Mr. Charles Darwin
A most brilliant man.
Charles Robert Darwin
Born to a wealthy family in
Shrewsbury, England on
February 12, 1809.
His father wanted him to be
a doctor. But Charles did
not.
He preferred studying
nature, and wanted to be a
naturalist.
The Beagle
Convinced his father to let
him go on the H.M.S.
Beagle.
Five year journey as the
ship’s naturalist.
Ship left England in 1831.
Charles was merely 21 years
old.
The Voyage of the Beagle
Darwin saw many things along the way:
Like a good scientist, he took copious notes and made detailed
sketches.
He studied the tremendous diversity of life.
He collected countless specimens.
He collected and studied fossils and rocks.
He was particularly fascinated by the variety of life on the
Galapagos Islands.
Galapagos Islands
Darwin observed many birds, iguanas, tortoises, plants on the
islands.
Noticed similarities and differences to mainland species.
Also noticed similarities and differences between the various
Galapagos Islands.
Darwin was especially impressed with the different beaks on the
finches of the islands.
Darwin wondered how the shape of the finches beaks could match so
perfectly with what they ate.
Charles Darwin spent the next twenty years of his life working
out his ideas, and developing his explanation for how life evolves
on Earth.
He also collected evidence to back his theory from many places
and many people, such as this...
Selective Breeding - Darwin learned about selective breeding
from plant and animal breeders.
Geology – Darwin learned that the Earth is much older than
previously believed, and that it has been changing constantly
(Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology)
Populations – Darwin learned that populations tend to
overproduce, and many individuals die from starvation,
disease, predation, and so on (Thomas Malthus, Essay on the Principle of
Population)
All together, this helped him to develop his brilliant idea called
Natural Selection.
Here’s how it works…
Overproduction – populations make many more offspring than can
survive.
Genetic Variation – due to genes, individuals in a population vary slightly
from one and other.
Competition / Struggle to Survive – individuals in a population are all
competing to survive.
Survival and Reproduction – those individuals who are best adapted
stand the best chance of surviving, reproducing, and passing on those
traits that helped them to survive.
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his book, which
described his theory to the world.
It is called:
On The Origin of Species
(by Means of Natural Selection)
Considered one of the greatest
and most important books ever
written.
He published it because he’d
heard that his friend Alfred
Russell Wallace, who had a very
similar theory, was also planning
to publish his book! Charles
wanted the credit. He got it.
Mr. Charles Robert Darwin died on April 19, 1882.
Here is a short video (6:50) about Charles Darwin
by Bill Nye the Science Guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPghdBIGW9g&feature=BFa&list=PL7C0B7D5EECAA7D65
And here’s another one (6:38) about Darwin and his
theory of evolution by means of Natural Selection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmphlbRhLu8