Because he
is at the center of this gigantic controversy, teachers need to know a little bit about
Charles Darwin. This discourse is about Darwin the person; not his theory. From this
description you will see that he was a "normal kid" -- potentially smart, but by his own
assesment, somewhat lazy. You might say some of your students class to have these
characteristics. Like many elementary teachers, Darwin did not have much "formal"
science training, yet, from the ages of 22-27 he established the groundwork for his
evolutionary idea.
He was born on the same day as Abraham Lincoln, to prestigious English parents. His father was a physician and his mother's family were the Wedgewoods; the distinctive pottery makers. For a time Charles studied medicine (Edinburgh), but received his BA degree from Cambridge where he studied for the clergy.
Darwin recalls that as a youngster he was somewhat of a "naughty boy," (8;p 3) who had a great interest in collecting things (shells, minerals, beetles, coins, etc.). He loved geometric proofs but as an adult, regretted that he too impatient to pursue more mathematics. He also doubted his ability to truly succeed in that discipline, and was sorry for his overall lack of higher math skills.
Charles greatly enjoyed chemistry because it showed him the practical meaning of experimental science. In the study of life science, he thought it not was right to kill an insect just for the sake of making a collection specimen. Likewise, he hated dissection. Again, as an adult he wished that someone would have forced to do more of it because it would have greatly aided his making comparisons of anatomy.
Darwin thought that he would inherit enough family properties and be financially set for life. Because of this, there was often an absence of a driving force to become a scholar whose knowledge base would lead him to economic survival. Perhaps he spent too much time shooting, hunting, playing cards, drinking and singing, but then he notes that those were activites from which he derived much pleasure.(8)
Much of his knowledge of the sciences came from informal associations with those interested in science, like the great geologists,
Adam Sedgwick ( l785-l873: 88 yo ) -- 24 years older than he, and later,
Charles
Lyell ( l797-l875: 78 yo ) -- 12 years older.
On a trip with Sedgwick the realization occurred "... though I had read various scientific books, that science consists in grouping facts so that general laws or conclusions may be drawn from them." (8; p. l3)
John Henslow ( l795-l86l: 66 yo ) -- 14 years older, a professor at Cambridge, became a friend and another tutor to the sciences. Henslow helped him boost his confidence and taught him how to use well-balanced judgment to draw conclusions after prolonged, minute observation.
Darwin was a 22 year old unemployed college graduate when he heard that the Captain of the H.M.S. Beagle needed a naturalist (scientist) for a five year cruise of the world. It is unfortunate that textbook pictures of Darwin show an old white-hair man seated in a chair, when it was a handsome, energetic, daring, youthful person who is responsible for the acute observations that lead to a remarkable idea. Remember, he was not formally trained as a scientist, but at that time few people were because most universities did not grant such degrees.
Darwin's father was against the trip but an uncle favored the venture and lobbied on his behalf. Armed only with Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, and boyish enthusiasm, Darwin boarded the ship for l,740 day trip on which he spent much of time with motion sickness. Add to that misery the fact that he was a volunteer so there was no salary.
(note: the trip was -- December 27, l83l - October 2, l836 -- about l739 days (?) since leap years did not exist in l832 ...)
Captain Robert Fitzroy shared quarters with Darwin and was a staunch creationist. Fitzroy had an enormous temper that was matched only by his power of forgivness. The arguments and subsequent periods of truce led to a tension-filled voyage. After the trip, Fitzroy never forgave Darwin for writing his ideas that opposed the teachings of the Bible. Robert Fitzroy committed suicide and died penniless because he was too generous with his pension.
Nothing is probably discussed more and studied less than Darwin's ideas. Using convincing circumstantial evidence, Darwin tried to show that living things did not always have the same form as they do today.
He co-authored
a short article about evolution in July l858 with another Englishman, Alfred Russell
Wallace ( l823-l9l3: 90 yo ) -- 14 years younger.
I believe an editor took the best parts of two articles the men presented and 'wrote' the co-authored article. I'm sure the two men didn't sit down stylus to stylus and word process the paper.
Learning that
Wallace had independently discovered the same concepts regarding evolution, Darwin
wrote to Lyell. Darwin said that he was not quite ready to publish his ideas, but Lyell
urged him to before Wallace beat him to it. Darwin didn't want to publish first just to
be first.
He wanted to wait. Finally, Charles rushed to finish the manuscript when he received a letter from Wallace which caused him to sigh, "I have never seen a more striking example of coincidence. ... thus my originality, whatever it may mean, will be destroyed" (if Wallace publishes first).