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Charles Darwin: Gentleman Naturalist

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, to Dr. Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood at The Mount, his family home in Shrewsbury, England. When Charles' mother died when Charles was 8 years old, his education became his sister's responsibility. As a young child and throughout his teenage years, Charles Darwin had an avid interest in hunting as well as collecting insects, minerals, coins and stamps. His interest in natural history further developed while he was a medical student at Edinburgh University in 1825, and later, as a student of theology and mathematics at Cambridge in 1827. Darwin's father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a physician or a clergyman; he did not share either desire. He graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1831.

At Cambridge, Darwin studied under John Stevens Henslow, professor of botany, and Adam Sedgwick, Woodwardian professor of geology. When asked, Henslow recommended Darwin to be the naturalist on board HMS Beagle for a surveying expedition to South America because of Darwin’s love of the natural sciences. Over the objections of his father, when HMS Beagle set sail on December 27, 1831, Darwin was on board. He corresponded regularly with John Stevens Henslow while on the voyage, including sending him many specimens. As a result, Darwin's reputation as a geologist and a serious naturalist was well established even before he returned from the five-year voyage.

When he returned to England in 1836, Darwin continued to study and catalogue his specimens, while drawing new conclusions from his observations of the distribution of wildlife. The fossils and specimens he had collected during the voyage, in addition to the letters and notes, culminated in his theory of natural selection as the mechanism for species change in 1838. Nevertheless, Darwin worked on his theory for 20 more years. His own struggles with ill health, plus the death of his eldest daughter, 10-year-old Anne, caused him to lose focus at times. It is said that during her illness (presumably from tuberculosis), he never left her side.

Darwin had yet to publish, until Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a manuscript in 1858 that outlined similar ideas, which prompted an immediate joint publication of both their theories. Darwin set forth his theories in his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, which was published in November 1859. For the sixth edition in 1872, the title was changed to simply The Origin of Species. His extensive research provided scientific explanation for the diversification in nature, and thus, established evolution by common descent.

Darwin's scientific discovery became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, and remains the foundation of biology.

Charles Darwin in 1881, the year before he died. After On the Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on zoology, botany and geology until his death. Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882, at his home in Kent, England. He wished to be buried in the family plot but was given a state funeral in recognition of his pre-eminence and was buried in London's Westminster Abbey, near Sir Isaac Newton.