Charles Robert Darwin: b. 12 Feb, 1809 – d. 19 Apr, 1882
One of the great names in history on par with that of Einstein or Copernicus, his ideas changed our worldview at a fundamental level challenging us to think about ourselves and the universe we live in very differently.
On February 12th, 1809 C.E., Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. In 1831, he took his famous 5-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle where he observed the dramatic variation of species in the Galapagos Islands- particularly the finches.
He did not invent the theory of evolution. The idea that species evolved (or "transmuted") from one for to another had been around for some time before Darwin. What he did was to document evidence for it better than anyone previously and work out a theory for how it functioned: the theory of natural selection.
At the same time, Alfred Russel Wallace came up with the same mechanism for evolution and nearly beat Darwin to the publishing house. Wallace graciously stepped aside to let Darwin take the lead in putting forth this theory to the world.
February 12th is Darwin Day. A day of celebration initiated by Darwin Day.org, a science education group, advocating the celebration of science- "our most reliable knowledge system."
Want to know more?
Journal Articles
- Kettlewell, H.B.D. 1955. Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the lepidoptera.Heredity, 9:323-342.
- Kettlewell, H.B.D. 1956. Further selection experiments on industrial melanism in the lepidoptera. Heredity, 10:287-301.
- Kettlewell, H.B.D. 1959. Darwin’s missing evidence. Scientific American, 200(3):48-53.
- Polovina, J. 1994. The case of the missing lobsters. Natural History, 103(2):50-59.
- (more information on Kettlewell and the peppered moths)
- Darwin, Charles. 1993. The origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favored races in the struggle for life or [On the origin of species]. New York: Modern Library. BSU call no.: QH365 .O2 1993
- Complete works of Charles Darwin online [ALL his publications, manuscripts, illustrations, etc.]
- Herbert, Sandra. 2005. Charles Darwin, geologist. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. BSU call no.: QE22 .D27 H47 2005
- Darwin’s dangerous idea [videorecording], BSU call no.: DVD VIDEO 603
- Evolution, the evidence for modern ideas on evolution [series title], BSU call no.: DVD Video 2233-2245
- Blog for Darwin
- Darwin Correspondence Project
- U of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology- evolutionary biology and Darwin
- Natural Selection
- Evolution 101 at Berkeley
- Biology Online.org
- PBS Evolution Library
- Definition of “natural selection” from Palomar Community College
- Misconceptions of evolution (Berkeley)
- “Mysterious” panda’s thumb- The panda’s thumb from Athro Limited
- More on Kettlewell & the peppered moths
- Peppered moth/industrial melanism- Online simulation from the Biology Corner
- Peppered moth article from EvoWiki
- "Where the peppered moths rest" from the NCSE
