Charles Darwin Bicentennial
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Next year, 2009, is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth in Shrewsbury on February 12th, and it will also be 150 years since The Origin of the Species was first published. Of course it was as a result of his famous voyage on board HMS Beagle and his long stay in the Galapagos Islands that he developed his famous theories on Evolution. Through his meticulous observation and innovative thinking he determined that the only explanation for the origin of the species and the huge variety of living things is that evolution is driven by natural selection. Species most suited to their environment survive and reproduce and pass on their advantages to their offspring. Darwin challenged the creationist-led thinking of the day and instead concluded that every living thing is related and belongs to one big family, placing humans firmly within the natural world. Darwin joined the Beagle when he was only 22. As a boy he was always much more interested in collecting bugs and beetles than his studies, but medicine at Edinburgh University was then followed by theology at Cambridge. However, it was through his lifelong love of natural history that his attention was drawn to biology, and as a result of his research at Cambridge he was recommended for the five-year voyage around the world. Coral reefs, flora, fauna, fossils and rocks - all were collected or observed and meticulously recorded as he travelled across the Atlantic via the Cape Verde Islands to Brazil, southwards to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of Argentina, up the Pacific Coast of Chile to the Galapagos and onwards to Tahiti and finally New Zealand and Tasmania. Armed with all his evidence, once back in England he began to speculate about his problem - the origin of the species - and after five years began to formulate his ideas into some conclusions. However he did not publish his early sketched out thinking until 1858 - only then being prompted to do so because another traveller, Alfred Wallace, seemed to be coming up with some very similar ideas. Both their papers were read at the same time to the Linnaean Society. |
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A year later Darwin finally published his great work The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection -
'I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me; and this was long after I had come to Downe (where he lived in Kent). The solution, as I believe, is that the modified offspring of all dominant and increasing forms tend to become adapted to many and highly diversified places in the economy of nature.' Darwin lived out his life at Downe, enjoying his ten children, his garden and chickens. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Where better to celebrate the bicentennial of this great man than with a trip to the Galapagos. Here nothing can prepare you for the sheer drama of watching nature in action, and scientists are still pondering how such a rich diversity of species could have evolved so far from anywhere else.
Despite two hundred years of fascinated travellers landing up on these remote islands, the Galapagos have survived without being too spoiled and there will be a whole host of activities throughout the year to celebrate his life and work. if you and your family want to experience this incredible country, click here to see our Galapagos Islands trip. See all of our nature trips here. |
