Critical Thinkers in history – Charles Darwin

Critical Thinkers in history

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. In 1831, he embarked on a five-year journey around the world.

His studies of specimens around the globe led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection. In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species.

Darwin came from a long line of scientists. His father, Dr. R.W. Darwin, was as a medical doctor, and his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, was a renowned botanist. Darwin’s mother, Susanna, died when he was only 8 years old. Darwin was a child of wealth and privilege who loved to explore nature.

At age 16, Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University. Two years later, Charles Darwin became a student at Christ's College in Cambridge. His father hoped he would follow in his footsteps and become a medical doctor, but the reason why he actually would not apart from his love to natural history was the the sight of blood did not make him feel very well.

Darwin's exposure to specimens all over the globe raised important questions. Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. In either case, the species were believed to remain much the same throughout time. Darwin, however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading him to believe that they had gradually evolved from common ancestors. He came to believe that species survived through a process called "natural selection," where species that successfully adapted to meet the changing requirements of their natural habitat thrived, while those that failed to evolve and reproduce died off.

This is what we still believe today as the theory of evolution.

The reasons why i think Darwin is a critical thinker is because of how he was able just by looking at species from his journey from all around the world that they where similar but also different. Also by being the first one on drifting apart from the original beliefs.

When he published his studies he did not say that we human beings come from monkeys, he said the we have a common ancestor. This was a good move from his part.

Following a lifetime of devout research, Charles Darwin died at his family home, Down House, in London.

During the next century, DNA studies revealed evidence of his theory of evolution, although controversy surrounding its conflict with Creationism—the religious view that all of nature was born of God, which we still see today.

Darwin as a critical thinker, scientist and also a catholic was able to put his beliefs into the right place and allow science to also come into the picture, HE WAS OPEN MINDED TO IT.