What If Charles Darwin Hadn't Traveled?
Born in England in 1809, Charles Darwin was the fifth of six children. As a child, he showed an interest in natural history and often collected shells, rocks, and insects. He was also an avid reader, with a particular interest in natural history, and spent hours lying under his family's dining room table with an open book.
At 16 years old, Charles attended the University of Edinburgh to study medicine, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, but found he intensely disliked many aspects of medicine and dropped out after two years. He then attended the University of Cambridge, where he changed his studies to natural history and geology.
After graduating from Cambridge in 1831, at the age of 22, Charles was offered a position as a naturalist on a five-year expedition aboard the HMS Beagle, which sailed around the world. As a naturalist, it was his job to observe and collect specimens of plants, animals, rocks, and fossils wherever the expedition went ashore.
Blueprints of the HMS Beagle from 1832 Source: Cambridge University Library, Historic England
This voyage took him to many places, such as Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, the Falkland Islands, Galapagos Islands, and more.
While best known for his time in the Galapagos Islands, where his observation of birds, reptiles and other species helped him to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles had many other experiences on the journey that helped to shape his worldview.
In Chile, he felt the ground tremble beneath his feet – his first experience of an earthquake – which seemed evidence to him of geologist Charles Lyell’s theory that the earth’s crust is in perpetual motion.
He ate his first banana in the Cape Verde Islands and drank tortoise urine in the Galapagos.
He surprisingly coped well in harsh climates such as in the extreme cold of the remote Tierra del Fuego.
In Patagonia, he witnessed the war of extermination waged by the authorities against the indigenous people. And, an outspoken opponent of slavery, he wrote about the barbarity of widespread ownership and ill-treatment of slaves he witnessed in Brazil.
During his time spent with indigenous people in South America, he observed the way they hunted and collected specimens and was impressed with their knowledge of the natural world and their ability to survive in difficult conditions.
Charles was also concerned about poverty and social inequality which was visible throughout the voyage. He believed that the gap between the rich and the poor should be reduced and that everyone should have equal access to education and opportunities.
Overall, Charles Darwin's travels had a profound impact on his perspectives, both in the fields of biology and social issues. He developed an appreciation for the diversity of cultures and the interconnectedness of all living things. His observations and findings during his explorations provided him with crucial evidence to support his ideas and challenged pre-existing beliefs about the world, leading to his revolutionary theories. It is unlikely we would know of Charles Darwin or that he would have provided his contributions if he had not traveled.
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