What types of birds did Charles Darwin describe? Charles Darwin's round-the-world trip. Doctrine of descent

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in the city of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Great Britain, in the family of a doctor. The future scientist received his primary education in a regular school. Already in those years of his brief biography, Darwin was fond of collecting and natural history.

In 1818, Charles was sent to the Shrewsbury School. Classical languages ​​and literature were given to the boy very badly, while he devoted much of his time to hunting, collecting a collection of minerals and butterflies, and chemistry.

Education

In 1825, Darwin entered the University of Edinburgh, where he studied first medicine, and then taxidermy, natural history. At this time, Charles participated in an expedition to South America, assisted R. E. Grant, attended the lectures of R. Jameson.

In 1828, at the urging of his father, Darwin entered Christ's College, Cambridge University, to receive the priesthood of the Church of England. During the years of study, Charles began to communicate closely with professor of botany D. S. Genslow, became interested in the works of W. Paley, Herschel, A. von Humboldt.

Trip around the world. Life in England

In 1831, Charles Darwin, whose biography already testified to him as a future biologist, with the assistance of friends, sets off on a round-the-world trip on Captain R. Fitzroy's ship Beagle.

During the expedition, Charles collected a huge collection of marine animals, took notes.

Returning to London in 1836, Darwin worked from 1838 as secretary of the Geological Society of London. In 1839, the scientist's book was published, written according to the notes of a round-the-world expedition - "A naturalist's journey around the world on the ship" Beagle "". In 1842, Darwin moved to Kent in the city of Down. Here he lived until the end of his days, actively engaged in scientific activities.

Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882 in Downe. The great scientist was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Achievements in science: the main works of the scientist

In 1842, the biologist Darwin wrote the first essay on the origin of species. For more than ten years, the scientist worked on his fundamental work and only in 1858 presented the theory to the scientific community.

In 1859, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life, appeared as a separate edition.

In 1868, Darwin's second major work, The Variation of Animals and Plants in a Domestic State, was published. In 1871, the work of the scientist "The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection" was published. In 1872, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was published.

Darwin's works on the evolution of living organisms had a huge impact on the history of human thought, marked the beginning of a new era in the development of biology and other disciplines.

Other biography options

• Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a famous English physician, naturalist and poet.
• During his round-the-world trip, Darwin visited the Cape Verde Islands, Uruguay, Argentina, the coast of Brazil, Tenerife, Tasmania, etc.
• In 1839, Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood, during the years of their marriage they had ten children.
• For his significant contribution to science, Darwin was awarded a huge number of awards, including a gold medal from the Royal Society of London (1864).

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The journey of Charles Robert Darwin on the Beagle ship in 1831-1836, thanks to which the scientist began the evolutionary doctrine, putting biology on a fairly solid scientific basis. Along with the famous scientific expeditions of the 19th century, this voyage under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy occupies one of the prominent places. In the history of geographical discoveries, travel is of particular importance for surveying the terrain for mapping the exact coastline of southern South America and the course of the Santa Cruz River. However, the worldwide fame of the Beagle is associated with Charles Darwin.

Travel background

The tasks set by the British Admiralty in official documents, Darwin formulated in his Research Diary. The first task was a detailed survey of the eastern and western coasts of South America and the adjacent islands. Based on this survey, the expedition was to draw up accurate sea charts, which facilitated the navigation of ships in these waters. Since the Beagle's five years of sailing, most of the time has been spent on this. The ship was off the east and west coasts of South America for 3.5 years - from February 28, 1832 to September 7, 1835. Captain Fitzroy delivered more than 80 maps to the Admiralty different parts coasts and islands, 80 plans of bays and harbors indicating all anchorages and 40 landscape drawings of visited places.

The second task was to create a chain of chronometric measurements in a sequential series of points around the globe to accurately determine the meridians of these points. It was to accomplish this task that the Beagle had to make a round-the-world trip: it is possible to verify the correctness of the chronometric determination of longitude, provided that the determination of the longitude of any starting point by the chronometer coincides with the same determinations of the longitude of this point, carried out upon returning to it after crossing the earth ball.

These tasks quite openly testified to the true goals that the British government set when equipping expensive expeditions. The "mistress of the seas", who lost her North American colonies, directed her aspirations to South America. Continuing the old struggle with the once powerful Spain, Great Britain in the first third of the 19th century decided to use internal research in the Latin American republics, which recently declared themselves independent.

Travel preparation

Charles Darwin was then 23 years old, he was a fairly prepared, inquisitive and energetic naturalist, and after the trip he returned as a scientist who was on the verge of discovering the main laws of the development of life on Earth.

Darwin was invited to take part in the journey by Professor Henslow due to the fact that the astronomer from the University of Cambridge, Professor J. Peacock, who was asked to recommend a naturalist on the Beagle, could not find right person and asked for help. In a letter to Darwin dated August 24, 1831, Henslow wrote:

Darwin arrived in London to negotiate with Fitzroy. For some time the captain did not give him answers about his consent to his candidacy. Darwin learned that he was in very serious danger of being rejected through the shape of his nose. Fitzroy, an ardent follower of Lavater, considered himself a subtle physiognomist and "was sure that he could judge the character of a person by the features of his face." He doubted whether a man with a nose like Darwin's had enough energy and determination to make the trip. In early September, Charles was nevertheless included in the expedition. However, he had to purchase all the equipment himself, and besides, he did not receive a salary. The British government, equipping the expedition, did not want to take any care of the naturalist, considering it not necessary to be on the expedition. But Fitzroy himself insisted on the presence of such a scientist.

Brig "Beagle"

The Beagle was a well-built small brig with a displacement of 235 tons. Equipped with 6 guns. For this voyage, the ship sailed the same waters in 1826-1830 with the Adventure ship. At the end of Charles Darwin's expedition, he made two more voyages:

• 1837-1841 under the command of John Wickem for the hydrographic survey of the northern coast of Australia and the valleys of the rivers there;
• 1841-1843 under the command of John Stokes for the hydrographic survey of the coast of New Zealand.

