Charles Darwin

(1809-1882)

Darwin is the first of the evolutionary biologists, the originator of the

concept of natural selection. His principal works, The Origin of Species
by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871)
marked a new epoch. His works were violently attacked and
energetically defended, then; and, it seems, yet today.

Charles Robert Darwin was born at Shrewsbury. His father was a

doctor and his mother was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood. Darwin
first studied medicine at Edinburgh. It soon became clear to Charles
that he was not cut out for a medical career; he was transferred to
Cambridge (Christ's Church, 1828), there to train for the ministry.
While at Cambridge, Darwin befriended a biology professor (John
Stevens Henslow, 1796-1861) and his interest in zoology and
geography grew. Eventually, Darwin came under the eye of a geology
professor, Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873).

Darwin was accepted by those responsible for the voyage. The plans for the cruise of the  Beagle were
extended, in that it was to take place over the best part of five years (1831-36) and were to take in the
southern islands, the South American coast and Australia. While aboard the vessel, Darwin served as a
geologist, botanist, zoologist, and general man of science.

More years were to pass, during which he gathered more and more evidence, when, in 1859, Darwin
came out with his scholarly presentation, The Origin of Species.

In 1859, Darwin's shattering work, The Origin of Species, came out ("a sell out in one day"); it is now
recognized as a leading work in natural philosophy and in the history of mankind. Simply stated, Darwin's
theory is that things, and, in particular, life, evolves by a process which Darwin called "natural selection."

Japhet Moraleja II – Bl. Julia of Certaldo