Wisuru‘s Biography Podcast

This is the final part of Stephen Hawking's biography. In this episode, find out about his family life, how the disease progressed, and also some interesting facts about him. After this episode, I will take a break for a few months, and will meet you again next year with the biography of another famous person. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography Or send us a message in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WisuruBiography

Last week, we looked at how Stephen Hawking found out that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and fell into depression. We also looked at how his girl friend Jane, and his PhD supervisor Dennis Sciama helped him get out of the depression and start focusing on his research. We ended the episode by looking at how Stephen Hawking publicly humiliated Fred Hoyle. This week, let's find out how Stephen Hawking finished his research and started his career. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

Last week, we looked at the theories that existed before Stephen Hawking's time, which explained the origin of the universe. We ended the episode by looking at how and why Stephen Hawking joined the university of Cambridge and how the year 1963 became a year of ups and downs in his life. It was in this year that he was diagnosed with the motor neuron disease. This week, we look at how the disease affected him, and how he found the courage to keep moving forward. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

Last week, we looked at Stephen Hawking's childhood, and how his interest for mathematics and physics began. We finished the episode by looking at how his father thought that mathematics had no career prospects, and hence, forced him to study medicine at oxford, where he himself had studied, and follow in his footsteps. In this week's episode of Stephen Hawking's biography, we look at what choice he made, after his father forced him to study Medicine at Cambridge university. We also look at his life at Cambridge and the theories regarding the origin of the universe that existed at that time. Summary Stephen Hawking chose to study at Cambridge. But he didn't choose medicine like his father wanted him to. Instead, he chose Physics and Chemistry. Life at Cambridge Initially, life at Cambridge was too boring and lonely for Stephen Hawking, because he finished all his assignments early. But his classmates weren't as brilliant as him. So, they took a long time to finish it. Therefore, when they were doing assignments, he had to idle away the time. As one can imagine, that would have been too boring for Hawking. But in the second year, he joined the university's rowing club, so that he could make friends. But contrary to his expectations, the club assigned him the job of steering the boat, because he was too weak to row. But Stephen Hawking steered the boat through dangerous water routes, thus damaging the boats. Thus he became the daredevil of his rowing club. During this time, he also found other interests like cosmology, music, etc. Stephen Hawking's parents Stephen Hawking's father was Frank Hawking [Citation 1], who worked as a medical researcher in a medical institute in Hampstead. His mother, Isobel Eileen Hawking [Citation 2], worked as a secretary in the same medical institute. That's how they met, fell in love and got married. As a result of this love, on January 8th, 1942, Stephen Hawking was born. Stephen Hawking's childhood The Hawkings were people who were considered eccentric by others. They used an old taxi for traveling, grew bees, and produced fireworks. They also ate food in complete silence, while reading books. But despite being born to eccentric, but intelligent parents, Hawking wasn't initially a high-achiever at school. He was actually ranked third from the last in his class.  Until he was eight years old, he didn't even learn to read properly, because the school he was studying at, Byron House School, used hands-on projects to teach pupils to solve problems, instead of teaching them to read and write. After he turned eight years old, he started studying at the St.Albans all-girls' school. The girls' school permitted boys less than ten years old to study at the school, and hence, Hawking continued his education there. Once he turned ten years old, he began studying at the St.Alban's partially co-educational school. But even in this school, he did not focus much on his studies. He considered the subjects boring, and hence, spent time with his friends, discussing Christianity, playing board games, and making model boats and airplanes instead of studying. But all this changed when Dikran Tahta, a British Armenian mathematician [Citation 3] came to work at St.Albans school, and started teaching Hawking and his class mathematics. The teaching methods he used impressed Hawking immediately. He also liked to have discussions with his students. So, Hawking became interested in mathematics and science, and decided to do his Bachelor's degree in mathematics. But Hawking's father wanted him to study medicine at Oxford, so that he could follow in his footsteps. But what did Hawking do? Find out in the next episode of this podcast. Citations https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/frank-hawking