He was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1827 he entered Cambridge University, where he studied theology for three years. In 1831, after graduating from the university, he went on a voyage around the world on the expedition ship of the Royal Navy, the Beagle, as a naturalist and returned to England only in October 1836. During the journey, Darwin visited the island of Tenerife, the Cape Verde Islands, the coast of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,
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He was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1827 he entered Cambridge University, where he studied theology for three years. In 1831, after graduating from the university, he went on a voyage around the world on the expedition ship of the Royal Navy, the Beagle, as a naturalist and returned to England only in October 1836. During the journey, Darwin visited the island of Tenerife, the Cape Verde Islands, the coast of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Tierra del Fuego, Tasmania and the Cocos Islands and made a large number of observations. The results were described in The Journal of a Naturalist (1839), The Zoology of the Voyage on the Beagle (1840), The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842), and others.
From 1838 to 1841, Darwin was secretary of the Geological Society of London. In 1839 he married, and in 1842 the couple moved from London to Down (Kent), where they began to live permanently. Here Darwin led a solitary and measured life of a scientist and writer.
In 1837, Darwin began to keep a diary, which included data on breeds of domestic animals and plant varieties, as well as considerations of natural selection. In 1842 he wrote his first essay on the origin of species. Beginning in 1855, he corresponded with the American botanist A. Grey and in 1857 presented his ideas to him. Influenced by the English geologist and naturalist C. Lyel, Darwin in 1856 began to prepare a third, expanded version of the book. In June 1958, when the work was half done, he received a letter from the English naturalist A. Wallace with a manuscript of the latter’s article. In this paper, Darwin found an abridged exposition of his own theory of natural selection. Two naturalists independently and simultaneously developed identical theories. Both were influenced by Malthus's work on population; both were familiar with Lyell's views, both studied the fauna, flora, and geological formations of island groups, and found significant differences between the species inhabiting them. Darwin sent Lyel the manuscript of Wallace, along with his own essay, as well as sketches of his second version (1844) and a copy of his letter to A. Gray (1857). Lyell sought the advice of the English botanist J. Hooker, and on 1 July 1859 they presented both works to the Linnean Society in London.
In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, which showed the variability of plant and animal species and their natural origin from earlier species.
In 1868, Darwin published his second work, The Variation of Animals and Plant under Domestification, which included many examples of the evolution of organisms. In 1871, another important work by Darwin appeared, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, where Darwin argued for the animal origin of man. Darwin's other famous works include Monograph on the Cirripedia (1851–1854). The Fertilization of Orchids (1862) The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) The Effects of Cross- and Self-Fertilization in the Vegetable Kingdom (1876)
Darwin has received numerous awards from scientific societies in the UK and other European countries. Darwin died at Down on April 19, 1882.