Wisuru‘s Biography Podcast

This is the final part of Stephen Hawking's biography. In this episode, find out about his family life, how the disease progressed, and also some interesting facts about him.

After this episode, I will take a break for a few months, and will meet you again next year with the biography of another famous person.

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Last week, we looked at how Stephen Hawking found out that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and fell into depression. We also looked at how his girl friend Jane, and his PhD supervisor Dennis Sciama helped him get out of the depression and start focusing on his research. We ended the episode by looking at how Stephen Hawking publicly humiliated Fred Hoyle.

This week, let's find out how Stephen Hawking finished his research and started his career.

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Last week, we looked at the theories that existed before Stephen Hawking's time, which explained the origin of the universe. We ended the episode by looking at how and why Stephen Hawking joined the university of Cambridge and how the year 1963 became a year of ups and downs in his life. It was in this year that he was diagnosed with the motor neuron disease. This week, we look at how the disease affected him, and how he found the courage to keep moving forward.

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In this week's episode, we find out if Charles Darwin or his theories were behind social Darwinism and eugenics.

Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Darwin, social Darwinism, and eugenics. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/science/eugenics-and-social-darwinism/

In today's episode, we look at social Darwinism and eugenics. Then we go on to find out if Darwin or his theories were really behind these practices.

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In this week's episode, we take a look at the childhood and early life of Charles Darwin, the man who proposed the theory of evolution (theory of natural selection). 

Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/

Charles Darwin's great grandfather was Robert Darwin. He brought the discovery of a Jurassic era reptile to the attention of the UK's Royal Society. His son was Erasmus Darwin. Erasmus Darwin had a friend called Josiah Wedgewood. When Josiah' business partner died, Erasmus became his business partner. This brought them closer. As a result, their children - Erasmus Darwin's son Robert Darwin and Josiah Wedgewood's daughter Susannah - got married. The fifth child of this couple was Erasmus Charles Darwin. He was born on February 12th, 1809.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Enlightenment [what is Enlightenment? - Citation 1] became popular in Europe. It was a movement that put religion on the backseat by emphasizing on the importance of logic and reasoning in gaining understanding and knowledge. But by the time Charles Darwin was born, the Churches in England had already rejected Enlightenment, and started controlling the syllabus in schools, to prevent people from learning science.

But Darwin's grandfathers had always emphasized that an individual should find the truth by himself. So, Darwin grew up unconstrained by the religious norms of his times.

Charles Darwin had always been interested in nature - He learned the names of plants; he collected insects; he observed the behavior of organisms around him. He inherited this interest in nature from his father. His father was a naturalist, who had studied natural history [What is natural history? - Citation 2]. As he reached his teenage, he started reading about natural history.

Even after his father got him admission in the Edinburgh University to study medicine, Darwin's interest in nature did not fade away. So, he continued to collect insects, observe sea birds, and animals even after he joined the university. He attended zoology and natural history courses and spent a considerable amount of time in the university's natural history museum. He joined a natural history students' group, where he made friends with the same interests as him, and listened to other students' theories about transmutation (which is how evolution was known at that time).

But he did not like the subjects that were related to the medical profession. He complained that anatomy was boring. During Darwin's time, anesthetic wasn't invented. So, surgeries were too disturbing for him to watch. So, even though his friend from the natural history students' group abandoned his love for natural history and started medical practice, Darwin quit college.

Until now, Charles Darwin hasn't accomplished anything significant in his life. Nor has he laid a solid foundation for a promising career. So, how did he go from here, to formulating the Theory of Natural Selection? We will find out in the next episodes of Charles Darwin's biography.

1. https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/enlightenment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history

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Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru

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