https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/stephen-hawkings-scottish-mum-isobel-12184420 https://rhed.amsi.org.au/stephen-hawking-honours-maths-teacher-inspired/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at Stephen Hawking's parents and his childhood. Summary Stephen Hawking is one of those people who have shaped our understanding of the universe. At a time when nobody thought that Black Holes could shrink, Stephen Hawking postulated that Black Holes could shrink too, not just keep expanding with time. Even though people vehemently opposed him when he postulated his theory, now, it is widely accepted among the scientific community. Stephen Hawking's birth was like a movie A few years back I watched a movie in my mother tongue Tamil. In this movie, hero's friend, let's call him Raj, falls in love with a girl. But unfortunately for him, the girl whom he falls in love with, let's call her Priya, is the daughter of a political leader. Raj, on the other hand, works as a car driver in the same political leader's home. As a driver, one of his tasks was to bring Priya to the places she wanted to go. So, that's how they got to know each other and fell in love. But even though Raj loves Priya so much, he is shit scared of her mother. Unlike in the USA and European countries, marrying the person one loves, is not such a simple thing in India. There are lots of factors that should match - caste, horoscope, financial status, etc. So, as a driver, Raj was neither of the same caste as Priya, nor did he have a respectable financial status. So, he asks his friend, the hero, lets call him Vijay, for help. So, the hero agrees to help them get married. According to our tradition, the marriage is considered complete when the bridegroom ties a holy thread around the neck of the bride. So, all three of them, the hero Vijay, his friend Raj, and Raj's lover Priya, get into a car and go to a temple to get married. But somehow, Priya's mother keeps finding out their location, regardless of wherever they go, and sends thugs to stop them. So, at one point of time, they are just one km away from the temple, but they abandon the car and start running into a crowd, because they are surrounded. They run, while the thugs belonging to Priya's mother try to kill them by shooting at them. But somehow they reach the temple. At that time, the hero Vijay vanishes suddenly. But Raj and Priya enter the temple, and notice that they don't have the holy thread, and without it, the marriage is not considered complete. Vijay was supposed to bring the holy thread, but he has suddenly gone missing. Exactly at that moment, Priya's mother enters the temple with her thugs, and standing behind them, showing them where Raj and Priya were, was Vijay. It's only then that it becomes apparent to Raj and Priya that the person who was revealing their location to Priya's mother all this time was none other than Vijay. While Priya's mother thanks Vijay for helping them, Vijay suddenly throws the holy thread to Raj and asks him to tie it around Priya's neck. So, Raj does that and completes the marriage. Now, Priya's mother cannot separate them anymore. Finally Raj and Priya are happy, even though Priya's mother is furious at them and also at Vijay for backstabbing her. But Raj and Priya still can't understand why Vijay revealed their location to Priya's mother and made them struggle so much for a marriage that could have been done easily without any struggle. So, they ask Vijay why he did that. Vijay replies, that if they had done a simple marriage, it would have been mundane. But now, it has become extremely thrilling and interesting, because of the chasing, the shooting, and their great escape. So, for those of you who are by this point of time, wondering, what has this story go to do with Stephen Hawking's biography, just like this story, Stephen Hawking's birth was also an interesting event. To give birth to him, his mother had to run away to Oxford, and his birth itself, was shrouded in prophecies.   Stephen Hawking's parents Stephen Hawking's father was Frank Hawking [Citation 1], who worked as a medical researcher in a medical institute in Hampstead. His mother, Isobel Eileen Hawking [Citation 2], worked as a secretary in the same medical institute. That's how they met, fell in love and got married. As a result of this love, on January 8th, 1942, Stephen Hawking was born. Stephen Hawking's childhood The Hawkings were people who were considered eccentric by others. They used an old taxi for traveling, grew bees, and produced fireworks. They also ate food in complete silence, while reading books. But despite being born to eccentric, but intelligent parents, Hawking wasn't initially a high-achiever at school. He was actually ranked third from the last in his class.  