Who was Charles Darwin?
- Born: 12 February 1809, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire
- Parents: A doctor called Robert Darwin and his wife, Susannah Darwin
- Died: 19 April 1882, at Down House, Kent
- Job: Naturalist and Geologist
- Famous for: His book on his 'Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection'
Charles Darwin was born into a middle-class Victorian family. He wasn’t sure what job he wanted to do, so for a short time Charles went to medical school, then started studying for the Church instead.
However, Charles' true interest was in biology and natural history. In 1831, he was recommended for a job as a naturalist on the HMS Beagle, a ship that was about to leave on a five-year scientific voyage. This trip was an important turning point for Charles. After he returned to England in 1836, he told his sister that he had an ‘interest for the rest of his life’. Charles now saw his future as a scientist.
Life in London
After working as a geologist in Cambridge, Charles moved to London. He married his cousin, Emma Wedgewood, in 1839, and they lived at a house on Gower Street. It was decorated with lots of colours and filled with Charles' collection of geological specimens. Charles and Emma called the house ‘Macaw Cottage’ because of its bright colour scheme.
Charles was surprised to find that he liked living in London, however he became very ill and suffered with sickness and tiredness that meant he and Emma stopped going out. During this time, Charles did manage to go to scientific meetings and was the secretary for the Geological Society. He also published two books: The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, and The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, which were inspired by his travels on the ship. He also started to work on his theories of evolution.
A family home
Down House was Charles' home for 40 years. He moved there with his wife Emma and their children in 1842 and lived there until his death in 1882. They had 10 children in total, although three of them sadly died in childhood.
Charles used the landscape surrounding his home to help with his scientific research, making observations of the nature he saw around him, and his daily walks were important thinking time. But Down House wasn’t just a place for Charles to work – life there was fun as well. He and Emma had a happy family life with their children. They played music, read books and played games like backgammon.
Living Laboratory
Down House and its gardens were the perfect home for Charles. It was a peaceful place filled with opportunities to study nature in the countryside. Charles studied almost all areas of Down House – including the gardens, small woodland areas, hedgerows, meadows and even the lawns! All of these areas became a kind of ‘living laboratory’ for Charles to test his theories using experiments.
Charles' ‘thinking path’, called The Sandwalk, inspired him in another way. It was the perfect place for him to observe nature, think about puzzles and challenges and plan experiments while he walked. Charles also had help from family and friends, especially the children who often worked on projects with their father. They helped care for his pigeons, monitored seedlings, counted bees and lots more too.
Pollination partners
One experiment that Charles carried out in the meadow behind the house involved placing netting over some patches of a flowering plant called red clover. The netting stopped any bees from reaching the clover. Other patches were left uncovered and open for the bees. Charles saw that the patches of plants visited by the bees produced large amounts of seeds, whereas the ones that were covered did not produce any at all.
By doing this experiment, Charles had shown that the red clover plants depended on the bees visiting and pollinating them to produce seed to grow more plants. Because of this connection, anything that affected the bees would also affect the survival of the clover plants.
Starting an evolution
Charles Darwin is famous because of his 'Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection'. His theory had two main points. Firstly, Charles wanted to find out how plants and animals changed to suit their environment over a long period of time. Secondly, he wanted to show how all living things struggle to exist, with the fittest surviving and passing on useful traits to their offspring. For all of this to work, Charles also had to prove that the world was much older than people believed at that time.
Charles was able to test his theories through experiments at Down House. He wrote down his findings in his famous book, On the Origin of Species, which explained the idea that species of animals and plants evolved over time.
A lasting legacy
When Charles published his book, lots of people disagreed with him. They especially didn’t like the idea that humans, apes and monkeys are related, which Charles wrote about in his second book, The Descent of Man, which was published in 1871.
Today evolution is generally accepted as fact and Charles Darwin is thought of as a great scientist. His work and dedication to scientific research is celebrated each year on Darwin Day, which is on 12 February, Charles Darwin’s birthday.
Discover more about Charles Darwin with these videos!
Natural curiosity
Charles Darwin loved his garden. He carried out observations and experiments in his greenhouse to see how plants compete and adapt to changing circumstances, and recorded his investigations in an ‘Experiment Book’. Here are three of the experiments Charles conducted at Down House that you can try at home.
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Grow your own jungle
A terrarium is a small glass container with plants inside. Try making your own with some small plants such as succulents, ferns or moss.
🔎 Watch them grow and fill the space.
🔎 How fast do the different plants grow?
🔎 Which plants are more successful? -
Friendly flycatcher
Try growing a cape sundew at home – these small carnivorous (meat-eating) plants will fit on a windowsill and catch flies on their sticky tendrils! Keep them well-watered and warm.
🔎 Record how many flies the sundew catches.
🔎 Does changing its location make a difference? -
Seed Sailors
Can seeds cross oceans? Soak cress seeds in salty water (the 'sea'), then sprinkle them onto compost. In another pot, add some seeds that haven't been soaked – this is called a control.
🔎 Which seeds germinate first?
🔎 How do salt-soaked seeds compare to no salt?