In 1845-1870, the Beagle was on shore duty at Southend, at the mouth of the River Thames.

The composition of the expedition

The expedition included:

• ship captain, expedition leader and filming director - Robert Fitzroy;
• 2 lieutenants - John Wickema and Bartholomew John Sullivan;
• assistant director of filming navigator John Stokes;
• physician Benjamin Byno;
• crew of the ship with 10 officers, boatswain, 42 sailors and 8 cabin boys;
• naturalist Charles Darwin;
• toolmaker John Stebbing, who was invited by the captain himself and personally paid his salary;
• artist and draftsman A. Earl, who was replaced in Montevideo due to illness by C. Martens;
• missionary R. Matthews, who was heading to Tierra del Fuego to plant Christianity among the natives;
• three natives from Tierra del Fuego, brought by Fitzroy on a previous expedition.

Travel

across the atlantic ocean

On December 27, 1831, the Beagle left the port of Devonport, UK, after twice being unable to start sailing due to strong south-westerly winds. On January 6, 1832, the expedition arrived at the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, but it was not possible to land on the shore due to fears about the incidence of cholera among local residents. After standing on the road for some time, they moved on, and already on January 16 they arrived in the Santiago Islands, in the Cape Verde Islands group, and anchored off the city of Porto Praia. Darwin surveyed the island, described its geology and topography:

The naturalist conducted research on local birds and animals. Together with two officers, he first made an excursion to the village of Ribeira Grande in the valley of St. Martin, where they examined the ruins of the fortress and the cathedral, and the church, where there were graves of local governors of the XV-XVI centuries. Later, Darwin made a trip to the villages of San Domingos (in the center of the island) and Fuentes, where he made a description of local birds. On the island of Santiago, Darwin examined the dust that falls in the morning after the fog, and determined that it consisted of ciliates with silicon shells and silicon plant tissue. Before leaving, he made observations of local marine animals, in particular octopuses. On February 8, the expedition left Cape Verde, and on February 16 they reached the rocks of St. Paul, where they began to drift. Darwin observed local birds nesting on rocks and other animals. Having made a description and observation of rocks, he came to the conclusion that they were formed due to coral reefs (this observation gave rise to the book "The structure and distribution of coral reefs"). On February 17, the expedition crossed the equator.

Brazil

On February 20, the expedition arrived at the volcanic island of Fernando de Noronha, where Darwin made a description of the flora and fauna and studied its geology. A week later, on February 28, they arrived in the city of Bahia in Brazil. Darwin was very captured by the nature of the surrounding lands. He examined large areas around the city, describing the geology and relief. In particular, he continued the studies of syenite rocks begun by Humboldt during his trip to South America, which were "covered with a black substance and rubbed to a shine with graphite." Darwin could not help but inspect the local animals and plants. Made significant observations of urchin fish (Diodon antennatus) and determined that this small fish, when it enters the stomach of a shark, can eat through its walls and even the side of a predatory animal, while killing it. On March 18, the Beagle set sail from El Salvador, continuing its round-the-world voyage.

During his stay in a cottage on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Darwin made observations of local animals - Rakanya, insects (including fireflies Lampyridae), marine animals (jellyfish, nereids, hydroid genera clytia, pyrosomes). Several times he made small excursions around the surrounding lands, visited the local botanical garden, made a trip to the mountains of Gavia, where he described various insects - beetles, butterflies, larvae, spiders.

Uruguay (first voyage)

On July 5, 1832, the ship left the harbor of Rio de Janeiro and headed south to La Plata. July 26 "Beagle" anchored in the port of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. For the next two years, the expedition carried out cartographic surveys along the eastern and southern coasts of South America south of La Plata. For the first 10 weeks, Darwin lived in Maldonado, east of Montevideo. During this time, he collected a large collection of mammals, birds (80 species) and reptiles (including 9 species of snakes). The scientist conducted a series of excursions around the surroundings - to the Polanco River, which is 70 miles to the north, to the village of Las Minas, the hunched area of ​​the Sierra de las Animas and the village of Pan de Azucar. The naturalist described and studied various animals, in particular Darwin's rhea, dolphins named after the captain of the Beagle. Delphinus fitzroyi, deer cervus campestris, there are many rodents (in particular, the largest modern rodent - the capybara). After the first visit to Uruguay, the entire expedition on the Beagle sailed south to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

Tierra del Fuego

December 17, 1832 the expedition reached Tierra del Fuego. Rounding Cape San Diego, the ship entered the Le Mer Strait and anchored in Good Success Bay. The members of the expedition were met by the natives - the landowners. On board the ship were also the fugitives, whom Captain Fitzroy had taken on a previous voyage in 1826-1830 on the ships Adventure and Beagle, and now wanted to return to their homeland. From the next day, Darwin began to explore the island, described it, explored the beech forests. On December 21, the Beagle weighed anchor and sailed past the Barnevelt Islands and Cape Deception, reaching Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. Due to bad weather, the expedition stayed here for 6 days and only on December 30 moved west. Due to strong storms, it was difficult to get to the islands, therefore, only on January 15, 1833, leaving the ship, and on January 24, on 4 boats, the captain was able to get to Tierra del Fuego. The return to the "Beagle" took place through the Beagle Channel, where at the same time a survey of the area was carried out. During his entire stay on the islands, Darwin made a number of observations of the fumes that were interesting for science, described their appearance, behavior and history.

April 28, 1833 "Beagle" returned to Maldonado (Uruguay). The expedition returned to Tierra del Fuego for the second time on February 2, 1834 and stayed there until March 5.

