Charles Robert Darwin
(1809-1882), naturalist, was born on 12 February 1809, the son of Robert Darwin
and his wife Susannah, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, and the grandson of Erasmus
Darwin. He was educated at Shrewsbury, Edinburgh University, and Christ's College,
Cambridge. At Cambridge he came under the influence of J. S. Henslow, professor
of botany, and on graduation in 1831 was recommended by him for the post of
naturalist in H.M.S. Beagle,
on a five-year survey voyage, chiefly along the coast of South America.
Although Darwin was passionately interested in natural history, he was at this
time primarily a geologist by inclination, and his predilections are reflected
in his records of the voyage. Nevertheless, his observations during this period
formed the nucleus from which he developed his theory of evolution by natural
selection, set out in On the
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (London, 1859) and The Descent of Man (London, 1871).
The Beagle was anchored at Sydney from 12 to 30
January 1836. During this time Darwin journeyed to Bathurst, making superficial
observations on the geology of the Blue Mountains and collecting some native
fauna and flora. He was 'rather disappointed in the state of society', and made
the misjudgment that 'agriculture can never succeed on an extended scale'. His
interest in Van Diemen's Land, where the Beagle stayed for ten days in February, was
mostly geological and sociological: he gave a graphic account of the subjugation
of the Aboriginals. On 6 March theBeagle arrived at King George Sound; Darwin
was noticeably unimpressed: 'we did not during our voyage pass a more dull and
uninteresting time'; though he did see a 'corrobery'. The Beagleleft Australia on 14
March. He published an account of the voyage, Journal
of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries
Visited by H.M.S. Beagle (London,
1839) which ran to several editions.
The
geographical isolation of Australian fauna and flora gave Darwin some very
valuable evidence on evolution; and Australian Aboriginals provided support for
his theory of natural selection. Darwin maintained a continuing interest in
Australia through correspondence with a number of her scientists, including Gerard Krefft,
R. D. Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell and Rev. W. B. Clarke. He also
corresponded with Conrad Martens and his letters addressed to a former
shipmate named Covington, who settled in New South Wales, were published in the Sydney Mailin 1884. When (Sir) Joseph
Hooker published the Flora Tasmaniae (London, 1860), Darwin expressed to
his friend his pride in his 'adopted country' and confided that emigration to
Tasmania was his castle in the air. He never returned to Australia; nor after
the Beagle voyage did he leave England again. In
January 1839 Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood, by whom he had six sons
and four daughters. He died on 19 April 1882.
Darwin
was one of the last, and probably the greatest, of the eclectic scientists who
preceded the age of professional specialization. His genius lay in his ability
to select, from the facts which he so diligently collected, every relevant
point and fit it into his bold and far-reaching theories. He was not the first
to advance a theory of evolution; but his massive weight of evidence carried
conviction where earlier theorists had failed. He was shy and modest and shrank
from controversy, an unfortunate trait in the author of the most controversial
book of the century. Luckily he had devoted friends, including Thomas Huxley,
Hooker, Lubbock, John Gray and Haeckel, who were happy and eager
to maintain the sometimes acrimonious discussions which were so distasteful to
him
