Charles Darwin
English naturalist and biologist (1809–1882)
Charles Darwin: observations that changed biology
From classrooms to the Beagle
Darwin studied medicine at Edinburgh but did not finish the course, then went to Cambridge. In 1831 he joined HMS Beagle for a voyage lasting about five years. Collecting and observing plants, animals and fossils gave him material that later shaped his questions about how species change.
Evidence and a new explanation
Back in Britain, Darwin worked for years on the relationships among living things. In 1858 his ideas on natural selection were presented alongside Alfred Russel Wallace’s; in 1859 he published On the Origin of Species. The Natural History Museum explains how evidence from geography and variation helped him argue for evolution by natural selection.
An expanding scientific legacy
Darwin later examined human evolution in The Descent of Man and continued studying plants and other organisms. His work altered biological research well beyond the original debate over species. After his death in 1882, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, whose memorial account records his scientific standing and final resting place.
Data and sources
Natural History Museum — Charles Darwin ↗