Charles Darwin, an English naturalist (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882)

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Outline Biography

The theory of natural selection Influence of Darwinism

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Biography  1809 : Birth in Shrewsbury  1825 : University of Edinburgh Medical School  1826 : the Plinian society  1827 : Christ’s College in Cambridge

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Biography  1831 – 1836 : The Voyage of the Beagle

 1837 : He settled in London 16/03/2011

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Biography  1838 : Secretary of the Geological Society  January 1839 : Fellow of the Royal Society  January 1839 : Marriage with Emma Wedgwood, his cousin (10 children)  May 1839 : Publication of his Journal and Remarks (The Voyage of the Beagle)  1842 : He settled in Down House in the Kent with his family  May 1842 : Publication of The structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

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Biography  1853 : Royal Society’s Royal Medal  1859 : Publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (On the Origin of Species)  1864 : Royal Society’s Copley Medal  1868 : Publication of The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication  1871 : Publication of The descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to sex  1872 : Publication of The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals  1882 : Death at Down House, burial in Westminster Abbey 16/03/2011

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The theory of natural selection  Preparation for publication     

1842 : Attempt of description in a letter to Lyell 1844 : Letter to Hooker about his basic ideas 1847 : Hooker read his « Essay » 1854 : Resumption of his work on the species question 1858 : Letter from Wallace who described the natural selection  1859 : Publication of On the Origin of Species

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The theory of natural selection  Main points of the theory  Natural selection : selection of the most adapted individuals => variation, adaptation and heredity  Individuals less suited to the environment don’t survive  Individuals more suited to the environment survive and reproduce

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The theory of natural selection  Controversy  Transmission of the acquired characteristics not explained  No mentions about human origins but the public mixed up with Lamarck’s ideas  Famous debate in Oxford during a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

 Support => X Club  Translation in many languages and many reprints 16/03/2011

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Influence of Darwinism  3 followers  Weismann, German biologist : theory of germ selection  Wallace, British naturalist : Publication of Tropical Nature and Other Essays in 1878  Romanes, British naturalist : he defended the notion of the heredity of the acquired characteristics

 2 currents of thought  One related to genetic  Another one more traditional and naturalist 16/03/2011

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Influence of Darwinism  Social Darwinism => popular ideas used to defend some ideologies, even contradictory (colonialism, racism and imperialism)  Commemoration  Darwin College of the University of Cambridge  The Darwin channel  The Port Darwin  Darwin’s finches

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Influence of Darwinism  Cultural influence  A lady fair of lineage high, song from the comic opera Princess Ida  Darwin’s nightmare : documentary film  The time machine and The war of the Worlds by H.G. Wells  The X-men comics  SimLife and Spore : video games

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