History UsefulNotes / CharlesDarwin

!! Appearances in media:

!!Darwin provides examples of:
* [[AdventurerArchaeologist Adventurer Naturalist]] / BoldExplorer: In his earlier years, when he set off on the ''HMS Beagle'' expedition to explore the geology and species of South America and the Galapagos Islands. Given how relatively unexplored many of the regions he visited still were, it certainly took quite a bit of guts to travel them and conduct field research.
* AfraidOfBlood: He had a phobia of blood, which was part of the reason he dropped out of medical school (he didn't really want to be there in the first place but [[WellDoneSonGuy only was because his father wanted him to become a doctor like he was]]).
* AssPull: As Darwin did not know about genetics (Mendel's work was extremely obscure at that point), he presented an extremely half-baked, and obviously wrong, hypothesis about the blending of traits from the two parents. He basically followed this with a brief spiel about everything wrong with this idea and asking someone to do something better.
* BadassBeard: When he was older.
* BadassGrandpa: If science is badass[[note]] - and who dares say that it is not? [[/note]], Sir Charles had one in Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Britain's most-renowned physician of the 18th century, and a brilliant scientist and poet in his own right, and a member of the Lunar Society (which met on the nights of the full moon so that its members could travel to the meetings in relative safety) which boasted such luminaries as James Watt (developer of Steam Engines and the reason why the unit of Power is called a Watt) and Joseph Priestley (generally credited with the discovery of Oxygen). Had he not also been a [[LamarckWasRight proto-Lamarckian]], Erasmus would have scooped his grandson's theory by a hundred years.
* BrilliantButLazy: His childhood, but he grew out of that.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Liked to play backgammon with his wife Emma in the evenings.
* DeathbedConfession: Averted, despite the lies spread by one Lady Hope. What makes her story even more ludicrous was how she said that Darwin first saw the light when he read through the New Testament on his deathbed. Darwin trained to be a clergyman, which diminishes the likelihood of this final reading revealing something new to him.
* ExoticEntree: Darwin was the founding member of the Glutton Club at university, where he and his fellow Cantabrigians feasted upon animals like hawks (tastes terrible), owls (stringy), and armadillos (surprisingly delicious).
** This may also be {{Irony}} as he had famously bad digestion in later life, among other chronic (likely stress-related) health problems.
* GentlemanAndAScholar: You bet. And a NiceGuy to boot.
* HeAlsoDid: You can be forgiven for not having heard of his other book ''The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms.'' At the time, though, it sold more copies than ''On the Origin of Species.''
* {{Irony}}: He was training to be a clergyman before embarking on the voyage that would ultimately lead to his being attacked by the church. He notes the irony in his autobiography.
* TheKlutz: Except not really, but there was this funny story in ''Voyage of the Beagle'' about the time he accidentally lassoed his own horse, while he was still sitting on it. After his Gaúcho guides have finally stopped laughing, they told him that none of them knew doing something like this was possible.
** Tripped it up with his own bolas, actually. Fortunately, no harm done (except to his pride). Considering that bolas are a set of fist-sized rocks on cords that you whirl around your head and throw at animals likes rheas to tangle their legs, he could just as easily killed himself.
* QuoteMine: A frequent victim of this, to the point that TheOtherWiki has a list of [[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Notable_Charles_Darwin_misquotes notable misquotes.]]
* [[ReclusiveArtist Reclusive Scientist]]: In his later years at Down House, he installed a mirror in his garden so that he can see when people were coming up the road and retire unnoticed.
* ScienceMarchesOn: [[WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue While we now know the basic idea behind evolution is correct]], it was decades before it could be supported with the study of genetics. The so-called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_eclipse_of_Darwinism Eclipse of Darwinism]]" was the period between the publishing of ''On the Origin of Species'' and the first few decades of the 20th century, where evolution was accepted but not natural selection; it had died away by the 1940s.
* WellDoneSonGuy: His father didn't approve at all of his interest in biology and tried to talk him out of joining the HMS Beagle voygage, and straight-up told him he was a disappointment when he was a teenager. Although he did change his mind later and financially supported Darwin so that he can work as an independent gentleman-scientist.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Armchair scientists have often expressed regret at the fact that Darwin was never shown Mendel's work on genetics. But considering it took a good 30 years before geneticists and evolutionists managed to weld the two subjects together (neo-darwinian synthesis), most are not sure he could have done much on his own.
** Also rates as a MissedHimByThatMuch, as a copy of Mendel's manuscript was included in one of the scientific journals found in Darwin's study after his death. The pages were uncut, indicating Darwin had never gotten around to reading it.
*** Although it may be an aversion, as the manuscript was reportedly in German, a language Darwin read poorly.
----

