![]() ![]() Initially, Darwin's father refused to allow him to go but was eventually persuaded by Charles and even agreed to pay for his passage and for that of his man servant on the journey. Fortunately, John Henslow was able to help him secure a berth on a British Navy mapping expedition that was going around the world on what would ultimately become a nearly five year long voyage. However, Darwin had been exposed to the ideas of Lamarck about evolution earlier while he was a student in Edinburgh.įollowing graduation from Cambridge in 1831 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Darwin was clearly more interested in biology and geology than he was in a clerical career. At this time in his life, Darwin apparently rejected the concept of biological evolution, just as his mentors Sedgwick and Henslow did. He became very interested in the scientific ideas of the geologist Adam Sedgwick and the naturalist John Henslow with whom he spent considerable time collecting specimens from the countryside around the university. In Cambridge his life's direction continued its radical change. Having given up on a medicine as a future career, Charles Darwin's father then sent him to Cambridge University in 1828 to pursue an ordinary degree program with the goal of later becoming an Anglican parson. At Grant's suggestion, Darwin also became a member of Plinian Society for student naturalists at the University of Edinburgh. ![]() However, his knowledge of natural history was incidentally enriched in Edinburgh by the teaching of Robert Grant, a noted professor of anatomy and an avid marine biologist. Darwin dropped out of medical school after two years of study in 1827. Anesthesia was not usedfor operations until 1842. He showed little academic interest in medicine and was revolted by the brutality of surgery being performed without pain relief. Most other occupations were considered somewhat unsavory.Īt his father's direction, Charles Darwin started university at 16 in Edinburgh, Scotland as a medical student. Young men were expected to go to university in order to prepare themselves to become medical doctors, military officers, or clerics in the Church of England. Most were given only enough education to efficiently manage the homes of their future husbands and raise their children. The constraints on women in Darwin's social class were even greater. However, this was a socially conservative time in England that set narrow limits on a young man's behavior and future possibilities. Charles grew up in comparative luxury in a large house with servants. Thereafter, he was raised mostly by his father and doting older sisters. She died when Charles was only 8 years old. His father, Robert, had the largest medical practice outside of London at the time and his mother, Susannah Wedgwood, was from a family of wealthy pottery manufacturers. These ideas were widely considered to be a threat to the established social and political order.Ĭharles Darwin was born into a moderately wealthy family in Shrewsbury, England. This was not easy since the idea of evolution had been strongly associated with radical scientific and political views coming out of post-revolutionary France. However, he carried out the necessary research to conclusively document that evolution has occurred and then made the idea acceptable for scientists and the general public. M ost educated people in Europe and the Americas during the 19th century had their first full exposure to the concept of evolution through the writings of Charles Darwin.
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