Charles Darwin

Who is Charles Darwin?

Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. Born in Shrewsbury, he studied at the University of Edinburgh and later at Cambridge. Between 1831 and 1836 he joined the survey voyage of HMS Beagle, during which his observations of geology and wildlife, especially in the Galápagos Islands, shaped his thinking. In 1859 he published On the Origin of Species, proposing that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors through the process he termed natural selection. The theory transformed the biological sciences and became the unifying framework of modern biology. He continued to publish influential works, including The Descent of Man (1871). Darwin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and is buried in Westminster Abbey, near Isaac Newton.

Sources: Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 1859 · Janet Browne, Charles Darwin: A Biography (2 vols.), 1995 and 2002