This short biography of Charles Darwin provides a brief overview of his personal life, but concentrates on presenting his main intellectual contributions, including, of course, the theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Short Biography of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born February 12, 1809, in the town of Shrewsbury, in the county of Shropshire in England, he died April 19, 1882, in the town of Down, in the county of Kent, England.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is one of the most important scientific theories ever to have been discovered. Its importance arises from providing an explanation for the origin of species without having to posit a divine creator.

The theory of evolution came to Charles Darwin after a voyage of discovery comparable to those undertaken by Columbus or Magellan. But more of that later, for now we follow his biography in sequence and begin with his early life.

Charles Darwin's early life

In this biography we want to concentrate on Charles Darwin's ideas, so we will produce only a short account of his early life. Darwin had a very fortunate start to life by being born into a rich family. Unlike Michael Faraday, poverty and the necessity of earning a living were never to be his lot. Charles Darwin was the son of Robert Darwin, a rich society doctor, and Susannah Wedgwood, the daughter of the famous pottery industrialist Josiah Wedgwood. Darwin's other grandfather was the famous intellectual Erasmus Darwin. But being rich did not save Charles Darwin from the trials of the British public school system.

Charles Darwin hated the rote learning of Classics that was imposed on him at Shrewsbury public school between 1818 and 1825, and he was made fun of by teachers and pupils for his interest in chemistry. Somehow, Darwin managed to retain his fascination with science, and went up to Edinburgh to study medicine. But he was also interested in theology, and moved to Cambridge, to train as a clergyman. However, he spent much of his time at Cambridge frequenting society balls, picnics, country sports and gambling. Hardly pursuits befitting a man of the cloth, or, far that matter, a dedicated scientist. Fortunately, his disparate ways were curtailed by a change of circumstance that left him with nothing but science and exploration to fall back on for entertainment.

The Voyage of the Beagle

Charles Darwin's love of adventure, and a desire to escape the responsibilities of the church, led him to volunteer for the post of naturalist on the voyage of the Beagle at the age of 22. The expedition was to take five years, and Darwin was seasick for much of it. But he performed his responsibilities assiduously, and collected many specimens of insects, flowers and lizards in South America. His notebook, available in full online, was full of impressive detail and gives a good indication of his talent as a biologist.

After many adventures, including monkeys, earthquakes, giant fossils and volcanic eruptions, Charles Darwin and the Beagle arrived in the Galapagos. It had taken three and half years for the Beagle to reach these far-flung islands, lying hundreds of miles off the west coast of Chile. Their amazing variety of fauna and flora were to captivate Darwin for the rest of his life.

Darwin found all the sixty one Galapagos islands to be very strange. Besides the multitudinous variety of minutely differing species, the animals were amazingly docile. For instance, Darwin was able to saunter up to a hawk and touch it with his gun barrel. In exploring these magnificent islands Darwin became totally dedicated to the study of nature, and any other intellectual or professional pursuits now became very much less important to him. On returning to England, he declined any attempt by his father to force him into a career in the Anglican Church.

Charles Darwin back in England

On his return, Charles Darwin looked closely at the mockingbirds, tortoises, finches and other species he had studied in the Galapagos. He found it remarkable that different islands had similar, but quite distinct, species filling the same niche. These different species, he thought, could have evolved from a common ancestor.

Darwin also spotted similarities between Argentine fossils of giant, armour-plated megatheres and tiny, modern armadillos. These nudged him towards the idea of evolution in time, supplementing his observations of the different species in the Galapagos that had provided evidence for evolution through their separation in space.

For the rest of his life, Darwin was far from a gentleman of leisure. He spent his time supplementing the knowledge gained from the voyage of the Beagle with intense study, the writing of letters to experts, and the badgering of sailors and explorers for more information about strange creatures from distant lands. 

Charles Darwin & Down House

Darwin even applied scientific analysis to the question of whether he should marry. This involved him making a list of pros and cons, and finally deciding marriage would be a good thing. He married his cousin Emma Wedgwood, and they retired to Down House (close to London) where Darwin became a recluse and used the house and grounds as a laboratory.

