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Herbert Spencer of the survival of the fittest is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient.Charles Robert Darwin, FRGS FLS FZS FRS (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. Darwin first adopted the phrase in his fifth edition of “The Origin of Species,” published in 1869, by writing of natural selection that “the expression often used by Mr. He didn’t coin the phrase “survival of the fittest.”Īlthough associated with Darwin’s theory of natural selection, the phrase “survival of the fittest” was actually first used by English philosopher Herbert Spencer in his 1864 “Principles of Biology” to connect his economic and sociological theories with Darwin’s biological concepts.

While circumnavigating the globe on HMS Beagle, Darwin continued his adventurous eating by snacking on armadillo, ostrich and puma (“remarkably like veal in its taste,” he described). As a student at Cambridge, he formed the Gourmet Club, also known as the Glutton Club, for the purpose of dining on “birds and beasts, which were before unknown to human palate.” Darwin ate hawk and bittern but couldn’t choke down a brown owl that was served. He left medical school and dashed his father’s dreams.ĭarwin not only studied an eclectic menagerie of animals from around the globe, he ate them as well. Darwin, however, hated the sight of blood and was bored with the lectures. After spending the summer of 1825 serving as an apprentice in his father’s practice, he entered one of Britain’s top medical schools at the University of Edinburgh. He dropped out of medical school.ĭarwin’s father was a successful doctor who groomed his son to follow in his footsteps. In the “Marry” column: “children,” “constant companion (and friend in old age)…better than a dog anyhow” and “someone to take care of house.” In the “Not Marry” ledger: “freedom to go where one liked,” “conversation of clever men at clubs” and “loss of time.” Not on Darwin’s list, however, were family ties for he married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839. He composed a pro/con list to decide on whether to marry.ĭisplaying a logical inclination even in matters of the heart, Darwin in 1838 composed a list with two columns delineating the upsides and downsides of marriage. The next year, Darwin published his seminal work, “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life."Ĥ. Concerned, however, about the public and ecclesiastical acceptance of his deeply radical idea, he did not present his theory on evolution until 1858 when he made a joint announcement with British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who was about to go public with a similar concept to Darwin’s. He waited more than 20 years to publish his groundbreaking theory on evolution.ĭarwin’s five-year voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, which ended in 1836, provided him with invaluable research that contributed to the development of his theory of evolution and natural selection.

While America’s 16th president was born in a rude log cabin in the Kentucky wilderness, Darwin was born in a grand Georgian house on an estate overlooking the River Severn and the medieval market town of Shrewsbury, England. Darwin was born on the same day as Abraham Lincoln.īoth Darwin and Lincoln were born on February 12, 1809, but in much different settings.