Until he was eight years old, he didn't even learn to read properly, because the school he was studying at, Byron House School, used hands-on projects to teach pupils to solve problems, instead of teaching them to read and write. After he turned eight years old, he started studying at the St.Albans all-girls' school. The girls' school permitted boys less than ten years old to study at the school, and hence, Hawking continued his education there. Once he turned ten years old, he began studying at the St.Alban's partially co-educational school. But even in this school, he did not focus much on his studies. He considered the subjects boring, and hence, spent time with his friends, discussing Christianity, playing board games, and making model boats and airplanes instead of studying. But all this changed when Dikran Tahta, a British Armenian mathematician [Citation 3] came to work at St.Albans school, and started teaching Hawking and his class mathematics. The teaching methods he used impressed Hawking immediately. He also liked to have discussions with his students. So, Hawking became interested in mathematics and science, and decided to do his Bachelor's degree in mathematics. But Hawking's father wanted him to study medicine at Oxford, so that he could follow in his footsteps. But what did Hawking do? Find out in the next episode of this podcast. Citations https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/frank-hawking https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/stephen-hawkings-scottish-mum-isobel-12184420 https://rhed.amsi.org.au/stephen-hawking-honours-maths-teacher-inspired/ Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we find out if Charles Darwin or his theories were behind social Darwinism and eugenics. Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Darwin, social Darwinism, and eugenics. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/science/eugenics-and-social-darwinism/ Summary In today's episode, we look at social Darwinism and eugenics. Then we go on to find out if Darwin or his theories were really behind these practices. Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at which of Charles Darwin's theories were correct, and which were wrong.   Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/   Summary When I posted about Charles Darwin in several Facebook groups, many people argued that Darwin was a failure since many of his theories were disproved. As a kids, I liked monkeys, particularly the way they jump from one branch to another. Even my favorite god is the monkey god Hanuman (I have attached a picture of Hanuman below). So, when I learned about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, I immediately thought of him as a hero. So, even though I wasn't offended by people arguing that Darwin's theories have been disproved, I wanted to find out how much of it is actually true. So, I decided to create this (and the next episode) which focuses on finding out which of Darwin's theories are accepted today, and which are not. The Theories that Darwin got correct 1. Theory of Natural selection This is the theory of evolution that Darwin proposed [Citation 1]. He postulated that variations occur randomly in individuals among a species. If these variations are favorable, they help the organism survive and reproduce, and hence, these variations are passed on to the next generation. If they are not favorable, they are lost. Natural Selection is the name given to the combination of factors that automatically decide which organisms get to reproduce and which do not. 2. Anagenesis Anagenesis is just an extension of Natural Selection. It says that if a species continually evolves, then after several hundreds or thousands of generations, the resulting species would be completely different from the original species. Thus, the new species would have completely replaced the old species. In this case, the original species produces only one new species. There is no branching involved here. 3. Speciation In this concept, the old species does not change into just one new species, but many species. This can happen in species where different populations migrate to different environmentally diverse locations. These populations, facing different natural selection factors, evolve differently into different species after several generations. They wouldn't even be able to mate with each other. Darwin provided several evidence, from different fields, to support these theories. Moreover, the fossils we have obtained over the years prove that he was correct [Citation 2].   The Theories that Darwin got wrong 1. The concept of Gemmules Even though Darwin could tell that evolution happened due to the variations that occur in some individuals, he couldn't explain why these variations occurred. It became a big hole in his theory. So, to plug this hole, Darwin introduced the concept of Gemmules. He postulated that Gemmules were small particles shed by all cells in our bodies. Gemmules can grow into the cells from which they were originally shed, if provided with the required nutrition. These Gemmules accumulate in the genital organs. So, when two individuals of opposite sexes mate, a baby is formed from the Gemmules of the parents. However, this theory was proven wrong, when the concept of Genetics was invented. 