Encyclopedia of Evolution.pdf - Online Reading Center

Charles Darwin at his home, circa 0 (Courtesy of HIP/Art Resource,
New York)
nah Darwin continued the Wedgwood family tradition of
Unitarianism. The family had a history of creative thinking
that went beyond the bounds of common opinion. Robert
Darwin’s father, Erasmus, also a physician, doubled as
a poet and wrote books in which he openly speculated on
evolution—even to the extent of suggesting that life began
in a warm little pond from nonliving chemicals. Darwin
grew up, however, with a negative view of evolution. The
only major evolutionary theory that had been considered
by scientists was Lamarckism, which to the British elite was
associated with the chaos of the French Revolution. While
young Darwin was not repressed into religious narrowness,
he explored the path of evolutionary theory hesitantly and
on his own.
There was plenty of opportunity for Darwin to develop
scientific interests. His family kept a dovecote, and Darwin
collected insects and rocks and performed chemical experiments
(earning the nickname “Gas” among his friends). Darwin
got none of this important training from the schools he
attended. He learned adequately in school, but nothing except
direct contact with the world of nature inspired him. Being a
naturalist, however, was not a career. When it came time for
him to go to college, he followed his older brother to the University
of Edinburgh to study medicine.
Darwin stayed in Edinburgh about a year. First, he could
not keep his mind on the study of medicine. He spent more
Darwin, Charles 0
time attending lectures in geology and zoology, and he was
more interested in the reproduction of marine invertebrates
than in surgery. During his brief stay, he was exposed to
some of the radical anticlerical views of fellow students
and even of one professor, the zoologist Robert Grant, who
openly defended Lamarckian evolution. Edinburgh University,
being free from Anglican theology, was a haven for scientific
and political debate. While Darwin experienced the
bracing atmosphere of free inquiry, he also saw what could
happen if one went too far. One student presented a paper at
a local scientific society, claiming that the human mind consisted
only of the brain, without any soul; his remarks were
stricken from the record. During his year and a half in Edinburgh,
working with Grant, Darwin learned how to conduct
scientific research, and he presented his first paper there, in
1827, on a discovery he had made about the life cycle of the
cnidarian Flustra. Second, Darwin could not stand the sight
of blood. When he had to witness operations administered
without anesthesia, he decided to abandon plans for a medical
career.
Darwin chose to attend Cambridge and study theology.
He planned to become a country parson. At the time, when
the Church of England was securely supported by the government,
a country parson needed only to perform his round
of duties, then he would have plenty of time for studying
birds and flowers and rocks. Some of the best natural history
studies, such as the Natural History of Selborne written
by parson-naturalist Gilbert White, were the work of country
ministers. Even at Cambridge, Darwin spent far more
time attending lectures in science classes in which he was not
actually enrolled than in studying theology. He befriended
the botany professor, John Stevens Henslow, and frequently
went on field trips with the botany students. He was particularly
passionate about collecting beetles. Robert Darwin was
openly skeptical about the success prospects of his son, who,
he said, cared “for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching,”
adding, “You will be a disgrace to yourself and all of
your family.” At the last minute, before his comprehensive
examinations, Darwin studied enough to earn a respectable
grade in theology.
There was one aspect of his theological studies that
Charles was eager to pursue. He was required to read Reverend
William Paley’s book (see natural theology) which
presented the Design Argument. This argument maintained
that the evidences of geology and biology strongly indicated
that there was a Creator. At the time, the only alternative to
Natural Theology was some unspecified and mysterious process
of self-formation, of which most scientists, and of course
Darwin, were understandably skeptical. Little did Darwin,
who nearly memorized the book, suspect that he would be
the one to present a credible, non-miraculous mechanism by
which nature could design itself.
For several years, Darwin had shown an interest in
the daughter of a family that was close to the Darwins:
Fanny Owen. His future seemed clear to him: They would
marry, he would assume a parsonage, and they would settle
down to live in the country, where he could collect beetles