- Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is a man whose name is familiar even to those who have no background in the life sciences or any science at all. He is a man who is synonymous with biology in pop culture- the face of it all, if you will. But who really was he? Darwin was a man, who, surprisingly enough, studied theology before his career as a natural biologist. In the year 1831, when Darwin was 22, he embarked on the journey that would change his life. He was aboard the HMS Beagle, studying the ecology of the islands in South America, such as the Galapagos. Here, he made crucial observations that would change the field of biology and of science itself forever. His research focused primarily on the question- how do species turn into what they are and how do they form? His research did not stop with the end of the trip- after his return in 1836, he continued to study the fossils and specimens that were collected from South America. To answer his question about how species form, he came to the conclusion of natural selection- a theory that is widely accepted today as being the way that species formed. In 1859, his conclusions were published in a book called On the Origin of Species– one of the most famous works ever published even when compared to fiction books. Darwin passed away in 1882 at the age of 73, and although he is long gone, his legacy in the scientific and biological world will never be forgotten. He is truly one the greatest scientific minds the world has ever seen.
References:
The editors of National Geographic (n.d.). Charles Darwin. In: National Geographic Online. Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/charles-darwin/
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 