Darwin, Charles
English Naturalist 1809-1882
Charles Darwin was probably the most influential scientist of the nineteenth century. He is best known for his revolutionary ideas that species transmute, or evolve, by means of the primary mechanism of natural selection, ideas he set forth in his great work On the Origin of Species in 1859. This work shaped intellectual, political, and philosophical attitudes of the nineteenth century and fundamentally transformed humanity's understanding of its origins in terms of natural rather than supernatural causes. Though deemed controversial, his ideas continued to hold sway through the twentieth century. For these reasons, he is generally regarded as not only one of the great figures of the history of science, but also one of the great figures of the western intellectual tradition.
Early Life and Background
Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England, into a wealthy, distinguished family. His paternal grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a physician who delved into many subjects, including poetry, and who made one of the early statements in support of transmutation, or the belief that species are changeable and not fixed. His father was Robert Waring Darwin, an equally successful physician, who practiced in Shrewsbury.
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