2. Earth's age During Darwin's time, Europeans, who were mostly Christians, believed in Bible which said that the earth is 6,000 years old. But Darwin knew that 6,000 years weren't enough for life to originate and evolve to such an extent, that an intelligent species like human beings came to existence. So, when a Scottish engineer proposed that earth was actually 100 million years old, Darwin immediately sided with him. But Darwin was wrong, since the earth is actually more than 4.5 billion years old. 3. The Tree of Life Darwin imagined the evolution as a single tree, which he called 'The Tree of Life' [Citation 3]. You can see Darwin's sketch of the Tree of Life from 1837, below. Darwin thought that life would have originated from a single species, and eventually branched out into the innumerable species he saw then, like in a tree where a big branch branches out into several small branches and these small branches branch out into even smaller branches. But recent research shows that species not only breed within themselves, but also with other species. Thus, evolution can no more be thought of as a tree, instead, it should be thought of as a web. So, this is one more thing that Darwin got wrong. Next week, we will look at Charles Darwin's role in Eugenics.   Citations https://www.britannica.com/list/what-darwin-got-right-and-wrong-about-evolution https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcqbdxs/revision/7 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jan/21/charles-darwin-evolution-species-tree-life Resources Picture of Hanuman - https://www.flipkart.com/god-god-s-large-hanuman-ji-modern-art-107/p/itmfehy26thtzbm8 Charles Darwin's drawing of the Tree of Life - By Charles Darwin - Page 36 of Notebook B: [Transmutation of species (1837-1838)]. 'commenced. . . July 1837'; from Darwin Online, Public Domain, Public Domain, Link Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at how Charles Darwin postulated the Theory of Natural Selection. We also look at what that theory was and finally finish the episode with some interesting facts about Darwin. Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/ Summary Two theories of evolution existed during Charles Darwin's time. Darwin, who read these two theories, was motivated to find out how evolution really happened [Citation1]. Malthus' essay While Darwin was pondering over how evolution really happens, in 1838, he read an essay written by Thomas Malthus. In this essay, Malthus argues that, if left unchecked, all species have the ability to reproduce indefinitely and overpopulate the earth within a few hundred generations and outstrip food production. And yet, it doesn't happen. Every year, the populations of varied species remain stable. Natural Selection While thinking about what Malthus had written, Darwin realized that there must be some combination of natural factors that keeps the populations of different species in check. Due to these factors, many of the organisms in varied species must have died even before they could have had the chance to reproduce. Darwin named this combination of natural factors 'Natural Selection,' because he felt that these factors select which organisms get to reproduce and have children, and which do not. According to Darwin, Natural Selection was the force behind evolution. Thus, the Theory of Natural Selection originated. For example, in places where there was no grass, but only tall trees, giraffes with slightly elongated necks and front legs would have had a better chance of procuring food, while those that didn't possess these attributes would have died out, before reproducing. Thus, the next generation of giraffes would have longer front legs and necks. This process would have continued for hundreds of generations. As a result, the giraffes we see today have extremely long necks and front legs when compared to any other organism in this world. Reluctance to publish his theory But even though Darwin had come up with his own theory of evolution in the year 1838, he did not publish it then, because he was afraid that he might be ostracized by society for mentioning something like that. After all, he would be suggesting that human beings actually evolved from other organisms, and were not created by god. This would go against the beliefs of many major religions at that time. So, for the next two decades, he kept experimenting and gathering more evidence to prove his theory. (Darwin's drawing below is based on his belief that evolution would have begun with one organism (1 in the drawing) and then branched and rebranched, to produce the numerous varied species in this world). Wallace's essay On June 18th, 1858, Darwin read an essay [Citation 2] published by Alfred Russel Wallace, an English naturalist who had sailed to South East Asia and collected specimens there. Darwin was spellbound by the similarities Wallace's essay had, with his own theory of evolution. So, even though he had originally planned to write a big book on his thoughts about evolution, he hurriedly wrote an abstract, called 'On the Origin of Species.' Then, he had both his abstract and Wallace's essay read out in the Biological Society in London. Then, he started working on the big book he had always dreamt to finish. Sexual Selection In his abstract (On the Origin of Species), Darwin explains that natural selection is not the only catalyst behind evolution. There was one more catalyst, called Sexual Selection. Sexual Selection is the process in which, in many organisms, the female (mostly) chooses which male to mate with. The males, on the other hand, compete with each other, to attract the attention of the female. Sexual selection is another factor, which decides which members of a species get to reproduce and which do not. Able members of one sex (mostly males) can mate with many females and have lots of children, while less able males have the least