Life of Reason: Charles Darwin
by Groff Schroeder
The father of modern evolutionary biology finished
10th in Cambridge University's Christ's College class of 1878, graduating
in Theology, Euclid and the Classics. At a time when most theology
graduates became clergymen, Charles Robert Darwin became a naturalist
and author, laying the foundations of modern biology and becoming
one of the most famous scientists in history. |
Charles was born in Shrewsbury, England, February
12, 1809, into an accomplished family. His father Robert and paternal
grandfather Erasmus were esteemed physicians, and his maternal grandfather
was the innovative Josiah Wedgewood, whose achievement in measuring
temperature in kilns earned him membership in the prestigious Royal
Society. |
Erasmus Darwin was one of England's leading intellectuals
who abandoned medicine for science and writing to become an internationally
famous naturalist and author. He was a prominent proponent of transmutation
(the belief that organisms change over time), and his well-received
poem, "Zooonia, or the Laws of Organic Life," discussed
the concept of evolution, foreshadowing the work of his grandson.
Both of Charles' grandfathers participated in the "Lunar Society,"
a monthly gathering of scientists, inventors and intellectuals who
supported radical religious and political ideas such as free markets
and opposed the control the Anglican Church held over intellectual
life. Erasmus' influence was apparently instrumental in creating a
family environment that placed great value on questioning established
ideals. |
At 16, Charles entered Edinburgh University to study
medicine. Finding medicine uninteresting, the sight of blood unpleasant
and the practice of amputation without anesthetic untenable, he refused
to complete his studies in medicine. Back home in Shrewsbury, he began
a process of self-education as a naturalist. In 1827, Darwin gave
his first talk at the Plinian Society, a science club that emphasized
the study of nature over idea of the supernatural. |
Charles enrolled in Christ's College of Cambridge University
in 1828 with the goal of becoming an Anglican clergyman. But when
he read a book by John Hershel about the possible future of scientific
knowledge, he decided he wanted to be part of the future of scientific
discovery. After graduation, he eventually won an unpaid position
as ship's naturalist for the five-year voyage of The Beagle, a refitted
Royal Navy ship set to sail around the world. During that voyage,
Darwin collected evidence that finally convinced first him, and later
the scientific world, that the concept of evolution through means
of natural selection was the guiding principle through which organisms
changed over time. |
However, Darwin was not insensitive to the disruptions
his discoveries would incite and withheld publication of On the Origin
of Species by means of Natural Selection for 20 years. In 1880 he
wrote, "Though I am a strong advocate for free thought on all
subjects, yet it appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct
arguments against Christianity or Theism produce hardly any effect
on the public, and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual
advancement of science. It has, therefore, always been my object to
avoid writing on religion, and I have confined myself to science."
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Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882, perhaps unaware
that his name would go down in history among the giants of scientific
discovery.
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