Charles Darwin, best known as the discoverer of natural selection, was born in 1809 to a very distinguished English family. Mr. Darwin by all accounts was an extraordinary English gentleman who avidly followed his children’s activities, delayed publishing his theories of evolution partly from fear of hurting his family’s theological beliefs, and from outward appearances was an ordinary English aristocrat.  His mother was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, the found of the famous pottery firm. In 1839 he married his cousin Emma Wedgwood and together they had 10 children.

 

The most significant stimulant to the development of Darwin’s theories derived from his four- year job as a naturalist on the Royal Navy ship, the Beagle.  For the rest of his life Darwin classified the enormous collection species that he collected during this tour of duty.

 

On September 23 in Uruguay Darwin discovered the bones of “numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds. There were remains of several different species, none of which existed any longer, and they were covered with seashells. The fact that these creatures had been alive while the sea was peopled with most of its present inhabitants was an important revelation.

 

In March and April 1833, the Beagle spent five weeks in the Falkland Islands, where Darwin examined other fossil remains. During this period, he first began to question that the species were unchangeable and had existed in their current form since the Creation.

 

While in Argentina, Darwin witnessed the war of extermination against the Native Americans of the pampas. He began to formulate the concept of “survival of the fittest.” That is, through natural selection and through superior powers certain species could eliminate weaker ones.

 

While on the coast of Chile, he experienced a very strong earthquake. He noticed that the earthquake had lifted the land permanently and saw evidence of such uplift from previous quakes. Thus, he began to formulate thoughts of a changing earth.

 

In 1835 he visited the Galapagos Archipelago, and recognized that much of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, were unique to this area. He began to formulate ideas about the Transmutation of Species.

 

In Australia, Darwin noticed vegetation that has most originated in Java and Sumatra, some 600 miles away; seeds and plants had been driven by winds and currents and had taken root. Darwin also was fascinated by coral formations, and recognized that it must have taken millions of years for these reefs to form.

 

Darwin left the Beagle in 1836, and spent the rest of his life doing research primarily based on his findings from this extensive cruise. In 1959 he published the Origin of Species. This book contained his theory of evolution—living organisms change by a series of random permutations, which are “naturally selected” insofar as they are adapted to their environment.