The 2009 film ''Film/{{Creation}}'' is a dramatisation of part of his life, with Creator/PaulBettany as a younger Darwin.

The 2009 TV documentary series ''Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden'' offers a detailed look on how Darwin conducted his evolution-related practical research [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in his garden]] and in the English countryside. Most of Darwin's experiments in botany, genetics, geology and zoology are recreated within each episode.

He ended at #4 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Darwin_Review.2.jpg
[[caption-width:400:[[IWasQuiteALooker Quite the looker, wasn't he?]]]]
-->''Everything we know about life, Darwin essentially explained.''
-->- '''RichardDawkins'''

* BrokenBase: There are some religious sects (not just Christian, but mainly) that have no problem with the idea of evolution, and some that refuse to even entertain that it might be true. Then there are some that accept it may be true, but [[AWizardDidIt God did it]]. The debate over it [[SeriousBusiness is not likely to end any time soon.]]

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Some people were turned off of the idea that nature is just a constant struggle between competing species (or members of a species) for survival and reproduction.

* VindicatedByHistory: His theory garnered a lot of criticism at the time and there were fierce debates even in scientific circles, but today the question is settled, at least in the academic world.

* BadassGrandpa: If science is badass[[note]] - and who dares say that it is not? [[/note]], Sir Charles had one in Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Britain's most-renowned physician of the 18th century, and a brilliant scientist and poet in his own right, and a member of the Lunar Society (which met on the nights of the full moon so that its members could travel to the meetings in relative safety) which boasted such luminaries as James Watt (developer of Steam Engines and the reason why the unit of Power is called a Watt) and Joseph Priestley (generally credited with the discovery of Oxygen). Had he not also been a [[LamarckWasRight Lamarckian]], Erasmus would have scooped his grandson's theory by a hundred years.

* DeathbedConfession: Averted, despite the lies spread by one Lady Hope. What makes her story even more ludicrous was how she said that Darwin first saw the light when he read through the New Testament on his deathbed. Darwin trained to be a clergymen, which diminishes the likelihood of this final reading revealing something new to him.

* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch: It's doubtful if most people who claim that evolution is an atheistic fraud and Darwin was a liar have read any of his books, [[{{Doorstopper}} which are rather long, mind you.]]

* VindicatedByHistory: His theory garnered a lot of criticism at the time and there were fierce debates even in scientific circles, but today the question is settled, at least in the academic world. [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch Outside of it...]]

* [[AdventurerArchaeologist Adventurer Naturalist]] / Bold Explorer: In his earlier years, when he set off on the ''HMS Beagle'' expedition to explore the geology and species of South America and the Galapagos Islands. Given how relatively unexplored many of the regions he visited still were, it certainly took quite a bit of guts to travel them and conduct field research.

The 2009 TV documentary series ''Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden'' offers a detailed look on how Darwin conducted his evolution-related practical research in his garden and the English countryside. Most of Darwin's experiments in botany, genetics, geology and zoology are recreated within each episode.

The film ''Film/{{Creation}}'' is a dramatisation of part of his life.

* ExoticEntree: Darwin was the founding member of the Glutton Club, where he and his fellow Cantabrigians feasted upon animals like hawks, owls, and armadillos.

