Charles Darwin

Also known as Charles Robert Darwin, Charles R. Darwin, C. R. Darwin, Darwin

English naturalist and biologist (1809-1882)

OverviewAI-generated

Charles Robert Darwin was a male geologist, explorer, travel writer, and ethologist from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Born on 12 February 1809 and dying on 19 April 1882, he was educated at Shrewsbury School, Christ's College, the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and the University of Cambridge, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. His notable works include The Origin of Species, The expression of the emotions in man and animals, and The origin of species by means of natural selection or The preservation of favored races in the struggle for life.

Darwin was a member of the Royal Society, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He received the Royal Medal, the Copley Medal, and the Pour le Mérite. He was influenced by Thomas Robert Malthus, John Frederick William Herschel, Herbert Spencer, and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. He was married to Emma Darwin and had children including Anne, Francis, George Howard, and Leonard Darwin. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.

Synthesized by Vinony from 30 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Europeana Sparql, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: 12 February 1809
Died: 19 April 1882
Works: 1971

Top works

The origin of species by means of natural selection
Selected works of Charles Darwin ...
The Origin of Species
The expression of the emotions in man and animals
The origin of species by means of natural selection or The preservation of favored races in the struggle for life

via Open Library + Wikidata

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Robert
Family name: Darwin
Gender: male
Citizenship: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Place of birth: Shrewsbury
Place of death: London
Spouse: Emma Darwin
Father: Robert Darwin
Educated at: University of Edinburgh
Employer: Royal Geographical Society
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: English language in England
Religion: agnosticism
Award: Darwin Medal
Notable work: The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms
Participant in: Second voyage of HMS Beagle
Student of: John Edmonstone
Field of work: zoology
Image: Charles Darwin by Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1868.jpg
Residence: The Mount

Show 26 more facts

place of burial: Westminster Abbey
Commons category: Charles Darwin
member of: Royal Entomological Society
topic's main category: Category:Charles Darwin
date of birth: 1809-02-12
date of death: 1882-00-00
Commons Creator page: Charles Darwin
name in native language: Charles Robert Darwin
Commons gallery: Charles Darwin
influenced by: Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
Y-DNA Haplogroup: Haplogroup R1b
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
author citation (zoology): Darwin
P6944: Charles Darwin
writing language: English language
owner of: Down House
short name: Charles Darwin
has works in the collection: Memoria Chilena
member of the crew of: HMS Beagle
birth name: Charles Robert Darwin
contributed to creative work: Popular Science
collection items at: Bishop Museum
medical condition: myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
P8168: Menger sponge
P12749: taiga
maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Skepticism

Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

18 objects attributed to Charles Darwin, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Orígen de las especies por medio de la selección natural : ó la conservación de las razas favorecidas en la lucha por la existencia

The variation of animals and plants under domestication

The origin of species : by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life

The descent of man and selection in relation to sex

Voyage d'un naturaliste autour du monde : fait a bord du navire Beagle

Mi viaje alrededor del mundo

Reise eines Naturforschers um die Welt Mit vierzehn Holzschnitten

Untitled

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Charles Robert Darwin (/ˈdɑːrwɪn/ DAR-win; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped Robert Edmond Grant to investigate marine invertebrates. His studies at the University of Cambridge's Christ's College from 1828 to 1831 encouraged his passion for natural science. However, it was his five-year voyage on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836 that truly established Darwin as an eminent geologist. The observations and theories he developed during his voyage supported Charles Lyell's concept of gradual geological change. Publication of his journal of the voyage made Darwin famous as a popular author. His first scientific work was The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842). Along with his work on barnacles, it won him the Royal Medal in 1853.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Charles Darwin” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.