propounded the Theory of

Natural Selection. He claimed that only those

members of the species survive which are

adapted to the environment. Since these

members pass on their trait to their offspring,

these traits are then continued. Thus the

engine of evolution is adaptation to the

environment.

. Darwin's work met with a lot of resistance in

his time and it was only later that evolution

and development became basic features of our

understanding of the world.

. In 1871, he brought out another book The

Descent of Man, which tackled the far more

controversial issue of the evolution of human

beings.

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Instructor: Samiullah Zewak