Charles Darwin



It was still at Christ's College that Darwin was offered something that would change everything. Thanks to his friendship with a Cambridge Reverend, he was given the opportunity to embark on a journey around the world. The reverend introduced him to Robert Fitz Roy, captain of the famous "Beagle", the ship with which they were going to make the crossing.

On board was a young Darwin of just 22 years, who had the function of working as a naturalist during the expedition. An expedition that, although in theory it was going to last two years, did not end until after five years.

During this time, Darwin and the rest of the crew toured half the world, exploring South America, the Galapagos, Cape Verde, New Zealand, Tahiti, Australia, South Africa... Darwin was studying the species of both animals and plants that they were encountering and, thanks to his special attention to detail, he began to realize their similarities and their differences.

Already on board the "Beagle", Darwin suspected that the belief we had about the stability over time of the species may not be correct, because he observed, among other things, that the farther away the species were, the more different they were between them, and that they were very adapted to the conditions of the environment in which they lived, as if they had characteristics according to their needs.

When he returned to England he was already a reputed naturalist, although he was still nothing compared to what the future held. Returning to his observations made during the voyage, Darwin began work on "The Origin of Species", the book where he presented the conclusions of his research.

His publication was quite a stir, because he affirmed that species evolve according to natural selection, that is, that those organisms that can more easily survive in an environment, more offspring with their characteristics will leave and, therefore, the species will tend to adopt their properties.

This was adopted by some as the most important scientific work in the history of biology, although some ecclesiastical sectors tried to demonize it because it undermined the deepest basis of religion. God did not indicate the course of the history of living beings. It was natural selection. Darwin divided the world between "Evolutionists" and "Creationists."

Finally, Darwin died of heart disease in 1882, leaving behind the foundations that allow us today to understand life and evolution as we do.