Argentina (La Plata)

On July 24, 1833, the Beagle sailed from Maldonado and on August 3 set sail against the mouth of the Rio Negro. Here is how Charles Darwin describes this place:

From the beginning of work, Darwin examined and described the surrounding lands, studied their geology, visited the village of Carmen de Patagones up the river, where the buildings were destroyed during the attacks of the Indians. This interested him, and from the inhabitants who remained alive, he began to collect information about this attack and the Indians. Salt lakes also attracted his attention. Salines 28 km from the settlement. He studied their flora and fauna, described several species of algae and crustaceans, lived there. On August 10, Darwin decided to make an excursion trip on horseback to the city of Bahia Blanca, located between Buenos Aires and the mouth of the Rio Negro. During the tour, the scientist collected a lot of information about local animals and plants, including guanaco, agouti Cavia patagonica, owl Athene cunicularia.

On August 24, the Beagle arrived at Bahia Blanca and a week later sailed north to La Plata. Darwin stayed on land and decided to ride this way to Buenos Aires on horseback. On the way, the scientist described the surrounding territories, their topography, flora and fauna, including Darwin's American rhea and many other bird species. In Punta Alta, he explored a tectonic section with numerous remains of giant animals and found several skeletons - Megatherium (Megatherium), megalonix (Megalonyx) celidotherium (Scelidotherium), milodon (Mylodon darwinii), Macrauchenia (macrauchenia), toxodon (Toxodon darwinii). On the way to the capital of Argentina, Darwin crossed the Sierra de la Ventana and the Rio South, Rio Tapalguen and Rio Salado. On September 20, he arrived in Buenos Aires, where he spent a week, and on September 27 he went northwest to the city of Sant Fe.

After Buenos Aires, on September 28, Darwin arrived in the city of Lujan, then passed through Areco. In the pampas, a naturalist observed local animals, in particular viscacha. On September 30, Darwin went to the Parana River, and on October 3 went to Santa Fe. Due to a slight illness, he spent two days in bed. On October 5, the naturalist crossed the Paraná to Santa Fe Bajada, where he stayed for 5 days. Here Darwin began excavating the ancient remains of giant animals - similar to the armadillo glyptodon (Glyptodon clavipes) and an extinct horse (Equus curvidens). On October 12, due to illness, the scientist was forced to sail back to Buenos Aires by the Parana River, where he arrived on October 20, but from the mouth of the river to the city, for the sake of speed, he traveled this path on horseback. When Darwin arrived, they did not want to let Buenos Aires at first because of the revolution that the supporters of General Rosas staged against Governor Balcarse. Thanks to friendship with the general, the scientist was nevertheless let through.

Uruguay (second trip)

After being detained for two weeks in Buenos Aires, Darwin sailed on a mail ship to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The Beagle was anchored there. Taking advantage of his delay, the scientist planned another excursion around the country. On November 14, he left for Colonia del Sacramento, a town on the north coast of La Plata, opposite Buenos Aires. The move lasted for 3 days, and on November 17 Darwin was in place. Here he observed bulls of a very rare breed, which in Uruguay and Argentina are called nyato. They were very similar to the ruminants extinct in India - the sivatherium, so the skull that the naturalist found was very valuable. On November 19, the tour arrived in the city of Las VECAS, located at the mouth of the Uruguay River. From here they headed north to the city of Mercedes on the Rio Negro, a tributary of Uruguay. After staying there for several days, the tour returned back to Montevideo, but in a straight line. On the way, Darwin stopped by a friend's ranch, where he bought the skull of an extinct animal Toxodon from the owner. On November 28, the scientist arrived in Montevideo, from where on December 6, on the Beagle ship, sailed south to Patagonia.

Argentina (Patagonia)

On the way to Patagonia, Darwin examined insects that were in the air above the sea, or in the water itself far from the coast, and arthropods, especially crustaceans. On December 23, the expedition arrived at Desire Bay (south of the modern city of Comodoro Rivadavia), where there were the ruins of an old Spanish settlement. Going ashore, Darwin began to explore the local flora and fauna. His attention was attracted by insects, reptiles and birds, as well as guanacos. Having described the geology and relief of Patagonia, the scientist came to the conclusion about the special history of this region. January 9, 1834 "Beagle" anchored in the bay of San Julian, which is 210 km to the south. Here Darwin investigated the diversity of insects on salt lakes-lagoons. A skeleton of an extinct animal, the Macrauchenia, was also found. (Macrauchenia patagonica). After staying in the bay for 8 days, the expedition moved further southeast to the Falkland Islands.

Falkland Islands

March 1, 1833 and March 16, 1834 "Beagle" anchored in Barclay Bay, off East Falkland Island. It was with the second trip on the ship that Darwin was present. With two Argentines, the scientist made a short horseback tour of the island. During it, he explored its geology and relief, described the poor world of flora and fauna. On the island, the naturalist met a herd of wild horses, brought here by the French in 1764, and herds of cows. Among the endemics, the Falkland wolf and several species of birds were described - the southern caracara (Caracara plancus), penguin Aptenodytes demersa, geese: Anas magellanica,Anas brachyptera and Anas antarctica. Darwin also observed "Coralin" - marine coral-like animals (mainly hydroids and bryozoans), which he attributed to now obsolete genera. flustra,Eschara,Cellaria and Crisis. On April 6, the Beagle sailed west to the Santa Cruz River.

Argentina (Santa Cruz)

On April 13, the ship anchored at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River. Captain Fitzroy decided to go up the river as long as time allowed. Before that, only Captain Stokes, who served as an assistant on this expedition, did this. Climbing up the river against the current was very difficult, because the ship remained in the bay, and the journey was extended on three boats. It began on April 19 and lasted 3 weeks. On the way to the origins of Santa Cruz, Darwin described and explored the geology of Patagonia. On May 5, Captain Fitzroy decided to return, having traveled 270 km (the total length of the river is 365 km). On May 8, the expedition returned to the Beagle.

