Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin has been the centre of many controversies since his publication of the Origin of Species,  which was credited for introducing the theory of evolution to the public.

During his early years, Darwins father, Robert, considered his son to be a failure as a young man. He convinced young charles to enter into medical school, however Darwin showed no interest and was in fact uncomfortable with the sight of blood.

Darwin actually married his first cousin Emma Wedgewood.  They were married for a total of 43 years prior to Darwin's death. They had a total of 10 children. 2 of which unfourtunately died in infancy and one that passed away at the age of 10 years old.

Prior to publishing the Origin of Species Darwin took part in a five year expedition to the Galapagos Islands on the ship Beagle. During this expedition Darwin had the opportunity to study thousands of different species and their particular adaptations.

However, Darwins ideas were not completely new and revolutionary, evolutionary concepts like his were circulating around academia during the late 1850's. In fact  British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace also had come up with a similar theory and had been credited with the discovery jointly with Darwin. Later Darwin was mostly credited with the discovery because he defined evolution and adaptation in more detail than Wallace.

Contrary to what we might think today, the reaction to Darwin's publications was not a dramatic one at all. Moreover The president of the Linnean Society said in May 1859 that there had been no big discoveries in the past year. It was not until later that controversy erupted over the evolutionary theory.

Today especially in western cultures, Darwin is considered the pinnacle of Atheism. A symbol that represents the progress of science and backwardness of religion. By religious sects evolution is seen as a threat to tradition and their children. However, for the majority of his life, Charles Darwin was a convential catholic man. It was his relationship with the church and his fear of their reaction that caused Darwin to hestitate so long before publishing his work. Later on in his life Darwin proclaimed that he was an agnostic.

For the majority of Darwin's adult life he was plagued with several dieases that at times incapacitated him. Some speculate that this was a result of the stress of the theory and worrying about how it

After his death in 1882, Darwin was buried at Westminster Abbey, in the same area as Sir. Isaac Newton. This particular fact was a suprise to me, as I am sure it is to some of you. I had assumed that due to his controversial works and conflict with the church that he would have not been buried in such a sacred place.

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