Biography

Life of Charles Darwin

G. T. Bettany

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CHAPTER I. PAGE Darwin's ancestry; his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, a successful physician, and author of "The Botanic Garden," "The Temple of Nature," &c.; his father, Robert Waring Darwin, also a successful physician; his maternal grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood, the celebrated potter; his mother's education and training; Charles Robert Darwin, born at Shrewsbury, Feb. 12, 1809; Mrs. Darwin dies in July, 1817; her eldest son, Erasmus, friend of the Carlyles; Charles Darwin's education by Mr. Case, and at Shrewsbury Grammar School; his character as a boy; is sent to Edinburgh University in 1825 11

CHAPTER II.

Darwin a member of the Plinian Society, of Edinburgh; makes natural history excursions; his first scientific paper read March 27, 1827; friendship with Dr. Grant; Jameson's lectures on zoology; Darwin enters Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1828; his friendship with Prof. Henslow; his account of Henslow; Darwin at this time specially an entomologist; his excursions with Henslow; takes B.A. degree in 1831, M.A. in 1837; voyage of Beagle proposed, and Darwin appointed as naturalist; the Beagle sails on Dec. 27, 1831; Darwin's letters to Henslow published 1835; 1832, Darwin at Teneriffe, Cape de Verde Islands, St. Paul's Rocks, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro (April); excursions into interior and amusing adventures; his experiences and horror of slavery; at Monte Video, July; Maldonado, Rio Negro; visit to Tierra del Fuego, Dec. 1832--Jan. 1833; rencontre with General Rosas; many extinct animals discovered; Buenos Ayres, Sept. 1833; excursion to Santa Fé; Port Desire, Dec. 1833; Port St. Julian, Jan. 1834; Valparaiso, July 1834; expeditions to the Andes, Santiago, &c.; Chiloe, Nov. 1834; the Chonos Archipelago, Dec. 1834; Valdivia, Feb. 1835; an earthquake experience; expedition across the Cordillera in March, 1835; voyage across the Pacific commenced in September; the Galapagos Archipelago and its interesting animals; Tahiti, Nov. 1835; Darwin's opinion of English products, and of the influence of Christian missionaries; New Zealand, Dec. 1835; Port Jackson, Jan. 1836; Tasmania, Feb.; the Keeling Islands, April; the homeward journey; Falmouth reached, Oct. 2, 1836; Capt. Fitzroy's opinion of Darwin; Darwin's first impression of savages 22

CHAPTER III.

Darwin elected F.G.S.; Lyell's high opinion of him; secretary of the Geological Society, Feb. 1838-41; reads numerous papers before the Society; elected F.R.S., Jan. 24, 1839; marries his cousin, Miss Wedgwood, early in 1839; "Journal of Researches," published 1839, highly praised in Quarterly Review; publication of zoology of the Beagle (1839-43); extraordinary animals described therein; other results of the voyage; plants described by Hooker and Berkeley; work on "Coral Reefs" published 1842; Darwin's new theory at once accepted; subsequent views of Semper, Dana, and Murray; second and third parts of Geology of Beagle ("Volcanic Islands" and "South America"); other geological papers; Darwin settles at Down House, near Beckenham, 1842; appears at Oxford meeting of British Association, 1847; contributes chapter on Geology to Herschel's manual of Scientific Enquiry; publishes great works on recent and fossil cirripedia, 1851-4; receives Royal Medal of Royal Society, 1853, and Wollaston Medal of Geological Society, 1859 51

CHAPTER IV.

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Life of Charles Darwin by G. T. Bettany (1850-1891) is free to read in full. Folio serves it in daily portions you can actually finish, tracks your streak and reading position across devices, and reads every page aloud with a built-in narrator. The text comes from Project Gutenberg.

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