Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. He was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on February 12, 1809, the fifth child of Robert Darwin, a wealthy doctor, and Susannah Darwin, the daughter of a notable family. Darwin was educated at the local grammar school and then at Edinburgh University, where he studied medicine. In 1831, he embarked on a five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle, during which he made extensive observations of plants, animals, and fossils. These observations would form the basis for his theory of evolution by natural selection.
After his return to England, Darwin married Emma Wedgwood, with whom he had 10 children. He spent the next 20 years working on his theory, which he finally published in 1859 in the book On the Origin of Species. The book was an instant bestseller and made Darwin one of the most famous scientists in the world. Darwin continued to work on his theory and published several more books, including The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). He died on April 19, 1882, at the age of 73.
Table of Contents:
1. Early Life
2. The Voyage of the Beagle
3. Development of the Theory of Evolution
4. Later Life and Death
5. Legacy
6. Top Charles Darwin
Early Life:
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England. He was the fifth child of Robert Darwin, a wealthy doctor, and Susannah Darwin, the daughter of a notable family. Darwin was educated at the local grammar school and then at Edinburgh University, where he studied medicine.
The Voyage of the Beagle:
In 1831, Darwin embarked on a five-year voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. During the voyage, he made extensive observations of plants, animals, and fossils. These observations would form the basis for his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Development of the Theory of Evolution:
After his return to England, Darwin married Emma Wedgwood, with whom he had 10 children. He spent the next 20 years working on his theory, which he finally published in 1859 in the book On the Origin of Species. The book was an instant bestseller and made Darwin one of the most famous scientists in the world. Darwin continued to work on his theory and published several more books, including The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).
Later Life and Death:
Darwin died on April 19, 1882, at the age of 73.
Legacy:
Darwin is considered one of the most important scientists in history. His theory of evolution by natural selection is the foundation of modern biology and has had a profound impact on the way we understand the natural world.
Top Charles Darwin Quotes:
“Animals manifestly enjoy excitement, and suffer from annul and may exhibit curiosity.” – Charles Darwin
“To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.” – Charles Darwin
“I feel most deeply that the whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton. Let each man hope & believe what he can.” – Charles Darwin
“The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.” – Charles Darwin
“I love fools’ experiments. I am always making them.” – Charles Darwin
“Conscience looks backwards and judges past actions, inducing that kind of dissatisfaction, which if weak we call regret, and if severe remorse.” – Charles Darwin
“An agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind.” – Charles Darwin
“A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.” – Charles Darwin
“We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… Still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.” – Charles Darwin
“Nothing exists for itself alone, but only in relation to other forms of life” – Charles Darwin
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.” – Charles Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809–82
“A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.” – Charles Darwin
“Any one whose disposition leads him to attach more weight to unexplained difficulties than to the explanation of facts will certainly reject my theory.” – Charles Darwin
“I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.” – Charles Darwin
“I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work; and I still think there is an eminently important difference.” – Charles Darwin
“I am like a gambler, and love a wild experiment.” – Charles Darwin
“An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men.” – Charles Darwin
“We are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps.” – Charles Darwin
“How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children.” – Charles Darwin
“But then with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy.” – Charles Darwin
“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” – Charles Darwin
“False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long…” – Charles Darwin
“One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.” – Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
“A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, – a mere heart of stone.” – Charles Darwin
“We stopped looking for monsters under our bed when we realized that they were inside us.” – Charles Darwin
“We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities… still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.” – Charles Darwin
“Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy of the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals.” – Charles Darwin
“The very essence of instinct is that it’s followed independently of reason.” – Charles Darwin
“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.” – Charles Darwin
“A surprising number [of novels] have been read aloud to me, and I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily against which a law ought to be passed.” – Charles Darwin
“Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits.” – Charles Darwin
“Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.” – Charles Darwin
“Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music.” – Charles Darwin
“Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.” – Charles Darwin
“In conclusion, it appears that nothing can be more improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in distant countries.” – Charles Darwin
“but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with a certain and great present evil.” – Charles Darwin
“…for the shield may be as important for victory, as the sword or spear.” – Charles Darwin
“Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.” – Charles Darwin
“Intelligence is based on how efficient a species became at doing the things they need to survive.” – Charles Darwin
“I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of other men” – Charles Darwin
“Building a better mousetrap merely results in smarter mice.” – Charles Darwin
“It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” – Charles Darwin
“He who remains passive when over-whelmed with grief loses his best chance of recovering his elasticity of mind.” – Charles Darwin
“A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn’t there.” – Charles Darwin
“Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral.” – Charles Darwin
“I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.” – Charles Darwin
“I am not the least afraid to die.” – Charles Darwin
“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
“A republic cannot succeed, till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.” – Charles Darwin
“My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts.” – Charles Darwin
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” – Charles Darwin
“Great is the power of steady misrepresentation.” – Charles Darwin
“As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities.” – Charles Darwin
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” – Charles Darwin
“It is a cursed evil to any man to become as absorbed in any subject as I am in mine.” – Charles Darwin
“My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts.” – Charles Darwin
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
“On the ordinary view of each species having been independently created, we gain no scientific explanation.” – Charles Darwin
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
“Blushing is the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.” – Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
“The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic.” – Charles Darwin
“I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me.” – Charles Darwin
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