Chile

At the end of May 1834, the Beagle entered the Strait of Magellan from the east. At Cape Gregory, the expedition met the Patagonians, a people who had enough a big increase. Darwin described them and their way of life, even wanted to take three with him. On June 1, the expedition arrived at Goloda Bay, where the scientist described the relief of the surrounding coast, the local flora and fauna. Among plants, Darwin explored the local evergreen forests of beech, among animals - mouse-like rodents, tuco-tuco, seals and other animals, as well as birds. On June 8, the Beagle sailed away from the Strait of Magellan, but the last section of Fitzroy decided to pass the newly opened Magdalena Canal in a southwesterly direction. On June 10, the expedition entered the Pacific Ocean and on June 28 reached the island of Chiloe. From here began cartographic surveys of the western coast of South America from the Tres Montes Peninsula in the south to the city of Callao (Peru) in the north, the Chiloe and Chonos archipelagos.

July 23 "Beagle" anchored in the port of Valparaiso, the main port of Chile. Here the expedition could observe Mount Aconcagua, the highest point in South America:

On August 14, Darwin led a horseback tour to geologically explore the foothills of the Andes, which were not covered in snow. On August 15, the scientist visited the Quilliota valley, on August 17 he climbed Mount Campana, on August 19 he arrived in the city of Hahuel, where he stayed for a week. On August 26, Darwin made an excursion to the closed Gitron Valley, from where he reached the capital of Chile - Santiago. He stayed in this city for a week and on August 6 he arrived in Rancagua, on August 13 - in Rio Clara, from where they turned to the city of San Fernando. On August 27, the scientist returned to the city of Valparaiso and, due to illness, stayed there until the end of October. During excursions in central Chile, Darwin made valuable scientific observations of the relief, geology and climate of the area. He paid less attention to flora and fauna.

On November 10, the Beagle sailed south for cartographic surveys and on November 21 arrived in the city of San Carlos, the main city of the island of Chiloe. On November 24, two boats under the command of Sullivan were sent to survey the east coast, the Beagle itself surveyed the western and southern coasts of the island, Darwin passed the island on horseback first to the north, and on November 30 arrived east, where he met with the entire expedition. On December 1, the ship sailed for Lemu Island, then for San Pedro Island. On December 10, the Beagle headed south and reached the Chonos Archipelago on December 13. Having stayed there until December 18, the ship turned south and reached the Tres Montes Peninsula on December 30. January 7, 1835 the expedition returned to the Chonos archipelago, where they stayed for a week. Darwin was engaged in the description and study of the geology of the islands, while not excluding the study of flora and fauna. Many plants have been described that form forests on the islands - Astelite (Astelia) donatia (Donatia) myrtle (Myrtus) crowberry (Empetrum) rush (juncus) among the animals there are sea otters, mice, rodents of nutria and capybara, cheukau birds, petrels and pied koryshnik.

On January 15, the Beagle left the harbor of Low, in the north of the Chonos archipelago, and after 3 days anchored for the second time in the bay of the port of San Carlos on the island of Chiloe. On January 19, the expedition observed the volcanic eruption of Osorno, which coincided with the eruption of Aconcagua and Coseguina. Darwin was very interested in this, because the Koseguina volcano had NOT erupted for 26 years, and Aconcagua was very rarely active in general. Captain Fitzroy surveyed along the western coast of the island, and Darwin crossed it from the east in a meridional direction. On the way, he visited Cook Lakes and Indian settlements. On February 4, the Beagle sailed north from Chiloe and arrived in Valdivia on February 8. On February 11, Darwin took a short tour of the neighborhood. On February 20, he witnessed an earthquake, the strongest in this city in its entire history. On March 4, the expedition arrived at the port of Talcahuano in the city of Concepción, where only ruins remained after the earthquake. After staying here for 3 days, the ship sailed for Valparaiso, and on March 11, anchored in its port. Darwin left for Santiago, from where he intended to conduct a campaign through the Andes to the Argentine city of Mendoza.

On March 18, the excursion went towards the Portillo Pass. Along the way, Darwin kept notes on research on the geology of the surrounding mountains. On March 23, the scientist crossed the pass and began to descend the steep eastern slope of the Andes. On March 27, the excursion went to the city of Mendoza, and on March 29 it returned back, but already through the Uspallata pass, which was located a little to the north. Darwin crossed the pass on April 1, reached the Inca Bridge on April 4, and arrived back in Santiago on April 10. A few days later he returned to Valparaiso, where he rendezvoused with the Beagle.

On April 27, Darwin organized a new excursion to the north of the country, namely along the route Valparaiso - Coquimbo - Guasco - Copiapo. It was in Copiapo that Captain Fitzroy was to pick him up, and from there head north to the Galapagos Islands. At first, the journey took place along the Pacific coast, but then returned deep into Chile, crossing the valleys of many rivers. On May 14, Darwin reached Coquimbo, where he described the geology of local terraces, built from the remains of ancient mollusks. On June 2, the excursion reached Guasco, where they passed through the desert plains and witnessed another earthquake, and on June 22, Copiapo. Since the Beagle had not yet arrived at the port, Darwin made a short trip to the Andes, and returned on July 1. On July 4 a ship arrived and sailed the next day from Copiapo.

Across the Pacific

On July 12, the expedition arrived in the Peruvian city of Iquique, where Darwin examined the surrounding lands. On July 19, the Beagle arrived in Callao, the main port of the country, located near the capital, Lima. Having made a tour of the surroundings, Darwin first saw and described such a phenomenon as El Niño. After staying in Peru in early September, the expedition moved northwest to the Galapagos Islands on September 7th.

