Changes

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]

[[Image:darwin.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Darwin]]

'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally accepted by biologists as an essential aspect of [[Theory of Evolution|evolution]]. The concept is that biological species develop over time via natural selection, branching from common origins. Outside of evolution in particular, he was regarded as an expert on barnacles, as well as being credited with discovering how coral [[atoll]]s were formed.

'''Charles Robert Darwin''' (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1883) was a famous naturalist born in [[England]]. He is best known for the [[Theory of Natural Selection|theory of natural selection]] which has since been almost universally accepted by biologists as an essential aspect of [[Theory of Evolution|evolution]]. The concept is that biological species develop over time via natural selection, branching from common origins. Outside of evolution in particular, he was regarded as an expert on barnacles, as well as being credited with discovering how coral [[atoll]]s were formed.

==Early Life==

==General Biography==

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was a religious woman but his father was an atheist. Despite his lack of religious belief, Darwin's father allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church. Darwin's mother died when Charles was very young. After his mother died, Charles attended a nearby Anglican school in 1818. In 1825 he helped his father treating poor people in Shopshire and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was turned off by the brutality of surgery and neglected his medical studies. At the university he learned taxidermy from a free black slave named John Edmonstone. John also told the young Charles exciting tales about the South American Amazon and also about the brutalities of slavery. Because of this experience, Darwin went on to hate slavery.

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England in 1809 to his parents Dr. Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgewood. Darwin's mother was a religious woman but his father was, for the most part, a weak deist. Despite his lack of theistic religious belief, Darwin's father allowed Charles to be baptized into the Anglican Church. Darwin's mother died in 1817. In 1825 he went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was horrified by the brutality of surgery before anesthesia and quit his medical studies. In 1831 he graduated from Christ's College at Cambridge with a BA degree in the classics and theology. On December 27 of the same year he departs on the ''HMS Beagle'' for a five year voyage of exploration. The ''Beagle'' returns to English shores on October 2 1836. In 1837, Darwin drew his now famous depiction of common ancestry in the form of a branching tree. The following year he discovers the concept of ''natural selection.''

Darwin insists that naturally occurring phenomena and factors working together in blind tandem have prodcued nature and eventually mankind. In 1842 he writes out a sketch of his theory but does not publish it. Again, in 1844 he produces what is called an essay of the same theory more developed but does not choose to publish. Finally, in 1859, Darwin publishes his famous theory about how life may have been produced without any aid of a Divine Creator, he titles his work: ''On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection Or The Preservation Of Favoured Races In The Struggle For Life.'' In 1871, well after his theory enjoyed widespread success, Darwin publishes his ideas on human evolution in a two volume book titled ''Descent of Man.''

==Religious Beliefs==

==Religious Beliefs==