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The Autobiography of Charles Darwin From the Life and Letters of Charles Darwin
by Charles Darwin.
This is the autobiography of one of the most influential people of the modern age. This was taken from writings and letters that Darwin wrote for his family, edited by his son Francis Darwin, and published posthumously.
Table of Contents
01- About this book
02- PREFACE
03- CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831
04- VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836
05- FROM MY RETURN
This is the autobiography of one of the most influential people of the modern age. This was taken from writings and letters that Darwin wrote for his family, edited by his son Francis Darwin, and published posthumously.
Table of Contents
01- About this book
02- PREFACE
03- CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831
04- VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836
05- FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND TO MY MARRIAGE
06- FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET
07- RESIDENCE AT DOWN FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 1842, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1876
08- MY SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS
09- WRITTEN MAY 1ST, 1881
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selec
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in natural history while studying medicine at Edinburgh University, then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell’s uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.
His 1859 book
On the Origin of Species
established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual selection in
The Descent of Man
, and
Selection in Relation to Sex
, followed by
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
In recognition of Darwin’s pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.