From September 15 to October 20, the Beagle stayed in the Galapagos Islands, conducting cartographic surveys here. Darwin explored the geology and biology of the islands. On September 17, he landed on Chatham Island (San Cristobal), where he described the local flora, in particular, he was interested in one shrub of the Euphorbia family. On September 23, Darwin visited Charles Island (Floriana). On September 29, the ship sailed near the largest island of Albemarle (Isabela) and got into a storm between it and Narborough Island (Fernandina). On October 8, the expedition arrived at James Island (Santiago), named together with Charles Island after the names of English kings from the Stuart dynasty. Having conducted numerous studies of the local flora and fauna, Darwin described it and collected a fairly large collection of animals and plants. Among mammals, he singled out a mouse, among birds he collected 26 specimens, especially caracara and scops. Darwin studied a diverse group of related birds common on the islands, which he named "The Finch" after the European group. Thanks to them, the scientist proved that the diversity of animal forms depends primarily on their place of residence - the transmutation of species. Among endemic reptiles, he singled out iguanas of the genus Amblyfhynchus, which, unlike other members of the genus, could swim in the sea. Having collected an almost complete collection of local insects, Darwin came to the conclusion that he had not seen an area poor in these animals in the world.

Table of the number of species in the Galapagos Islands:

After finishing filming the Galapagos Islands, the Beagle headed west towards Tahiti. Crossing the Tuamotu Islands, the expedition arrived in Tahiti on 15 November. Darwin had the opportunity to study the geology of coral islands and reefs, served as material for writing his book "The structure and distribution of coral reefs". On November 22, the scientist had the opportunity to visit the capital of French Polynesia - Papeete. After a meeting with the Tahitian parliament, Captain Fitzroy invited the Tahitian Queen Pomara to the ship, who visited him on November 25th.

The next day, November 26, the Beagle set sail from Papeete and headed for New Zealand, where it arrived only on December 21. The ship anchored in Islands Bay, in the north of the North Island. Darwin had the opportunity to study the geology of the island and its topography. He explored the small hills that the Maori used as fortifications and called them pa. The scientist took a tour of the island to the town of Waimate, then climbed up the Kauai-Kauai River and went to the village of Waiomyo, where he described unusual rocks. On December 30, the expedition left Islands Bay and headed for Australia.

Australia

On January 21, 1836, the Beagle arrived in Jackson Bay, Sydney, Australia. Darwin immediately, on the evening of the day of his arrival, walked around the city and its environs. On January 16, he organized an excursion west to Bathurst, and a day later he was at the foot of the Blue Mountains. On the way, he stopped by several farms, observed the local fauna. She struck him with her strangeness and originality. Darwin was delighted with platypuses and kangaroos. On January 22, he decided to return and on January 30, he sailed on a ship to Hobart, on the island of Tasmania.

On February 5, the expedition arrived at Storm Bay in Tasmania. Darwin collected information about the natives, about how they were evicted from their native island and moved to the small island of Flinders, in Bass Strait. On February 7, the Beagle sailed west and on March 6 reached King George Bay, on the southwestern edge of the mainland. After staying there for 8 days, the scientist examined the remains of coral reefs on land. On March 14, the ship headed for the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Across the Indian Ocean

On April 1, the expedition reached the Cocos Islands, located 1150 km southwest of the coast of Sumatra. Darwin studied the local flora and came to the conclusion that all of it was brought here by waves from the north, that it consists of only 20 species of wild plants belonging to 19 different genera of 16 different families. Among animals, which were even smaller than plants, the scientist described rats brought here, several legged birds, a lizard, 13 species of spiders, one beetle and a coconut crab. (Birgos latro).

On April 12, the Beagle left the lagoon and headed west towards the island of Mauritius. On April 29, the expedition reached its northern cape. On May 1, Darwin gave a tour of Mauritius, describing the geology and topography of this volcanic island. For two days he rested at the estate of Captain Lloyd, who was famous for his cartographic surveys of the Isthmus of Panama. On May 5, the scientist, together with the captain, made a trip to the Black River to inspect the uplifted coral rocks. On May 9, the Beagle left the port of Port Louis and headed for the Cape of Good Hope.

Africa

On May 31, the Beagle expedition arrived at the southern tip of Africa - the Cape of Good Hope and stopped at Simons Bay, near Cape Town. The next day, June 1, Darwin made a trip deep into South Africa. He examined the surrounding areas, but did not examine the flora or fauna. In the diary and book "Journey ..." this visit is mentioned as follows:

On June 16, Captain Fitzroy took the ship out of South Africa, and on July 8 the expedition reached St. Helena. Darwin made a number of excursions around the island and made several studies of the local flora. His attention was drawn to endemic species of mollusks, most of which were extinct. A collection of shells of 16 species was collected, 7 of which are endemic. The scientist drew attention to local birds. On July 19, the Beagle arrived on Ascension Island, where the scientist found black rats brought here by seafarers. On July 23, the expedition set sail from the island and headed for Brazil, the city of Bahia.

Return

On August 1, Darwin arrived in Brazil and, after staying there for 4 days, took a series of long walks. On August 6, the Beagle left the harbor of Bahia and headed northeast to the Cape Verde Islands. However, due to storms and headwinds, he had to enter the harbor of the city of Pernambuco on August 12. After staying in Brazil for another week, the expedition on August 19 nevertheless left the shores of South America.

On August 21, the Beagle crossed the equator and already on August 31 dropped anchor in the port of the city of Praia on the Cape Verde Islands. On September 4, the ship sailed north to the Azores, where it arrived only on September 20. The expedition spent 4 days there, after which it sailed north to Great Britain. October 2 "Beagle" arrived in the city of Falmouth, where Darwin went ashore, and the ship sailed on to Devonport.

Consequences of travel

Huge factual material on geology and zoology, collected by Darwin during his travels and further processed both by himself and by other researchers, formed the basis of a number of capital works:

• Zoological results of the journey on the Beagle(1839-1843) - 5 volumes, edited by Darwin himself;
• geological results of the journey, 3 volumes:
  • Structure and distribution of coral reefs (1842),
  • Geological observations over volcanic islands (1844),
  • Geological Observations in South America (1846);
• monograph on modern barnacle fossils, 4 volumes (1851-1854)
• a large number of articles on geology, zoology and other issues published in journals (1837-1858);
• A naturalist's journey around the world on the Beagle(1839) - was first translated into Russian in 1871 by E. Beketova;
• Autobiography;
• Origin of Species (1859).

