10 Things You Didn't Know About Charles Robert Darwin
by Liza Lentini
1. Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809. Today, his
interest in plant life would have rendered little Charles a genius,
but back in Darwin’s day his teachers felt such studies were
superfluous, and discouraged his interest in natural world around him.
2. Forced to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a
physician, Darwin enrolled in the University of Edinburgh in 1825 to
study medicine – but quickly changed his course after becoming
sick upon the first sight of blood.
3. There were two major obstacles that nearly derailed Darwin’s
first scientific expedition, (1831 – 1836), to South America,
Australia and Africa aboard the HMS Beagle. The first one was his
father, who, ironically, feared that his son’s scientific
inclinations would overturn a respectable career as a clergyman. (He
was right.) The second, intense seasickness, was combated early enough
for Darwin to collect an overwhelming number of samples, requiring two
ships to haul them all back.
4. While aboard the Beagle, Darwin predicted the existence of an
insect he actually didn’t find, deducing that a great-white
orchid he’d seen in Madagascar could only be pollinated by a bug
with a foot-long proboscis - an elongated appendage from an
animal’s head. It took twenty years for the “bug”
(a hawk moth) to be found – and named Xanthopan morganii
praedicta.
5. Great minds may think alike, but that’s no explanation for
Darwin and Einstein both marrying their first cousins. On January 29,
1839 Darwin married his cousin, Emma Wedgewood. (Einstein’s
cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, would be his second wife.)
6. Clearly you’ve heard of Darwin’s groundbreaking book,
“On the Origin of Species” (1859), which sold out its
entire first edition in one day. But have you heard of the
book’s full title, “On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the
Struggle for Life?” Say that ten times fast.
7. When you think of evolutionary theories, you immediately think of
Darwin. However, as Darwin was developing his theory, so was another
scientist named Alfred Wallace, who conducted his studies in Papua New
Guinea. Darwin simply beat Wallace when it came to publishing his
research.
8. Scientist Richard Owen (perhaps best known for inventing the word
“Dinosaur”) had worked closely with Darwin studying
fossil specimens in the early stages of their careers, but later, like
many of his peers, openly disagreed with his one-time partner’s
Theory of Evolution.
9. The disease that ultimately caused Darwin’s death on April
19, 1882 was never diagnosed during his lifetime, but today it is
believed he caught Chagas Disease, a parasitic infection he contracted
via a South American bug bite.
10. In 2000, Darwin’s iconic image replaced another famous
Charles (Dickens) on England’s 10-pound note.
Liza Lentini is a playwright, essayist, and frequent contributor to Discover magazine's popular "20 Things You Didn't Know About..." column.