chance of mating and reproducing. Thus, the next generation would have more individuals with the characteristics of the more able males, and fewer individuals with the characteristics of the less able males. Copley Medal Darwin finally finished the first part of the big book, which he had always wanted to write, in 1868. He named it, 'The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication.' But before finishing its second part, he died. Darwin also published other books, like, 'The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex' and 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.' Both these books became hugely popular, exceeding his own expectations. The Royal Society of London (Britain's national academy of sciences) honored Darwin for his lifelong contribution to science by awarding him the Copley medal (Britain's highest scientific honor) in 1864. (A picture of Charles Darwin in 1868 can be found below) Death In 1882, Charles Darwin was diagnosed with 'Angina Pectoris.' It is an illness that causes chest pain due to the insufficient flow of blood to the heart. Darwin died on April 19th of the same year. Finally, I end the episode by looking at some interesting facts about Darwin. Citations http://darwin-online.org.uk/darwin.html http://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/published/1858_species_F350.html   Resources Charles Darwin's drawing - By Charles Darwin - Page 36 of Notebook B: [Transmutation of species (1837-1838)]. 'commenced. . . July 1837'; from Darwin Online, Public Domain, Public Domain, Link Picture of Charles Darwin - By Julia Margaret Cameron - Reprinted in Charles Darwin: His Life Told in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters, edited by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1892.Scanned by User:Davepape, Public Domain, Link Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at how Charles Darwin began his journey, which eventually led to the formulation of his theory of Evolution. We also take a look at the theories of evolution that existed before Charles Darwin's time. Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/ Summary Cambridge University When Charles Darwin returned home without finishing his medical degree, his father was disappointed. He thought that if medicine did not interest Darwin, he should become a parson [Citation1]. So, he sent Darwin to Cambridge University, so that he could do a BA degree and become a parson. But in Cambridge University, too, Darwin spent most of his time pursuing his hobbies. His most important hobby was collecting beetles, which was a big craze at that time. But besides that, he also loved riding horses and shooting. But besides spending a lot of time on his hobbies, he disregarded them and started studying whenever exams neared. Therefore, he could pass his BA degree on time. During his time at Cambridge University, he came to like the classes of his botany professor, Revd. John Stevens Henslow. Henslow would eventually become Darwin's mentor. Desire to travel After his final exams were over, Darwin read several books. One of these books was the personal narrative of a German explorer called Alexander von Humboldt. Humbolt had spent five years traveling extensively on the American continent. He then described his travel from a scientific point of view. After reading this book, Darwin decided to travel the world, and contribute to science. The place he chose for this purpose was the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. But his trip got postponed for a year. So, he got sad. But his botany professor Henslow recommended him for an expedition which was arranged by the geologist Adam Sedgwick. So, Sedgwick took Darwin with him to the expedition in Wales, England. The expedition lasted two weeks. After he returned home from the expedition, he found a letter addressed to him. The Voyage that changed everything At the recommendation of Darwin's botany professor Henslow, the captain of the ship called HMS Beagle decided to take Darwin on his voyage. HMS Beagle was preparing for its second voyage to South America to survey the land and water bodies there. The ship needed someone to investigate the geology of these areas. This is the position that Darwin was supposed to fill in. The ship and its crew, along with Darwin, set sail in 1831. Darwin was just 22 years old at that time. The 5-year-voyage (A map of this voyage is attached below) turned out to be a boon for Darwin. He visited four continents and collected countless samples of the plants, animals, birds, and fossils there. After he returned to England, he gave these samples to zoologists, so that they could examine them. Darwin's natural history collections proved extremely useful. Darwin started publishing the reports of the analysis of the samples, provided by the zoologists, as a book called 'Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Beagle.' He even got a grant of £1,000 for publishing these books. Darwin planned to publish several volumes of this book. His voyage, the samples he had collected during the voyage, and the reports of these samples provided by zoologists helped him understand a lot about evolution. So, he started working on formulating a theory about evolution. Darwin worked too hard to finish his books, as well as formulate his own theory of evolution at the same time. But due to the resulting stress, he got sick and was bedridden. He started trembling and vomiting, suffered from stomach pain, and severe boils started appearing on his body. Even though he got better with time, these symptoms reoccurred again and again in his life, whenever he got overstressed. His disease was never diagnosed or cured. Evolution theories before Darwin's time Even before Darwin proposed his theory of evolution, there were two theories of evolution that were famous. But they had a lot of opposition.  