* TheKlutz: Except not really, but there was this funny story in ''Voyage of the Beagle'' about the time he accidentally lassoed his own horse, while he was still sitting on it.
** Tripped it up with how own bolas, actually. Fortunately, no harm done (except to his pride). Considering that bolas are a set of fist-sized rocks on cords that you whirl around your head and throw at animals likes rheas to tangle their legs, he could just as easily killed himself.

* WellDoneSonGuy: His father didn't approve at all of his interest in biology, and straight-up told him he was a disappointment when he was a teenager.

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who first put forward the theory of evolution due to natural selection, stating that the spectrum of differences seen in life on Earth were due to a slow accumulation of change over many generations, selected via environmental pressures. This theory, though it has been significantly fine-tuned since Darwin's day, is the cornerstone of modern biology.

* ScienceMarchesOn: [[WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue While we now know the basic idea behind evolution is correct]], it was decades before it could be supported with the study of genetics.

----

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. Well, they did and they didn't. On the one hand, the Nazis [[BannedInChina banned his work]] (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). On the other hand, it is true that the Nazis were seriously influenced by Social Darwinism, particularly German racist Social Darwinism--which, as we've noted already, twisted Darwin's work in a matter that utterly disgusted him. On the other end of the spectrum, Creator/KarlMarx saw a resonance between Darwin's ideas and his own, which saw the impersonal forces of Nature (in Darwin's case)/History (in Marx's case) driving change; Marx moreover pulled that idea over into believing that the proletariat was best fit to the new industrial world, and would therefore be the "champions" of the social "evolutionary race." Friedrich Engels, in his eulogy for Marx, explicitly called Marx the Darwin of the social sciences, for bringing materialism and data into what had previously been a realm of pure speculation. However, Marx misunderstood Darwin only a bit less than the German racists did.

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. Well, did and they didn't. On the one hand, the Nazis [[BannedInChina banned his work]] (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). On the other hand, it is true that the Nazis were seriously influenced by Social Darwinism, particularly German racist Social Darwinism--which, as we've noted already, twisted Darwin's work in a matter that utterly disgusted him. On the other end of the spectrum, Creator/KarlMarx saw a resonance between Darwin's ideas and his own, which saw the impersonal forces of Nature (in Darwin's case)/History (in Marx's case) driving change; Marx moreover pulled that idea over into believing that the proletariat was best fit to the new industrial world, and would therefore be the "champions" of the social "evolutionary race." Friedrich Engels, in his eulogy for Marx, explicitly called Marx the Darwin of the social sciences, for bringing materialism and data into what had previously been a realm of pure speculation. However, Marx misunderstood Darwin only a bit less than the German racists did.

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. Well, did and they didn't. On the one hand, the Nazis [[BannedInChina banned his work]] (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). On the other hand, it is true that the Nazis were seriously influenced by Social Darwinism, particularly German racist Social Darwinism--which, as we've noted already, twisted Darwin's work in a matter that utterly disgusted him. On the other end of the spectrum, Creator/KarlMarx saw a resonance between Darwin's ideas and his own, which saw the impersonal forces of Nature (in Darwin's case)/History (in Marx's case) driving change; Marx moreover pulled that idea over into believing that the proletariat was best fit to the new industrial world, and would therefore be the "champions" of the social "evolutionary race." Friedrich Engels, in his eulogy for Marx, explicitly called Marx the Darwin of the social sciences. However, Marx misunderstood Darwin only a bit less than the German racists did.

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. The Nazis [[BannedInChina banned his work]] (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). They were, however, quoted with approval by Creator/KarlMarx, or at least they conformed to Marx's views of the class struggle in history and the equality of man.