However, the great result of Darwin's journey became known to the world only 23 years after the scientist returned to his homeland, in 1859, when his Origin of Species was published. The petrified remains of fossil animals found by Darwin acquired a rather great importance. Now they are exhibited in major museums in Europe and the United States and have a valuable scientific value.

By the 19th century England was a large country with a developed industry and agriculture, which established dominance over many countries. The development of industry has led to rural population moved to the cities. The rapid development of industry required a further increase in raw materials obtained from animal husbandry and agriculture. To meet the increased demand for agricultural raw materials, English breeders began to breed highly productive breeds of sheep, cattle, poultry, high-yielding varieties of vegetables and grains. Selective breeding has become widespread. The results of selection put an end to the then prevailing ideas about the immutability of animal and plant organisms.

In order to find more and more new sources of raw materials for industry, the British government organized expeditions to other countries. Charles Darwin also participated in one of these expeditions as a naturalist (Fig. 21).

In 1831 he graduated from the university, but did not become a priest. Professor Henslow, knowing of the young Darwin's passion for natural sciences and his ability to observe nature, gave him a recommendation to work as a naturalist on the Beagle ship, which was sent to circumnavigation. On this ship, Darwin sailed the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans for five years and visited many islands, on the east and west coasts of South America, in Australia, in the southern regions of Africa. He got acquainted with the plants and animals common there. After studying the remains of fossils and living animals and comparing them, he identified the similarities and differences between them. Comparing the animals of North and South America, Darwin noted that the llama, tapir, sloth, anteater, armadillo living in South America are not found in North America. Darwin argued that these two continents formed a single whole in ancient times, and then were separated by mountain ranges. material from the site

Galapagos

As a result, the flora and fauna of North and South America began to differ. Darwin was especially struck by the flora and fauna of the Galapagos archipelago, located at a distance of 900 km from the western coast of South America. The finches from the order of passerines and turtles, which are often found there, on each island are distinguished by their peculiar structure. Fauna and flora of the Galapagos archipelago in in general terms similar to that of South America, however, there are still differences in individual features and properties (Fig. 23).

Darwin returned from his round-the-world trip with a very rich collection of animals and herbariums. The evidence collected during the journey served as the basis for Darwin's creation of the doctrine of the evolution of the organic world.

2. The life of Charles Darwin

Darwin created the general doctrine of the development of living nature as a result of decades of hard work in studying the most diverse natural phenomena, the most diverse living objects. As a young man, a student at the University of Edinburgh, studying marine animals, he made his first two scientific works. Later, when he was a theological student at the University of Cambridge, he enthusiastically collected beetles, studied botany and geology. He studied theology at the insistence of his father. However, circumstances turned out so that after graduating from the University of Cambridge, Darwin, as a naturalist, went on a trip around the world on the warship "Beagle" (1831-1836, see Fig. 1). Published by him upon his return to England in 1839, "Diary of research on the geology and natural history of the countries visited during the round-the-world voyage of the Beagle ship," contains a description of the most diverse observations of nature and the inhabitants of those places where he happened to be. Nothing escaped Darwin's inquisitive gaze. Animals, plants, inhabitants with their customs, industrial life, political events and the history of the country - all this was observed, recorded and noted in his excellent book by the future great scientist. During this voyage, he made three classic works on geology, collected material for a major monograph on modern and fossil barnacles, and made many different biological observations, especially on the animals of South America, in whose waters the Beagle spent almost four years, and the archipelago Galapagos.

Rice. 1. The route of Charles Darwin's round-the-world trip on the Beagle ship (1831-1836).

Darwin set out on his journey fully accepting the prevailing view of nature at the time, according to which every organism was created for certain and unchanging conditions of existence. In South America, he became interested in a blind rodent, which the natives call "tukutuko". Rodent cubs, it turns out, will be born sighted. Why does a blind animal give birth to sighted cubs?

In South America, Darwin made many observations on fossil mammals. In the sedimentary rocks of Punta Alta, in the vicinity of the village of Bahia Blanca, in Argentina, Darwin found the bone remains of several species of giant edentulous (megatherium, megalonyx, scelidotherium, mylodon), the skeleton of a toxodont - a representative of an extinct order of ungulates, horse teeth. In the vicinity of Bajada near Santa Fe (Argentina), he found the bone armor of a giant armadillo, the teeth of a toxodont, a mastodon, and a horse. In the vicinity of the port of San Julian (Patagonia), Darwin found half the skeleton of Macrauchenia, a fossil ungulate, close in size to a camel.

For the development of Darwin's views, his observations on the fossil mammals of South America were of great importance. Fossil giant armadillos showed clear affinities to modern armadillos, and giant sloths to modern sloths. A connection was established between the present and former population of the globe.

On the Galapagos Islands ("Turtle Islands"), at a distance of 1000 kilometers from the western coast of South America, Darwin found the fauna of the South American type, and at the same time modified. Moreover, almost every island of the Galapagos archipelago had its own species of mockingbirds and finches (Fig. 2). Yes, and giant elephant turtles differed from each other. The locals could determine from which island the captured turtles originated. A connection was established between the species composition and the natural conditions of the country.

Rice. 2. The difference in the size of the beak in the Galapagos finches:

1 - large-billed ground finch from Chatham Island; 2 - hard-billed finch from Charles Island; 3 - ground finch from James Island with a small beak; 4 - a Galapagos bird related to ground finches with a delicate beak resembling that of a robin.

Upon his return from the voyage, Darwin published 5 volumes of Zoological Results of the Voyage on the Beagle. The general edition belonged to Darwin, the processing of the material was done by various specialists. In one of the volumes, fossil mammals of South America were described by the famous comparative anatomist R. Owen.

