The 12th February 2009 was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Our member Dan Clery has written his story:

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Charles Darwin, born on the 12th February 200 years ago, came up with what is probably the most important idea in the history of science. He reasoned that plants, animals and all living things are not static and unchanging, remaining as they were made by a divine creator; instead they change subtly from one generation to the next and those that are better suited to whatever environment they find themselves in prosper and reproduce more, while those that are less well suited don’t. In this way, plants and animals gradually change, eventually developing into new species and producing the huge variety of nature that we see today. Darwin’s theory, evolution by natural selection, is at the root of our understanding about life on Earth: it explains why there is such diversity in nature, why we are here, and why we are as we are.

When Darwin graduated from Cambridge University in 1831, there was little sign of the revolutionary that he would eventually become. He was an enthusiastic and good natured young man from a well-to-do family, destined to become a country clergyman. He had, however, developed a passion for natural history, both as a boy and in his student years when he would scour the countryside around Cambridge looking for beetles.

Out of the blue, soon after graduation, one of his professors recommended him for the position of unpaid naturalist on a Royal Navy survey ship. He travelled to London and met Robert Fitzroy, captain of HMS Beagle, who was preparing to survey the coast of South America. Fitzroy was a deeply religious man who hoped that any scientific discoveries made on the expedition would provide evidence for the literal truth of the bible. Darwin was soon signed up and on 27th December 1831 the Beagle set sail from Plymouth.

Darwin suffered terribly from seasickness but when they arrived in Brazil he was overwhelmed by the richness and diversity of life in the rainforest. He spent much time ashore, based in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, while the Beagle mapped the coast of Argentina. He travelled deep into the rainforest collecting specimens and crossed the Argentinean pampas with the local gauchos. He carefully preserved and packed up hundreds of specimens of plants and animals and