CHARLES DARWIN (Science):

Born 1809, died 1882.

Darwin first studied medicine at Edinburgh University and then Theology at Cambridge.

However, at university he became very interested in natural history and when he finished his studies, spent 5 years on The Beagle, a ship dedicated to geological study and research. He collected a large number of living organisms, many of them new to science.

When on the Galapagos Islands, he noticed that birds of the same species from different islands had different features and characteristics depending on their surroundings, which inspired him to develop his theories on natural selection. The fourteen different species of finches that he discovered on these islands are now known as ‘Darwin’s Finches’.

He published several scientific works during his life, in the most famous of which, The Origin of the Species, he proposes and provides scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection.

His theory, although controversial at the time due to its direct opposition to the theological creation story, now provides the basis of modern evolutionary theory.