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Charles Darwin 1809-1882 Who was he and what did he do??? The early years • Born 1809 in England • Came from a highly religious family • Studied natural history at university • Was a great disappointment to his father, who wanted him to become a doctor The HMS Beagle • Set out to explore the world • Captained by Robert Fitzroy • Darwin was invited not as a scientist but as a companion for the captain • When Darwin boarded the Beagle he was a firm believer in the creationist view of life's origins The Beagle continued • The voyage lasted nearly five years • Travelled all around the world including to little old New Zealand • What Darwin learned and saw during the voyage set him thinking What did Darwin see? • In Patagonia (South America) – fossils of huge extinct mammals, one of which looked like a giant version of an armadillo • In the Galapagos Islands – Mockingbirds which differed from island to island. – Tortoises which had variations in their shells depending on which island they came from – Finches – 12 different species (although he paid little attention to these until his return home Darwin’s theory • In 1837 Darwin wrote down his first thoughts about descent with modification based on what he had seen on his journey • In March of 1837 Darwin speculated in his notebook on the possibility that "one species does change into another" Darwin’s theory • In mid July 1837, Darwin wrote “I think” above the first evolutionary tree • His tree shows that species descend from one common ancestor and change ie the theory of descent with modification Publishing the theory • It was years and years before Darwin published his theory in his book “On the Origin of Species” • The book went on sale in November 1859 and was hugely popular • Surprisingly there was little controversy surrounding Darwin’s theory, perhaps because he avoided the term “evolution” and barely discussed the evolution of humans Publishing the theory • Darwin stated his theory simply in the introduction of his book – “As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form” Or in simpler terms… • More individuals of each species are born than can actually survive long enough to reproduce. • Those individuals of each species that are better adapted to their environment will survive long enough to reproduce and therefore will be “naturally selected” To sum up…. • Darwin came up with the theory of how species can change through natural selection • He did not understand the mechanisms through which this happens (genes), it was Gregor Mendel who discovered this • Both Darwin and Mendel were actually alive at the same time but did not know of each others work Other facts about Darwin • He published a book titled “The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms, with observations on their habits” • He married his cousin Emma Wedgewood • Charles and Emma had 10 children The Darwin Awards • Awards have been given for people who "do a service to Humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool” • Examples: – Juggling active hand grenades (Croatia, 2001) – Trying to get enough light to look down the barrel of a loaded muzzleloader gun using a cigarette lighter (U.S., 1996)