CHARLES DARWIN
...t but now he is also known as the grandfather of Charles Darwin. Charles was the fifth child of a wealthy and sophisticated family. During his college years he went to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine, but after two years of medicine he dropped out in 1827. After that, he entered the University of Cambridge, the same school his grand father attended, this time in pursuit of becoming a clergyman for the Church of England. At the age of 22 Charles graduated and was taken aboard the ship HMS Beagle. This was an English survey ship that circumnavigated the world on which Darwin served as an unpaid naturalist for the government’s exploring expedition. Darwin's job gave him the opportunity to observe the various geological formations, a huge variety of fossils, living organisms, and much more. In his observations, Darwin was most impressed with how natural forces had shaped the earth's surface. Charles agreed and was familiar with the viewpoint of Sir Charles Lyell about how the Earth’s surface is under going constant change. But during his voyage he realized that his observations on the Beagle cast a doubt on the view supported by Lyell that species were specially created. For example, he found that living species resembled certain fossils of the same area. In 1836, after returning to England, Darwin in his notebooks on Transmutation of Species recorded his thoughts on the changes of species. Later these thoughts lead to his theories on natural selection which he worked on for the next twenty years. Emma Wedgwood was Darwin’s first cousin and in 1839 she became his wife. Soon after the marriage they moved outside of England. Darwin had ten children of which three died in infancy. In addition, throughout his life he was independently wealthy so he never had to earn an income. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection mainly had to do with “the survival of the fittest”. The young that survive, tend to embody favorable natural variations to the next generation. Even though the advantage may be vary slight. The process of natural selection and these variations are passed on by heredity. As a result, each generation will advance over the preceding generations. This gradual and continuous process is the source of the evolution of species according to Darwin. Darwin had long been working on a theory of evolution when he received a letter from his friend, A.R. Wallace, who had developed the same theory. He was willing to give preference to his friend’s theory but after advice from friends both papers were read at meeting in London and also published together. Then Darwin developed his theories into his book, The Origin of Species. The book was frequently referred to as the "book that shook the world," the Origin sold out on the first day of publication and afterward went through six editions. This book created great controversy since the work was viewed as goi...