-
Birth
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12th, 1809. -
Voyage 'Round the World
December 27th, 1831, Darwin set out on a voyage around the world with Captain Fitz Roy on the H.M.S Beagle. He was invited to join this voyage by Professor Henslow, who was an inspiration to Charles during his time at Cambridge. During the voyage, Darwin traveled to many parts of South America and many oceanic islands gathering information and studying geology and natural history. In his journal "The Voyage of the Beagle," Darwin expresses that the voyage was the most important event in his life -
Natural Selection
After he returned from his voyage, Darwin gained inspiration from the writings on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus. Thomas made the point that creatures are competing for recourses and eventually would lead to famine. This essay, along with his own finding from his studies, Darwin developed the theory of Natural Selection. Natural Selection is the idea that organism that adapt to the changing environment would survive.
Video -
Collaboration with Alfred Russel Wallace
In 1858, Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace wanting his advice on the idea of Natural Selection. Darwin had been looking for evidence to prove his theory every since he first thought about it and that was exactly what Russel had. Darwin and Russel published a joint letter on Natural Selection to the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. -
On the Origin of Species
One year after his collaboration with Russel, Darwin finally officially published his theory of evolution in his book "On the Origin of Species." His book outlines process of Natural Selection and posted finding from his voyage in the 1830s as well as his subsequent research and findings. This book is said to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. -
Death
Charles Darwin died 19 April 1882 at the age of 73.