The first of these theories was the 'Theory of Acquired Characteristics' or 'Lamarckism.' It was proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck [Citation2], a French zoologist. He proposed, that when environments change, organisms change their behavior, and as a result, the organs of these organisms change as well. These organisms then pass on these changes to their offspring.  The second theory was proposed by none other than Charles Darwin's paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. In his book called 'Zooomia,' [Citation3] Erasmus argues that all organisms undergo changes constantly, which their offspring inherit from them. Citations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parson http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/3/l_023_01.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoonomia Resources A map of the second voyage of HMS Beagle - https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/ones-could-charles-darwin-seen-voyage-hms-beagle-1830s-could-supported-theory-evolution-se-q9257813 Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography

In this week's episode, we take a look at the childhood and early life of Charles Darwin, the man who proposed the theory of evolution (theory of natural selection).  Read our blog post Would you rather read about his biography? Click here: Charles Darwin. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this URL into your browser - https://wisuru.com/biography/charles-darwin/ Summary Ancestors Charles Darwin's great grandfather was Robert Darwin. He brought the discovery of a Jurassic era reptile to the attention of the UK's Royal Society. His son was Erasmus Darwin. Erasmus Darwin had a friend called Josiah Wedgewood. When Josiah' business partner died, Erasmus became his business partner. This brought them closer. As a result, their children - Erasmus Darwin's son Robert Darwin and Josiah Wedgewood's daughter Susannah - got married. The fifth child of this couple was Erasmus Charles Darwin. He was born on February 12th, 1809. Childhood In the 17th and 18th centuries, Enlightenment [what is Enlightenment? - Citation 1] became popular in Europe. It was a movement that put religion on the backseat by emphasizing on the importance of logic and reasoning in gaining understanding and knowledge. But by the time Charles Darwin was born, the Churches in England had already rejected Enlightenment, and started controlling the syllabus in schools, to prevent people from learning science. But Darwin's grandfathers had always emphasized that an individual should find the truth by himself. So, Darwin grew up unconstrained by the religious norms of his times. Love for nature Charles Darwin had always been interested in nature - He learned the names of plants; he collected insects; he observed the behavior of organisms around him. He inherited this interest in nature from his father. His father was a naturalist, who had studied natural history [What is natural history? - Citation 2]. As he reached his teenage, he started reading about natural history. Interest in natural history Even after his father got him admission in the Edinburgh University to study medicine, Darwin's interest in nature did not fade away. So, he continued to collect insects, observe sea birds, and animals even after he joined the university. He attended zoology and natural history courses and spent a considerable amount of time in the university's natural history museum. He joined a natural history students' group, where he made friends with the same interests as him, and listened to other students' theories about transmutation (which is how evolution was known at that time). But he did not like the subjects that were related to the medical profession. He complained that anatomy was boring. During Darwin's time, anesthetic wasn't invented. So, surgeries were too disturbing for him to watch. So, even though his friend from the natural history students' group abandoned his love for natural history and started medical practice, Darwin quit college. Until now, Charles Darwin hasn't accomplished anything significant in his life. Nor has he laid a solid foundation for a promising career. So, how did he go from here, to formulating the Theory of Natural Selection? We will find out in the next episodes of Charles Darwin's biography. Citations https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/enlightenment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history Donation link Do you like our work and want to donate to us? You can do so by using this Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/wisuru Contact me Have some suggestions to share with us? Just tweet to us using our Twitter link: https://twitter.com/WisuruBiography