During the trip, Darwin collected a lot of material on barnacles, which he personally processed. In 1854, the two-volume Monograph of Barnacles was published. Numerous observations were made in it, which also served as the basis for generalizations.

In 1842, Darwin moved to his house in the village of Down, 15 kilometers from London, and lived here almost without a break for 40 years. Anyone who happens to visit London and who honors the memory of the great naturalist by visiting the Darwin Museum at Down will read on the corner of the street leading to Darwin's house the inscription: “Here for forty years Darwin thought and worked. He died here in 1882."

In Down, Darwin carried out an enormous and versatile work on the study of the main question that interested him - how did wildlife develop, how did the change in animal and plant species take place? That such a change has taken place and is taking place, he decided positively at the end of his round-the-world trip. In 1842, Darwin wrote on 35 pages the first outline of the doctrine of the development of species. In 1844, a sketch of the theory of natural selection grew to 230 pages. At the end of 1859, Darwin's main work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, was published.

Dates of publication of the most important works of Charles Darwin

1839 First edition of the "Diary of Surveys on the Geology and Natural History of the Countries Visited During the Round-the-World Voyage of the Beagle".

1839–41 Darwin's edition of Zoological Results of the Voyage on the Beagle: 1st vol. fossil mammals. R. Owen. 1840. 2nd volume. modern mammals. G. Waterhouse. 1839. 3rd volume. Birds. Defined by J. Gould, text written by Darwin. 1841. 4th volume. Fish. L. Jenyns. 1842. 5th volume. Reptiles. T. Bell. 1843.

1842 Structure and distribution of coral reefs.

1844 Geological observations over volcanic islands.

1846 Geological observations in South America.

1851–54 Monographs on modern and fossil barnacles.

1862 Pollination of orchids.

1865 Climbing plants.

1868 Change of domestic animals and cultivated plants.

1871 The origin of man and sexual selection.

1872 Expression of sensations in man and animals.

1875 Insectivorous plants.

1876 ​​Autobiography.

1876 ​​Cross-pollination and self-pollination in the vegetable kingdom.

1877 Different forms of flowers in plants of the same species.

1880. The ability to move in plants.

1881 Earthworms.

Darwin studied in this way an unusually varied material and various topics: the role of earthworms in the formation of the soil layer, pollination of orchids, marine barnacles, plant movements, plants with flowers different sort, insectivorous plants, later - the expression of sensations by man and animals, the origin of man and sexual selection, the change of domestic animals and cultivated plants. Only on the basis of a comprehensive study of nature did Darwin come to his conclusions about the general laws of the development of living nature.

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Chapter 14: Darwin's Triumph I am deeply interested in my topic; however, I am sorry that I cannot reduce this noise of my vain glory, both during my lifetime and after my death; however, not to an extreme degree - yet, as far as I know myself, I would have worked, albeit as hard,

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1. The life cycle of a cell The continuity of life on Earth is ensured by the reproduction of organisms - one of the most important manifestations of life. Reproduction ensures the transmission of hereditary information, the continuity of generations, and an increase in the number of organisms.

The first truly scientific evolutionary theory was that of Charles Darwin (1809-1882). He explained the adaptability of living organisms to the conditions of their existence and the increase in species diversity by the action of "natural selection". A decisive influence on the formation of the scientific views of the young Darwin had a round-the-world trip on the ship "Beagle". What he saw during the voyage made the scientist doubt the immutability of plant and animal species. However, after returning to England, he was in no hurry to publish, looking for more and more confirmation of the correctness of the theory of natural selection. The most convincing evidence turned out to be numerous examples of artificial selection, with the help of which man created the whole variety of breeds of domestic animals. So, by crossing different breeds of pigeons, Darwin sometimes received birds that resembled a wild rock pigeon. He came to the conclusion that domestic pigeons, so dissimilar to each other, descended from a single ancestor, and different breeds owe their specific properties to selection made by man.
The teachings of Charles Darwin caused a wide resonance in the scientific world. The branches of biology have acquired an evolutionary character. For example, the works of V.O. Kovalevsky on the history of fossil ungulates marked the beginning of evolutionary paleontology. Of course, not all scientists favorably accepted the teachings of Ch. Darwin. Scientific criticism of Darwin's theory helped to understand the problems of evolutionary biology, the main of which was the need to study the laws of heredity.

natural selection.

artificial selection

I'm not afraid to die at all.

Half a century in fear

"attacks" leading to stress

the best of pleasure

house without Emma's escort.

the closer to the end

(Based on materials from the Health and We website http://www.zdorovie.pp.ru/index.asp (Olga Trofimova))

The small English town of Shrewsbury. At the top of a steep bluff that cascaded down to the River Severn stood a tall, red-brick house. It was surrounded by a large garden with ornamental and fruit trees. The rooms on the ground floor, covered with green ivy, opened directly onto the greenhouse. Charles Darwin was born in this house on February 12, 1809.
His father Robert Darwin was a physician and was widely known. He was unusually interested in people, treated them with sincere sympathy and instilled in his patients such respect for himself that they even shared their worldly problems with him.

Darwin's mother died when Charles was a little over 8 years old, and he remembered only her bed, black velvet dress and work table. A year after the death of his mother, Charles was sent to the school of Dr. Butler, where they studied mainly ancient languages. Little Darwin was fond of collecting collections of shells, seals, coins. He especially liked to collect bird eggs, but he never took more than one egg from the nest. He spent many hours on the bank of the river, throwing his line and looking at the float. Once he learned that worms can be killed with sea water, and since then he has never put a live worm on the hook, although this may have reduced his catch. He tried to find dead butterflies and beetles for the collection, so as not to pierce live insects with pins.

