Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin, born February 12, 1809, (Porter xvii) is considered by many to be the most influential biologist to have ever lived. He not only changed the course of biological science, but he also changed how philosophers and theologians would think of man's place in nature forever (Bowlby 1). As a naturalist who became famous for his theories on evolution, Darwin still continues to spark shock and disagreements between those who agree with him and those who protest that the world and its inhabitants were created by a divine act of God, and like the people of Darwin's times, his theories have caused a great revolution in biological science and also have greatly affected religious thought (World Book 40).
As the fifth child of Susanna and Dr. Robert W. Darwin, Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy, upper-class family in Shrewsbury, England. Robert W. Darwin was one of three practicing physicians in Shrewsbury, and Susanna was the daughter of Josiah Wedgewood, who was a wealthy businessman (Voyaging 7). Although Dr. Darwin was a well-paid physician, much of his income came from dividends on securities, in stocks and bonds, in rents and the interest mortgages raised on local properties (Voyaging 9). Charles Darwin was also the grandson of physician and naturalist, Erasmus Darwin, who had actually proposed a theory on evolution in the 1790's, and as a child, Charles Darwin often heard his grandfather's theories discussed (World Book 40).
In the year 1817, Darwin began school at Reverend George Case's Day School. That year was also the year that his mother, Susanna, passed away. Luckily for eight year old Darwin, his three older sisters were there to provide much needed maternal love for him (Voyaging 21). Between the ages of nine and sixteen, Darwin attended Shrewsbury School, where he read Shakespeare with enthusiasm and collected anything having to do with nature. At sixteen, he and his brother were sent to study medicine at Edinburgh, but two years later, he decided that he did not care for a medical career (Voyaging, 2). Disappointed and worried for his son's future, Dr. Robert Darwin decided that Charles would attend Cambridge and study for the church and become a country parson. As at Edinburgh, Charles showed much more enthusiasm for the extra-curricular activities instead of his studies and spent much of his three years at Cambridge involved with collecting and science. As his final examinations neared, Charles concentrated on the set subjects for his degree and finally managed to finish his courses (Bowlby 3).
Darwin's closest friends of the time were men of intelligence such as entomologists and other scientists (Bowlby 96). The time spent with these men and the ideas they discussed would soon prove to be the catalyst that sent Darwin on a ship bound for South America, the Galбpagos Islands, and other islands around the world. From 1831 to 1836, Darwin served as a naturalist with a British scientific team [next page]