Nick Hunter - Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin spent his life studying and understanding nature. Darwins ideas changedthe way people understood the natural world. He also changed the way people thoughtabout themselves and where human beings came from.

Charles Darwin grew up at a time when most people believed that God had created theworld and everything in it in six days. Darwin studied the worlds animals and plantson a five-year voyage around the world. What he discovered convinced him that theremust be another explanation for the huge variety of animals and plants on Earth.

This is a portrait of Charles Darwin at about the age of 45, just before he publishedhis famous theory of .

Darwins ideas challenged what most people believed at the time. Opponents arguedthat he was wrong. Some of these arguments continue more than 150 years after Darwin. However, scientists accept that Darwins theories are correct.This makes him one of historys greatest scientists.

Darwin collected samples and drawings of the animals he saw on his travels, suchas this rhea from South America.

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England. His fatherwas a well-known doctor, and the family was wealthy. Charles grew up in a large house.When he was eight years old, his mother died. His three older sisters then took careof him.

During his seven years in the Shrewsbury School, Charles learned little about scienceand nature.

At the age of nine, Charles was sent to the Shrewsbury School. He hated it. Schoolsat the time thought that learning Latin and ancient Greek was much more importantthan science. Charles himself later wrote that nothing could have been worse forthe development of my mind.

Charless terrible report cards did not please his father,who accused him of caring for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching. Hepredicted that his son would be a disgrace to Charles himself and all his family.

Charles and his sister Catherine were the youngest of the six Darwin children.

Birds and beetles

Charles was fascinated by nature. He explored the grounds of his family home, collectingbeetles and other . He also experimented with chemicals in a shed. His smellyexperiments earned Charles the nickname Gas.

The Young Naturalist

Worrying about Charless bad grades in school, his father decided to send him toEdinburgh University in Scotland to study medicine. His medical studies were nota success, but the young nature-lover threw himself into scientific research anddiscussions. Charles explored and collected marine, or sea, animals from the coastclose to Edinburgh.

Charles was just 16 years old when he left home to study at Edinburgh University.

Medical misery

Charles soon decided that he would not follow his father into medicine.At the time, patients were operated on without

S TUDYING AT C AMBRIDGE

Charless father agreed that medicine was not the best career for his son. Charlessnext stop was Cambridge University, in England, where he would study to join thechurch. If he worked at a country church, Charles would have plenty of time to keepcollecting beetles and looking under rocks.

Cambridge also gave Charles the chance to meet and learn from some of the worldsgreatest scientists. One of them, Professor John Stevens Henslowe, suggested to Charlesthe journey that would change his life and the history of science.

Some specimens have survived from Charless huge collection of beetles.

The Voyage of the Beagle

Darwin was amazed when he saw how small the Beagle was. He had to share his cabinwith others on the journey.