Charles Darwin Early Life

In the 1800’s, the world’s view on humans, animals, and life itself was drastically altered by one man: Charles Robert Darwin. Darwin was born on February 12th, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He grew up in a very privileged family: “Both of Charles’s grandfathers were among the most famous men in England” (Whiting 13). His early years were happy, and relatively free of distress. However, in 1817, his mother died. At a young age, he found an interest in wildlife, and a passion for collecting things. He was intrigued by all different kinds of birds and bugs, but showed little interest in traditional school subjects. As Charles grew older, his father, Robert Darwin, pushed him to become a doctor. Charles, however, just could not find the motivation
or interest to follow in his father’s footsteps. Not only was Charles uninterested in becoming a doctor, he was not excited by any common jobs at the time.
Nevertheless, his father wanted him to choose a path, so Charles decided he wanted to become a religious minister, so he would be able to have time to focus on his hobbies. He attended Cambridge University in 1828. While he was there with the intentions to eventually become a minister, he became fascinated with botany, geology, and other studies of the natural world. His goal of becoming a minister became quickly overshadowed: “He learned enormous amounts about the scientific study of natural history… he read constantly and developed a great desire to travel as widely as possible so he could continue his studies as a naturalist” (Fullick 10). In August of 1831, a major opportunity arose. Captain Robert Fitzroy was soon to embark on a journey to chart the coast of South America on his ship, the Beagle. He was looking for a companion to join him, and Darwin was the perfect man. On December 27th, 1831, the Beagle set sail for a journey that would change the
world. Darwin set off on the journey planning to to study mainly geology, and make other more minor observations on different species of plants and animals. He was not setting out to establish the ground-breaking theory of evolution. However, his careful observations are what led him to make such a discovery. Darwin spent the first portion of his trip traveling down the coast of South America taking many filling notebooks with observations, collecting specimens, and sending them back to England. However, the observations that led to his profound theory were taken on the Galapagos Islands, a small group of islands off the northeast coast of South America. During his time at the Galapagos Islands Darwin was amazed by the variance of the wildlife around him. He observed differences between the giant tortoises from differing islands. He also noticed how each species of iguana was unique to its environment: “Conolophus, adept at living on the arid islands and feeding on the sharp-spined Opuntia cactus became the land iguana, while Amblyrhynchus, with its flattened tail for swimming, its strong claws for hauling itself out on the water, and its blunt, shortened snout for scraping algae off of rocks, became the marine iguana” (“Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands.”). Most famously, however, were his similar observations about the finches among the galapagos islands, which were what mainly led to the creation of his theory: “He observed that the Galapagos species differed from each other in beak size and shape. He also noted that the beak varieties were associated with diets based on different foods” (“Darwin and Natural Selection”). After the voyage ended, Darwin meticulously studied his notes and specimens. He then wrote and published his highly controversial book: the On the Origin of Species. In this remarkable piece of scientific literature, he described and explained his theory of evolution.
The theory of evolution explains how a species can change and become more fit to it's environment over a long amount of time. The force behind evolution is a process called natural selection. For example, if an animal is born with a certain trait gives it a survival advantage, it will most likely live longer, and pass on that trait to its offspring. It's offspring now have the advantageous trait, and the process starts again. Eventually, the whole population will have the trait, and evolution by natural selection will have just occurred. Darwin observed this by looking at his finch specimens. The finches with larger beaks came from islands where the main food source were large seeds. Similarly, the finches with smaller, pointier beaks came from islands where the main food sources was small insects. He also observed the outcome of evolution in the tortoise species: “The differences between Galapagos tortoises can be quite dramatic. For example, dome-shelled tortoises have shells that do not allow them to raise their heads very high. These tortoises graze along the ground. But saddle-backed tortoises have shells that are higher at the front, allowing them to graze on the taller vegetation in their habitat” (Eldridge 73). The fact that there are many different types of species has always been apparent. Charles Darwin, however, was the man who figured out why and how this is, which is what makes his work so incredible.
Darwin constructed the theory of evolution using his own observations, but thought process of other scientists certainly influenced his thinking.
For example: “In 1798, Thomas Malthus click this icon to hear the name pronounced, an English clergyman and pioneer economist, published Essay on the Principles of Population. In it he observed that human populations will double every 25 years unless they are kept in check by limits in food supply” (“Darwin and Natural Selection”). This piece of information was very important for Darwin’s theory, and the explanation of natural selection. The organisms that are more fit to the environment are less likely to die of starvation, while other “weaker” organisms will not be able to get food, and therefore die off. Famous geologist Charles Lyell proposed that that geological processes occur extremely slowly and gradually over time. Darwin was inspired by such a way of thinking, and applied it to populations of species. Darwin’s theory of evolution has had an extreme impact on the world since he published his book. Evolutionary biology, an entirely new branch of biology exists because of his discovery. His theory also caused the traditional people of his time to question the bible, which was extremely controversial at the time. Almost 200 years later, and the conflict between evolution and creationism still continues in our country today. Unfortunately, Darwin’s theory is constantly oversimplified, especially by the many who will
close-mindedly deny it, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence for it. Many fail to see that it is an extremely gradual process that can take millions of years. Others simply dismiss his work, declaring as “just a theory.” However, in scientific terms, a theory explains a group of evidence and facts. A theory cannot just be made up. Darwin, and many others after him have proven and strengthened his theory with evidence time and time again. Hopefully, in the future, everybody will be able fully understand Darwin’s theory of evolution, and marvel at the incredible impact it has had on the world.