Charles Darwin

 

 

Charles Darwin is recognized as one of the greatest British scientists who ever lived. He can be rightly termed a revolutionary, because he transformed the understanding of the contemporary people on the living world.

Darwin was born in 1809 at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. His father was a doctor, and his mother was the daughter of the very popular potter Josiah Wedgwood. Darwin’s mother died when he was just at his 8 years of age, and virtually raised by his elder sisters. He used to be fascinated by the natural world from a very tender age. Gradually he became an avid reader of books on nature and devoted his spare time to exploring the fields and woodlands in his locality for collecting specimens of plants and insects.

Darwin was enrolled in medical school in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1825, where he came to see surgery on a baby. During that time surgeries had to be carried out without the use of any anesthetic or antiseptic, resulting in frequent fatalities. Observing such a practice Darwin become so traumatized that he gave up medical studies, and did not complete his course.

During his stay in Edinburgh, Darwin also spent money for lessons in taxidermy from John Edmonstone, who was a enslaved man from Guyana, became highly enlightened in the field. After his days in Scotland, Darwin went to Cambridge University for studying theology.

Darwin with his fellow workers in the field of biology provided us insight into the wonder world of the diversity of life on Earth, and its origin, including our own species - Homo sapience.

The Voyage of HMS Beagle

On the basis of a recommendation of a college professor Darwin was given a offer in 1931 to be a member on a five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle. The ship was under the control of the Royal Navy, England. It was the second voyage of the ship and Darwin accepted the offer to and joined the team. The ship was on the mission of a scientific expedition to South America and islands of the South Pacific region, leaving on 27 December 1831. The Beagle returned to England nearly five years later 2 October 1836.

Incidentally, it may be stated that the ship also had its first voyage. It set sail from Plymouth on 22 May 1826 and returned to England on 14 October 1830 after accomplishing its mission for Hydrographic studies through the Atlantic up to South America, surveying Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

Darwin's position as a team member on the ship was very peculiar. A former captain of HMS Beagle had become depressed during its first voyage, presumably because he had no intelligent person to converse with while on the voyage. It occurred to the British Admiralty that sending an intelligent young gentleman on the voyage would serve a dual purpose. He would study and make records of discoveries, at the same time also providing meaningful companionship for the new captain. During the trip Darwin spent more than 500 days on the ship 1,200 days on land. He conducted extensive studied on plants, animals, fossils, and geological matters. On his travels

Darwin collected plants, animals and fossils, and made resourceful field notes. These collections and records provided the evidence he needed to develop his remarkable theory.

The Galapagos Islands

The Ship Beagle was stationed about five weeks in the Galapagos Islands. During this period, Darwin made a lot of observations and studies having significant impact on his proposed theory on ‘Natural Selection’. He was highly bewildered after discovering appreciable differences between species in different islands at the Galapagos. This made him to write:

“The distribution of tenants of this archipelago would not be nearly so wonderful if, for instance, one island has a mocking-thrush and a second island some other quite distinct species... But it is the circumstance that several of the islands possess their own species of tortoise, mocking-thrush, finches, and numerous plants, these species having the same general habits, occupying analogous situations, and obviously filling the same place in the natural economy of this archipelago, that strikes me with wonder.”

Darwin made extensive tours in four of the Galapagos Islands for his research work. He spent considerable amount of his time on observing animals with their behavioural aspects, collecting specimens, and sketching. His discoveries in the Galapagos invited a remarkable change in thinking of the scientific world and shook the foundations of western religious faith on living organisms.

Theory of Natural Selection

Even today the Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is considered by the scientists as the best documented explanation for the diverse and complex nature of life on Earth. His theory of natural selection is based on the following premises:

1. Prodigality of Production: Every species has the tendency to reproduce more and increase the number of their offspring. This directly increases the population of the living organisms.

2. Struggle for Existence: As a result of the increase in the species population, the scarcity for food, habitable space etc. becomes inevitable leading to competition for survival. This competition may be inter-species or intra-species. Darwin termed this as struggle that can not be totally avoided.

3. Variation: To adapt well in the environment of scarcity every individual try to twick some changes to cope with the stressful condition. This is a very slow process and does not guarantee that every changes or variations will favour better adaptation or annulling the affect of stressful condition.

4. Survival of the Fittest: The variations concurring in different organisms to adapt better in their environment or as a result of their struggle, may not always be of right amount with right direction. The one, developing the right type of variation can adapt well in the environment and continue to survive as the fittest organism.

5. Natural Selection: The individuals developing better traits generally enjoy the better fruits of the nature to survive and flourish. Darwin termed this situation as ‘Natural Selection’. The term to a great extent is philosophical, but indeed a pointer to the reality – that unless there is a favourable change to cope with the stressful condition the species tend to be extinct.

