“Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits” – Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin is quite possibly the most

famous scientist of the 19th century. His observations and theories would breed

extreme resistance and would leave behind a mixed legacy, but one that included

unquestionable change in the way that most of Western science views the natural

world.

Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in

Shrewsbury, England to Robert Darwin and Susannah, whose father was Josiah

Wedgwood, and was the second youngest of six children born to the couple. Although

a fairly average student in most regards, Darwin grew up with an appreciation of

the natural world from a young age.  However,

his father had a different sort of study in mind and while in the summer of

1825 his dad had him work as an apprentice doctor and compelled him to go to

the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Darwin himself was far more

interested in natural history and by 1827 even presented a discovery concerning

black spores that were often found in oyster shells and his proof that they

were, in fact, the eggs of another animal called a Skate Leech.

This and other courses of study including

natural history, geology, and the classification of plants and animals helped

Charles Darwin find his true passion in life, which was in natural history and

the natural world. His poor grades deeply annoyed his father who instead

thought that this obsession with naturalism was merely a phase and he should

get onto something practical in life like becoming a member of the clergy. To

this end, his dad sent him to Christ College in Cambridge and Charles Darwin

began studying to become a country preacher.

Darwin’s naturalistic tendencies though did

not die while studying to be a man of the cloth; instead, he became friends

with another clergy member who himself was a shrewd naturalist and Darwin

during his famous voyage would even send samples and reports to him for

safekeeping.

Charles Darwin continued to collect and

observe specimens of the natural world, but as his final exams came around in

1831, Darwin knuckled down to the proper business of academics and did

exceptionally well, coming in at number 10 out of over a hundred and seventy

candidates. Throughout the early summer of 1831, he continued to study natural

history ravenously and read Paisley’s “Natural Theology of Evidences of the

Existence of Attributes of the Deity” which had been published almost 30 years

previously. In essence, it was a paper on intelligent design or how God used

the laws of nature to help bring about His own personal designs.

Having finished his course of study, a friend

and mentor suggested to Charles Darwin that he should see a little bit of the

world before he settled down to the life of a clergyman. Charles managed to join

a trip as a gentleman scholar on the HMS Beagle, and despite his father’s

misgivings and feeling that this was a waste of time, Charles himself was

excited for the opportunity that the Beagle would offer. The mission of the HMS

Beagle was to chart the coast of South America, a voyage that was to last for 5

years, although, unfortunately for poor Charles, he was seasick for almost the

entirety of the trip.

Even so, Charles Darwin’s passion as a

naturalist endured and he collected a huge array of specimens from the Canary

Islands, South Africa, the West and East coasts of South America, Australia and