Charles Darwin

Biography

Darwin joined the Beagle survey voyage at 22, and observations of Galápagos finches and fossils seeded his theory. He waited more than 20 years — gathering evidence and steeling himself for controversy — before publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859. It sold out on its first day.

English naturalist whose voyage on HMS Beagle and two decades of patient evidence-gathering produced biology's unifying theory.

Known for

The theory of evolution by natural selection.

Notable works & defining projects

• On the Origin of Species
• The Descent of Man
• The Voyage of the Beagle

Notable achievements

• Published On the Origin of Species (1859), establishing evolution by natural selection
• His Beagle voyage collections (1831-1836) founded his reputation as a geologist and naturalist
• Buried in Westminster Abbey, near Isaac Newton

Timeline

1. 1831Sailed on HMS Beagle's five-year survey voyage
2. 1859Published On the Origin of Species
3. 1882Died at Down House and was buried in Westminster Abbey

Did you know?

• He first studied medicine at Edinburgh, then theology at Cambridge, before natural history won
• He married his cousin Emma Wedgwood and they had ten children