He is credited with changing our thinking about the natural world and our place in it, but how much do you know about the great Briton? Here are some useful and interesting facts about Charles Darwin, one of the most prolific scientists in the UK.
10. The church apologized to him
When Darwin's work on evolutionary theory came out, the church loudly attacked him. Now, 126 years after his death, the Church of England apologized to Darwin:
“Charles Darwin: 200 years have passed since you were born, and the Church of England must apologize for misunderstanding you.” We try to practice the old virtues of the “faith in search of understanding” and hope that this will correct the situation. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem lies not only in your religious opponents, but also in those who falsely require you to support your own interests. A good religion should work constructively with a good science, but the converse can also be true.».
9. Since childhood, fond of collecting
Darwin discovered his passion for collecting beetles while still at school, having started collecting his first copies. Later, when he was already studying at the University of Edinburgh, he was seriously interested in hunting and began to make stuffed animals, which, in fact, also began to collect.
8. Teachers considered him incapable of learning.
The point is not that the future revolutionary in biology was stupid, but that it was banal to him to study the school curriculum when you can spend time on your collections or other classes. It was because of this laziness that teachers believed that anyone would grow out of a boy, but not a scientist. It is noteworthy that Darwin did not even have a biological education: he, in fact, was self-taught.
7. Lost faith in God
In fact, Darwin was a rather religious person when he began his journey on the Beagle (he had only finished his studies at the Theological Academy). On board the ship, Darwin, as you know, quoted Bible passages for rowdy sailors.
But something happened during the trip that made him less religious. Darwin saw firsthand the slavery, as well as the miserable living conditions of the local inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, and wondered why God allowed such inhuman manifestations of cruelty. Darwin was skeptical of history in the Old Testament, but still believed in the existence of God.
Darwin finally lost faith when his daughter Annie became ill with scarlet fever and died at 10. He wrote: "We have lost the joy of the family and the comfort of our old age ... ".
Since then, Darwin, although he continued to help the local church in parish work, went for a walk while his family attended church on Sundays. When asked about his religious views, Darwin denied that he was an atheist, but called himself an agnostic.
6. Participated in an expedition to South America
The captain of the Beagle ship Robert Fitzroy was about to go on a research expedition to South America, but he was afraid of the stress and loneliness of such a voyage (these factors made the previous captain of the ship commit suicide).
Thus, Fitzroy asked his superiors for a well-educated companion who was to become an unpaid naturalist, whom he could regard as an equal. Professors at Cambridge then recommended 22-year-old Charles Darwin for the trip.
At first, Charles's father Robert objected to the appointment - in the end, such a trip would take years and prevent him from being a clergyman. But Darwin's uncle was able to convince him not only to let his son go, but also to support him financially.
5. Once ate an owl
Darwin was a curious man. Of course, he was curious about nature and all living things, but he also loved to eat. Therefore, when he saw strange animals, he often wondered what they would taste like. Many people think about it, but the difference between Darwin and the rest is that he not only fantasized, but also ate what he thought was interesting.
While he was studying at Cambridge University, Darwin joined the Gourmet Club, which met once a week to eat animals that are not often found on the menu, such as a hawk, for example. However, his zeal for strange food intensified when he tasted an old brown owl, which he found “indescribable”.
This episode did not put an end to Darwin's strange gastronomic inclinations. While sailing on the Beagle, he ate armadillos and ago (rodents were “the best meat I've ever tasted", he said).
In Patagonia, South America, Darwin ate a puma (tastes like veal) and an ostrich-like bird called Rhea. In fact, Darwin was looking for exactly this kind of Rey, but found that he had been eating it all this time. He sent the half-eaten parts to the Zoological Society in London, which named the bird of Ray Darwin in his honor!
In the Galapagos, Darwin ate iguanas and giant turtles. He liked it so much that he loaded 48 of them aboard the Beagle so that they would be eaten on the way back!
4. Was against slavery
“On August 19, we finally left the coast of Brazil. I thank God and will never visit the land of slaves again. To this day, if I hear a distant scream, it enlivens my feelings with painful brightness when I drove past the house near Pernambuco, where I heard the most miserable groans and could not help suspecting that some poor slave had been tortured, but knew that I was as helpless as a child, and could not help. I suspected that these moans were from a tortured slave, because I was told that this happens all the time. Next to Rio de Janeiro, I lived opposite an old woman who used screws to crush the fingers of her slaves. I stayed in a house where a young domestic mulatto, daily and hourly, was insulted, beaten and humiliated so much that it would destroy the spirit of any animal. I saw a little boy, six or seven years old, hit the slave three times with a whip (before I could intervene) in his naked head for handing me a glass of not quite clear water».
This is not the whole list of Darwin's memoirs about that time, but this is enough to understand why he hated slavery.
3. Sent about 14 thousand letters to scientists around the world
In total, over 14,500 letters were written and sent to them, but if we take the facts, then far from all of them were addressed to scientists. Darwin loved to write and enjoyed it: he could sit at the table for hours with a pen in his hand. It is known that he corresponded with 2,000 people from around the world with whom he shared his thoughts, and from them received new information for himself.
2. Published 15 volumes of letters from Darwin
Given the number of letters he wrote, 15 volumes are not so many. This project, succinctly titled "Correspondence of Darwin”, Was launched in 1974, and now letters are actively digitized and transferred to electronic form. Darwin's largest online correspondence library is at Cambridge University.
1. Creator of the theory of evolution
Darwinism causes heated debate even now, but imagine what a sensation in scientific (and not only) circles this theory caused at the time of its appearance?
Interestingly, when mentioning this theory, the phrase “The Strongest Survives” often pops up, the author of which is considered Darwin, although in fact it was Herbert Spencer, a philosopher and contemporary of Charles.
After reading Darwin's book On the Origin of Species, Spencer wrote Principles of Biology in 1864. He coined the phrase "survival of the fittest”And expanded the Darwinian theory of natural selection in the fields of sociology, ethics, and economics.
Darwin himself used this phrase in his 5th edition of Origins and paid tribute to Spencer. Now Spencer is remembered by a few, so even his ideas are often attributed to Darwin, and not just expressions.