The Life and Theories of Charles Darwin Essay -- Biography Biographies

The Life and Theories of Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin was the fifth child of Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. He was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England where his father practiced medicine. He attended Shrewsbury Grammar School which was a well-kn own secondary school which concentrated on teaching classic languages. Even as a boy Darwin loved science and his enthusiasm for chemical studies earned him the name "Gas" from his friends. The headmaster at Shrewsbury, Dr. Samuel Butler noted, "Here's a boy, plays around with his gases and the rest of his rubbish and works at nothing useful." He was also an avid collector. Anything he could get his hands on- shells, eggs, minerals and coins interested him. Darwin was expected to follow his father and become a doctor and in 1825, at the age of sixteen, his father removed him from Shrewsbury and entered him in the University of Edenburgh to study medicine. He found all of his classes except chemistry dull. After two years at Edenburg, he quit school and went to live with his Uncle Josiah Wedgewood. After he abandoned medicine, his father urged him to attend Cambridge University to study to be a clergyman. At Cambridge he met John Steven Henslow who helped him regain his interest in nature. It was Henslow who was influential in getting Darwin the position of naturalist on the boat The Beagle. In April of 1831, he graduated from the University. In the fall following his graduation, the government decided to send the H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, to complete an unfinished survey of Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego to help map out the shores of Chile and Peru. Th e voyage w... ...rstand or explain whatever I observed and group a ll facts under some general laws..." On April 19, 1882 Darwin died of a heart attack. The family wanted Darwin to be buried in his home, the village of Downe. However, Parliament requested that he be buried in Westminster Abbey, a cemetery for Britain's kings and queens and intellectual giants. This was an indication of how far Darwin had come towards universal acceptance and respectability. Darwin's coffin lies next to Issac Newton which is only fitting because Darwin has been called "The Newton of Biology." Darwin was modest of his monumental achievements to the very end and said of himself shortly before his death,"With such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that I should have influenced to a considerable extent the belief of scientific men on some important points."