Charlse Darwin essays

Charlse Darwin essays Charles Robert Darwin is considered by many to be the father of modern biology. He introduced the theory of evolution and natural selection to a time in which science was based of the words on the Bible. He revolutionized the way life science was studied. Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. He was the fifth child of Dr. Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood Darwin. As a young child, he developed an interest in hunting and collecting rocks and insects. At the age of eight, barely starting day school, his mother died. His older sister Caroline soon became a mother figure to him. A year later, his father sent him and his older brother to Shrewsbury Grammar School, where they stayed for seven years. Then at the age of sixteen, he was enrolled in Edinburgh University, a highly respected medical school. After two years in the school, Charles found himself incredibly bored with the field of medicine. Also, the idea of surgery without an anesthetic repulsed him. After his second year of medical school, his father realized that Charles was not cut out to be a doctor. He then sent Charles to Christs College in Cambridge to become a clergyman. It was here that Darwins fascination with biology developed. His interest in insects grew to the extent that he would spend all day in the woods looking for new beetles. Cambridge is also where he met and befriended John Stevens Henslow, a professor of botany at Cambridge. After graduating from Christs College in 1831, Darwins curiosity in the life sciences was not diminished. He then read Zoonomia, by his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. He fell upon a chapter concerning evolution, stating that over a period of time, an animal would change based on its surroundings. Unfortunately, his grandfather failed to bring any evidence to support his theory. Soon after he was offered and accepted an unpaid position as naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle, c...