Darwin's Singular Notion - Luke Walker

Summary of Chapter 25 Bill Bryson: The Short History of Nearly Everything

Darwin was born in an ordinary christian family. He was born on the 12th of February 1809 and had both parents for the first few years of his life. His mother was the daughter of a legendary pottery fame but she died when Charles was only eight years old. His father was a physician who introduced him to science and to question the world. Charles did not have good grades in school and never impressed his academic father. When he left school he studied medicine in university but was traumatized by the operations and live experiments. He tried to study divinity after that but, was asked to join a 23 year old man named Robert FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle, a naval survey ship. Darwin was just 24 at the time.

The job of the HMS Beagle was to chart coastal waters but Darwin wanted to pursue his hobby, to find a more understandable interpretation of creationism (how christians believe the world was created). The ship was at sea between 1831 and 1836. In this time Darwin collected many animal samples and saw many great sights. He developed new theory for the creation of coral, that it has not always been the same and that it formed and changed slowly over time. In 1836 Darwin returned home and contrary to popular belief he did not form the theory of evolution while on the ship. It was already a growing theory at the time. After looking at some documents of animals competing for food and fossils of similar looking animals, Darwin found that some animals had adapted to be able to find food better than other animals. He realized that this contributed to the theory of evolution and that these animals had not always been like that, they had changed over time.

He expanded on his research and looked over pictures of finches. He noticed three different types of finches all with similar bodies, but very different heads. Ones who ate nuts and seeds had large tough beaks to crack open the shells. Another had a long thin beak to pull insects out of the soil and bushes. The last had a beak of medium length and width which could eat fruit. Darwin used this example and began to sketch up ideas to grow on the theory of evolution. The small sketches turned into a 230 page “sketch” but then it all stopped. Darwin put away his works for 15 years. He fathered ten children and studied barnacles. After the fifteen years he tried to get back into his work but depression stopped him.

Later on, Darwin met a man named Alfred Wallace, who had done similar studies. They partnered together and through tough times, expanded on Darwin’s previous work. They unveiled their ideas in a “press conference” and not many people thought it was good, but a small few did. Darwin and Wallace continued to conduct experiments and develop theories but soon split up and for fifty years, separated and worked on their own projects. In 1959 Darwin had his book “the origin of species” published and it sold many copies, but it was not all praise. Some said that it was marvellous and provided a good look on the world, others argued it was un-christian and that it was work of satan. Even Darwin’s close family thought it was a bit dodgy. After his book was published another rival book was made called “the descent of man” which was similar. Both books sold very well for their time but as Darwin passed away in 1882, his views faded away and were not brought back and widely accepted until 1930 and 1940. His ideas are now taught in schools and widely accepted as the correct answer for how life has become what it has.