Charles Darwin's Birthday

"... from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved." - Darwin

Charles Darwin was born February 12th, 1809.

Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, probably the most important theory in science, particularly because it relates directly to all life including our own.
A note for any that still may claim that evolution is "only a theory", theory as it is used in science is defined as "a scheme or system of ideas or statements held as an explanation or account of a group of facts or phenomena; a hypothesis that has been confirmed or established by observation or experiment, and is propounded or accepted as accounting for the known facts; a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." (the Oxford English Dictionary)

At 22, Darwin embarked on the voyage of the HMS Beagle. The voyage lasted almost five years and went from Plymouth, in England, all the way around South America, up to the Galapagos Islands, across the Pacific, around Australia, through the Indian Ocean, around Africa and back to England. On this trip he studied geology and collected specimens of flora and fauna. He observed similarities and differences between species. Over the many following years he began to formulate his theory of life.

"I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection." - Darwin

It wasn't until 1859, that he finally published his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is so simple and so elegant that it is surprising that no one thought of it before. It has become the unifying theory of life and is hugely important in the modern sciences of biology and medicine and in agriculture.

Charles Darwin was one of the most important people in science that the world has ever seen. So happy birthday Charles and thank you.

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." - Darwin


For those who don't know much about Darwin or the theory of evolution there are countless books and documentaries that can be referenced. Here is a very short list of some I would recommend:

Books
The Origin of Species - by Charles Darwin
The Greatest Show on Earth - by Richard Dawkins

Documentaries
What Darwin Never Knew - NOVA
Becoming Human - NOVA 3 part series