Charles Darwin

Life

• Born: February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England
• Education:
• Studied medicine at University of Edinburgh (1825-1827)
• BA in Theology from Christ's College, Cambridge (1831)
• Career Highlights:
• Naturalist aboard HMS Beagle (1831-1836)
• Developed theory of evolution by natural selection (1837-1858)
• Published On the Origin of Species (1859)
• Death: April 19, 1882, in Downe, Kent, England

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Charles Lyell: Uniformitarianism in geology
• Thomas Malthus: Population pressure concept
• Jean-Baptiste Lamarck: Early evolution theories
• Alfred Russel Wallace: Co-discoverer of natural selection

Main Ideas and Publications

• On the Origin of Species (1859):
• Theory of evolution by natural selection
• Descent with modification
• The Descent of Man (1871):
• Human evolution application
• Sexual selection theory
• Natural Selection: Primary mechanism of evolutionary change
• Common Descent: All life shares ancestry

Controversies

• Religious Opposition: Challenged creationist views
• Scientific Criticism: Initial skepticism from scientific community
• Social Darwinism: Misapplication to justify social policies
• Pangenesis Theory: Later disproven inheritance mechanism

Key People Influenced

• Ernst Haeckel: Developed evolutionary trees
• Gregor Mendel: Genetics provided mechanism
• Richard Dawkins: Modern evolutionary biology
• E.O. Wilson: Sociobiology synthesis

Legacy

Darwin revolutionized biological sciences with his theory of evolution by natural selection, providing the unifying framework for modern biology while sparking ongoing scientific and cultural debates.