In Down House, the correspondence of Charles Darwin stretched to fourteen thousand letters. These mostly contained closely argued disputations with scientist friends like Thomas Huxley and Charles Lyall. But he also sought help from those involved in practical animal husbandry, like pigeon fanciers. 

His children became objects of close study, and he compared their emotional reaction to those of monkeys in the local zoos. In the grounds, he bred pigeons, grew seeds, observed bees, tracked earthworms, and counted blades of grass. Like many great men, he spent a lot of time walking while contemplating the mysteries of universe. He even had a thinking path in the grounds of Down House. 

It was in this "home brewed laboratory", after decades of work, that the theory of evolution by natural selection was given its final formulation.

Influences on Charles Darwin

Lamarck's Philosiophie Zoologique (1809) was a significant influence on Charles Darwin, but had major flaws. It was marred by the assumption that the Earth was only a few thousand years old, but its major error was assuming that characteristics acquired in a lifetime could be inherited.

Before Darwin, Robert Chambers suggested all creatures could have evolved from a simpler form. Like Darwin, he used fossil evidence to support his case. But he thought that new animals emerged through 'monstrous birth', so a sheep might give birth to a peacock. Darwin suggested he was lacking in observational evidence and scientific caution. The public scorn that Chambers suffered made Darwin wary of publishing until he had all his facts in order.

There were many other evolutionary theories. One, quoted in Origin as due to W. C. Wells, points out that livestock is improved by farmers selecting the fittest specimens. But it needed Darwin to extend this notion to suggest that evolution involved the natural selection of all species.

Darwin was forced into publication when he was sent an essay by Alfred Russell Wallace that proposed a theory of evolution identical to his own. He very generously agreed to a joint publication with Wallace, even though Darwin's work was far more substantial and had come about at an earlier date. But Wallace was the spur that shocked him into writing the Origin.

The book was a bestseller and caused a furore in intellectual circles. It had much support from the leading men of science, including Huxley and Lyall. But reactionary figures attempted to mount an opposition to it. At a meeting in 1860, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce asked Huxley on which side of the family he claimed descent from an ape. Huxley replied he would rather have an ape for a grandfather than a man who tried to obscure important scientific discussion through religious prejudice and false rhetoric.

Charles Darwin's social theories

Throughout the 1860s the theory of natural selection was applied to society. Wallace, a Socialist, thought it strengthened cooperation, but advocates of social Darwinism complained that modern civilization protected the “unfit”. Francis Galton suggested that stupidity and genius were inherited and that “eugenics” (sterilising the stupid!) could improve humanity. Darwin capped these discussions with his book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). He discussed human origins from monkeys, which led to a spate of caricatures. But he added that natural selection of beauty and aesthetic preferences could account for the glory of the human races.

Some Darwinists were upset by the negative implications of "survival of the fittest". For instance, Wallace became a spiritualist, thinking that ghostly forces were moving humanity toward perfection. Darwin attended a séance with Galton and the novelist George Eliot in 1874 and was appalled at “such rubbish”. He later funded the prosecution of the medium Henry Slade.

In 1872 Darwin expanded the theory of evolution to give an account of the development of emotions. In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals(1872) he showed the continuity of emotions and expressions between humans and animals.

Darwin the man

Throughout the 1870s, and 80s, at the height of his fame, Charles Darwin was ever thoughtful about his family, friends, colleagues and supposed competitors. He raised money to send his fatigued "bulldog", T.H. Huxley, on holiday. His pestering led to the cash-strapped Wallace being added to the Civil List. The Harvard philosopher John Fiske, visited him in Down House and found him “the dearest, sweetest, loveliest old grandpa that ever was.”

During this time Darwin composed an autobiography for his grandchildren, but not for publication. It stressed his dislike for many Christian myths, especially those involving eternal torment. But when people asked about his religious beliefs, he replied that he was an agnostic.

His final work, reflecting his modesty as much as his greatness, was The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms (1881). It gave an account of the transformation of vast landscapes by humble creatures, reflecting his own monumental transformation of the landscape of thought.

Charles Darwin died of a heart attack on April 19, 1882, and Galton pushed for the Royal Society to request a state funeral. This campaign was successful, and Darwin was buried in Westminster Abbey after Huxley had persuaded the church authorities that that an agnostic had a right to be buried there.