By 1831, Darwin was all set for a life of peace and obscurity when he received an [[CallToAdventure invitation]] to join a two-year around the world voyage on the HMS ''Beagle'' as the captain's companion (not like [[Series/DoctorWho that]], or ''[[HelloSailor that]]''; at the time, being captain was a lonely job as they could not fraternize with the crew, and a companion was usually hired to provide a source of intelligent conversation). Captain [=FitzRoy=] was particularly keen to have a companion, since the previous master of the Beagle had [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]]. During the trip, he sent back massive amounts of fossils and specimens, and filled journal after journal with the observations (especially those on the Galapagos Islands) of common traits that would eventually lead to his initial theories. Despite all this, the trip was not that pleasant for Darwin, as he spent most of his time on the water violently seasick, contracted a debilitating disease, and fell out with [=FitzRoy=] on several occasions. Despite their arguments, Darwin and [=FitzRoy=] remained friends for years after the voyage - when [=FitzRoy=] committed suicide, Darwin contributed the equivalent of about £10,000 (in today's money) to assist his wife and orphan daughter. The disease Darwin contracted was possibly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease Chagas disease]], as he studied the feeding habits of bloodsucking Asassin Bugs by ''letting them bite him''. Whatever the illness was, it plagued him for the rest of his life.

* BadassGrandpa: If science is badass, Sir Charles had one in Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Britain's most-renowned physician of the 18th century, and a brilliant scientist and poet in his own right. Had he not also been a [[LamarckWasRight Lamarckian]], Erasmus would have scooped his grandson's theory by a hundred years.

The biggest name in biology, period.

Darwin was not the most interesting of children. By all accounts he was quite [[BrilliantButLazy lazy]], more interested with foxhunting than anything else. He flunked out of medical school because he couldn't stand the sight of blood. He eventually settled down to study theology at Cambridge for becoming a country parson, a job that would have given him the easy living that he wanted. There he became a protege of [[TheMentor John S. Henslow]], who sparked Darwin's lifelong fascination of biology and geology.

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. The Nazis banned his work (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). They were, however, quoted with approval by Creator/KarlMarx, or at least they conformed to Marx's views of the class struggle in history and the equality of man.

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. The Nazis banned his work (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet denounced it as "bourgeois science", instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which hampered their biological research for decades, until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). They were, however, quoted with approval by Karl Marx, or at least they conformed to Marx's views of the class struggle in history and the equality of man.

* TheKlutz: Except not really, but there was this funny story in ''Voyage of the Beagle'' about the time he accidentally lassoed his own horse, while he was still on it.

[[KissingCousins He and Emma were first cousins]] - Darwin felt guilty about this because he believed it might have led to their children being weak, one daughter dying tragically of illness while very young. He is usually seen in fiction as an old man with a BadassBeard, but he wasn't always like that. The picture at the top of the page shows he was a bit of MrFanservice in his younger days (think NerdsAreSexy). Darwin was also an expert in pigeon breeding, orchids, earthworms and (of all things) [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sea barnacles]][[hottip:*: The compartmentalisation of sexual function within Barnacles led to Darwin speculating on the evolution of sexual dimorphism, i.e. how Male and Female came to be seperate entities in most forms of life]].

His ideas did ''not'' inspire either the Soviet Union or the Nazis. The Nazis banned his work (''On The Origin Of Species'' was one of the first books to be burned by them), and the Soviet [[InsaneTrollLogic denounced it as "bourgeois science"]], instead [[LamarckWasRight promoting a neo-Lamarckian view of evolution]], which [[YouFailBiologyForever hampered their biological research for decades]], until they had to abandon it (they also attempted something similar with AlbertEinstein's theories, but thanks in large part to Vladimir Fock, it didn't stick). They were, however, quoted with approval by Karl Marx, or at least they conformed to Marx's views of the class struggle in history and the equality of man.

* BadassGrandpa: If science is badass, Sir Charles had one in Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Britain's most-renowned physician of the 18th century, and a brilliant scientist and poet in his own right. Had he not also been a Lamarckian, Erasmus would have scooped his grandson's theory by a hundred years.