Charles Darwin changed how humans view their place in the universe. Before his journey, most people believed species remained unchanged since the beginning of time. He shattered this idea not with complex equations, but with careful observation of birds, tortoises, and fossils. While he terrified the religious establishment of his day, he was actually a quiet, family-oriented man who preferred studying earthworms to arguing with bishops. Furthermore, his adventurous youth on the high seas contrasts sharply with the image of the bearded old sage we see in textbooks. Prepare to evolve your knowledge of the great naturalist.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin shared the exact same birthday as Abraham Lincoln. Both men entered the world on February 12, 1809. While Lincoln worked to emancipate slaves in America, Darwin worked to emancipate the human mind from scientific dogma.
He belonged to a “Glutton Club” at university dedicated to eating strange animals. He and his friends met weekly to dine on hawk, bittern, and even owl. Later, during his travels, he ate armadillos, which he claimed tasted like duck, and even an unknown rodent that turned out to be a new species.
Charles Darwin dropped out of medical school because he could not stand the sight of blood. His father sent him to Edinburgh to become a doctor, but Charles found the surgeries terrifying, especially since they occurred without anesthesia. He famously fled the operating theater during a procedure on a child and vowed never to return.
The Captain of the HMS Beagle almost rejected him because of the shape of his nose. Captain Robert FitzRoy believed in physiognomy, the idea that facial features reveal character. He feared that Darwin’s nose indicated a lack of energy and determination, but eventually, he let the young naturalist join the voyage anyway.
The famous voyage of the Beagle lasted five years, not two. Darwin originally planned for a two-year trip, but the expedition stretched far beyond the initial timeline. Consequently, he spent most of his twenties sailing around the world, though he spent only 18 months at sea and over three years exploring land.
He waited over twenty years to publish his theory of evolution. He formulated the core ideas of natural selection by 1838 but feared the public backlash. He kept his manuscript in a drawer, instructing his wife to publish it only after his death, until another scientist named Alfred Russel Wallace came up with the same idea.
He married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood. The couple had a happy marriage and ten children, but Darwin worried constantly about their genetics. He feared that their close blood relation might cause the health issues that plagued his children, a topic he later researched extensively in plants.
He spent eight years studying barnacles. Before publishing his major work on evolution, he dissected and classified thousands of barnacle species to establish his reputation as a serious biologist. This tedious work taught him about variation within species, which proved crucial for his later theories.
He played the piano for earthworms. Darwin wanted to know if worms could hear, so he placed a jar of them on top of a piano and played loud chords. He discovered that while they could not hear sound, they reacted strongly to the vibrations of the instrument.
He never actually said the phrase “survival of the fittest” in the original edition of his book. The philosopher Herbert Spencer coined the famous phrase after reading Darwin’s work. Darwin eventually included it in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species, crediting Spencer.
A tortoise he collected lived for roughly 175 years. Darwin brought a Galapagos tortoise named Harriet back to England, and she eventually ended up at a zoo in Australia. She lived until 2006, serving as a living link to the historic voyage of the Beagle.
He lost his faith after the death of his daughter Annie. While he started his life as a distinct believer who studied theology, the tragic death of his ten-year-old daughter shattered his trust in a benevolent God. By the end of his life, he described himself as an agnostic rather than an atheist.
The Church of England eventually buried him in Westminster Abbey. Despite the controversy his theories caused, the scientific community insisted on a state funeral. He rests next to fellow scientists John Herschel and Isaac Newton, creating a corner of scientific giants within the religious sanctuary.
He wrote a pro-and-con list to decide whether to marry. Under the “Marry” column, he listed “children” and “constant companion.” Under “Not Marry,” he listed “freedom to go where one liked” and “conversation of clever men at clubs.” Fortunately for Emma, the “Marry” column won.
Finally, Charles Darwin apologized for his appearance in his final photos. The iconic beard that defines his image grew only in his later years because shaving aggravated his eczema. He famously told a friend that the beard made him look “very like a bear.”