6. Origin of Species: Evolution is a very slow but progressive process through variations. When a living organism becomes adapted to a changed environment making it fit for selection by the nature, it may be noticed that significant changes would have taken place during the process, resulting in the formation of a new species. Origin of species actually, is the essence Darwin’s theory of ‘Natural Selection’.

Darwin's Pigeons

While traveling on board HMS Beagle, Darwin developed the notion that the environment might have significant role to naturally manipulate species to change over time. But any cognizable means was eluding him in the wild to express this effectively. However, with his experiment over artificial selection in pigeons provided a way to study how far a species could change. By artificially identifying features and crossing birds with some defined characteristics to produce different offspring, he came across valuable evidences, which supported evolution by natural selection. The alikeness between artificial selection and natural selection was at the heart of his theory of evolution in his revolutionary book ‘On the Origin of Species’.

 

 Darwin's Pigeons

 

After concluding his experiments, he handed over all the 120 pigeons under his possession as specimens, to the Museum. Presently those specimen pigeons have become part of the collection of birds kept at Tring, Hertfordshire, England.

The Great Apes

Darwin published his an important book ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’ in 1871. The book fuelled severe types of debates, as it contained the proposition that humans descended from apes. The Bishop of Oxford with much of his anger once asked Thomas Huxley, one of Darwin’s most prominent supporters, whether it was through his grandfather or grandmother that Darwin claimed descent from a monkey.

In spite of such attacks, Darwin’s conviction in the scientific explanation remained unshaken. He was interested to see that his scientifically established ideas reach as many people as possible. Darwin had also interest for his books to be translated read in many different languages. His mode of presentation and the style of writing may be attributed to ensure a success in this respect.

The book ‘On the Origin of Species’ was so rich scientifically that within one year it was published in German. Within the lifetime of Charles Darwin, his book was translated into a number of Europian languages namely, German, Danish, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Russian etc. Japanese translation of book was also made in 1914 with the title Shu No Kigen.

Shared Discovery

Darwin was aware that his radical ideas might receive stiff opposition from many corners. Even after conducting research for 20 years he was anxious thinking as to how his theory of evolution, that challenged the religious beliefs of the time would be received.

His concern delayed in publishing anything on the topic for many years, though he gathered monumental evidence. In course of time when Darwin came to know the young naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace had also developed comparable ideas, he came forward to send Wallace's ideas for immediate publication to a journal of repute.

As per advice of well wishers and friends, Darwin and Wallace organized a joint presentation of their theory of evolution by natural selection at the Linnean Society in London. Both the scientists had studied the natural world profoundly and made numerous observations, critical to the development of their theory. One year thence Darwin published his revolutionary book, ‘On the Origin of Species’.

Darwinian Tree of Life

Darwin was interested in using the concept of a tree of life while formulating the theory of evolution to show that all species on earth did originate and evolved from a common ancestor. His sketching of the tree of life is found in one of his notebooks seems to gas started from 1837.

The tips of the branches indicate the species that are still alive and many a limb and branch are seen to be decayed and dropped off. The fallen branches of various sizes exhibit those whole orders, families and genera having no living representatives, and discovered in the form of fossils. In the tree of life, the lines show evolutionary relationships between species.

Darwin’s Legacy

Darwin’s theory of evolution remains fundamental to the study of the natural world even today. He not only the changed the way the contemporary people used see all organisms, but also the way to see themselves.

As a naturalist, Darwin not only originated the theory of evolution by means of natural selection, but also hold a unique place in history as the early proponent of this theory. As a person he maintained a modest life devoted to his studies with scientific temperament. The writings of Darwin used to evoke stirring controversies not only during his life, but they still spark controversy frequently .

As mentioned earlier, Charles Darwin, an educated young man, became a member of an extra ordinary voyage of discovery aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle. The typical animals and plants he came to see in remote places became his source of inspiration to decipher the riddle for existence and how life might have developed. Finally, when he published his out standing book, ‘On the Origin of Species’, he practically shook up the scientific world. A single quote of Darwin, “In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment”, can be viewed as the essence of the evolution.

Later Life

The great work of Charles Darwin ‘On the Origin of Species’ was published through several editions, being periodically edited and updated by the author himself. At a time, when his work was highly debated and criticized in the society, Darwin lived in tranquility in the English countryside, with his desired to conduct botanical experiments.

Despite strong criticism of his work, Darwin got enough respect from his innumerable followers and regarded as a grand old man of science. He breathed his last on April 19 April 1882, and with much honour his mortal remains were buried at Westminster Abbey in London. 

 

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