Download Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin
Family and Early Life

Born in the midlands to an industrial
family
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Maternal grandfather (Elijah Wedgewood,
of Wedgewood Pottery)
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Paternal grandfather – Erasmus Darwin, a
Physician circa the French Revolution
A political radical, non-religious family
 Therefore one can understand his attempt
to derive the Origin of Species without
reference to God
 Belonged to 2 intellectual organizations

◦ The Lunar Society and the Oyster Club
◦ Believed that the world was not created by God
but was the result of volcanic eruptions
Catastrophics
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The Darwin’s were materialistic industrialists
who felt that industrialists would rule the
world
Charles’s mother died when he was 6
Sent to University of Edinburgh medical
school, but quit because he was more
interested in nature then medicine
Sent to Cambridge to become an Anglican
minister
◦ Spent 3 years shooting and living the life of the
country gentleman
◦ His fathers comments:
◦ “he cares for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat
catching”
◦ “messing up the house with his everlasting rubbish”
Biology
Interested only in biology and botany – A
Naturalist
 Was stimulated by Malthus’ ideas on the
competitive struggle for existence
 He longed to do original research in the
tropics
 An instructor realized that Darwin was
wasting his time studying theology

◦ Arranged that Darwin serve as the naturalist
aboard the HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle Voyage
Captained by Robert Fitzroy, the Beagle
was scheduled for a 2 year mapmaking
voyage
 Darwin and Fitzroy polar opposites but got
along. Darwin a catastrophist, Fitzroy
believed in Diluvialism (denied fossil record,
world history is what bible said)
 Never ending arguments over fossils found
in the mountains
 Their arguments served as a microcosm of
what Darwin would face after Origin was
published

Darwin known as “The Fly Catcher”
by the crew, he collected plants, insects,
animals, fossils, et al.
 Galapagos Islands (Equa dor): 14
species of finches, different sizes, different
bills, WHY?
 Mice on one side of the Andes are
different from mice on the other side?
WHY?
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After returning home he spent years
researching and corresponding with leading
naturalists

Survival of the Fittest
◦ Species evolve from earlier species
◦ This is determined or controlled by Natural
Selection
◦ The plants and animals that adapt through
positive mutation to its surrounding are the
ones likely to survive and reproduce their kind
Origin of Species
After concluding his research he decided
to publish his findings
 The publishing of The Origin of Species
by Means of Natural Selection, or the
Preservation of Favored Races in the
Struggle for Life in 1859 had a profound
and lasting effect on man’s view of his
place on the earth

What about Humans?
Monkey Theory - man descended from
Apes (not actually correct, because apes
also evolved, we evolved from a common
primate)
 created a storm of controversy, from all
areas of society
 This controversy would continue for
years: The Scopes “Monkey Trial” – 1925
in Tennessee, evolution is still a flashpoint
in the Bible Belt

Impact

Darwin’s ideas had tremendous impact:
◦ Society – social Darwinism – Karl Marx
◦ Politics – political Darwinism – Bismarck and
Realpolitick
◦ Economics
◦ Imperialism