In the evenings, when the lights went out in Shrewsbury, Charles and his brother Erasmus climbed into the gazebo and here, in a makeshift chemical laboratory, they tried to obtain substances that more than one chemist had not obtained before them.

Upon learning of Charles' new hobby, his comrades called him "Gas", and Dr. Butler reprimanded him in front of everyone, expressing the hope that instead of useless studies, he would study languages ​​with due diligence.

Since there was no use in staying at Dr. Butler's school, his father took Charles out of school with his older brother and sent the children to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine.

Charles was fascinated by the study of wildlife. There were many nature lovers among the students. Together with them, he collected worms, crustaceans and mollusks in puddles and on the shore after the tide; often went out with fishermen to the sea, where he caught oysters, and for a short time amassed a large collection of shells. He met a negro who made a living by stuffing stuffed animals. Darwin began to take lessons from him and spent whole evenings in his house.

But medicine did not captivate Charles, and his father invited him to become a priest. Young Darwin read several theological books and found nothing in them that contradicted his beliefs. He believed the tales of the Bible about the creation of the world by God and about the global flood. Who would have thought that years would pass and Darwin would deal the strongest blow to religion that she had ever received.
In 1828, Darwin entered the University of Cambridge in the theological faculty. Studying theological sciences, Charles was still fond of sports, painting, music, stood idle for hours in the Cambridge gallery in front of paintings. Looking into the picturesque landscapes, into the faces of people, he thought how wonderful serious art is, expressing great thoughts. He loved the enchanting music of Beethoven: when the quiet, gentle sounds of the Moonlight Sonata were heard in the room, Charles held his breath, a shiver ran through his body and a lake rose before his eyes in the soft glow of a moonlit night or bright sun glare among shady Lithuania washed by rain.

But nothing gave him such pleasure as picking up beetles. It was already a service to science, and pretty soon all kinds of Cambridge beetles were in his boxes. He looked for them everywhere, even in the moss taken from old trees and in the rubbish swept from the bottom of the barges. He remembers one incident in particular. Once, tearing off a piece of bark from a tree, he saw two rare beetles. Taking one of them in his hands, he was about to leave, when he suddenly saw a third, with a pattern on the abdomen in the form of a large cross. He did not know this beetle. He could not be mistaken: he had an excellent memory for beetles. Without thinking twice, Darwin put one beetle in his mouth and crushed it with his teeth, but the beetle suddenly released a caustic liquid into Charles's mouth, which painfully burned his tongue. Darwin spat out the beetle in disgust, losing his find in the process. Somehow Charles read in one magazine about a rare beetle, it was also indicated there: "Caught by C. Darwin." His vanity was extremely flattered, and he even thought: should he not become a beetle?

At Cambridge, Darwin met Professor Henslow. For the first time in gloomy medieval classrooms, Genslo offered fresh flowers for students to study. His knowledge of botany, chemistry and mineralogy was so extensive that it seemed to Darwin that Henslo knew everything.

Darwin absorbed this knowledge into himself, as the dry earth absorbs every drop of rain that fell on it. Often Henslow took students to the vicinity of Cambridge and spoke figuratively about plants. Darwin always took part in these walks, so he was called "The one who walks with Henslow".

Darwin also met the geologist Sedgwick. More than once he climbed with him through the uninhabited mountains of North Wales and made geological exploration of yet unexplored places. Despite his promise never to study geology, he worked "like a tiger" and during the holidays he made a geological map of the Shrewsbury area.

Once Darwin found a tropical shell in a sandy pit. The layers belonged to the ice age - how did this shell get into them? Surprised, Darwin showed his find to Sedgwick.

Most likely, - the geologist said calmly, - someone threw this thing into the pit. If the shell really got into the glacial layers in a natural way, then this would turn all our ideas about them upside down.

Darwin was surprised by the indifference of the scientist, who was not interested in such a rare find. Can a person to whom everything is clear turn science upside down?

Darwin never became a priest. One day he received a letter from Professor Henslow. The professor wrote that the ship "Beagle" ("Snoop") is going to circumnavigate the world, and advised Darwin to take part in this journey as a naturalist.

Began energetic gathering on the road. Arriving in Plymouth Bay, Darwin saw a ten-gun brig at anchor, one of those small ships that sailors called "coffins", because such ships easily capsized during a storm.

The Beagle was supposed to explore the sea routes to South America (where the colonies of England were then located) and bring accurate nautical charts for safe navigation along its unexplored coasts. The captain of the Beagle, Fitz Roy, led Darwin into a cabin: the middle of it was cluttered with a large table, above it hung a hammock, in which Darwin could lie down during the pitching; stood along the walls bookcases. Offering Darwin his books, tools and weapons, Fitz Roy said:

Get comfortable. After all, we have to shake on this ship for a long time. It would be a real misfortune for me to know that my companion is dissatisfied with something.

When the Beagle left Plichmouth Bay and went to the open sea, Darwin still heard the sad tolling of the bell from the Eldiston Lighthouse for a long time and kept looking at the shore until it completely disappeared from view behind the blue distance of the water.

Every morning, throwing a net overboard, he caught small marine animals. The sailors called him "Flycatcher", and Lieutenant Wihgem, whose duty it was to keep order and cleanliness on deck, became desperate at the sight of a lot of dirt that Darwin shook out of the net.

A lot of trouble brought Darwin pitching. During a storm, when the wind blew furiously, the sea roared, foam-covered waves rose with a roar - nothing was visible around except countless sprays. And only the albatross, spreading its wings, rushed smoothly in the wind. The little ship was tossed like a piece of wood, it either flew up to the crest of a wave, or dived into the abyss, and then a stormy wave overwhelmed its plaintively creaking gear. At such moments it seemed to Darwin that fate itself was against him. He suffered severely from seasickness and ardently repented that he had gone. But he could not refuse further travel. The idea of ​​exploring tropical nature captured his imagination more and more.

During the entire voyage, no one heard an angry word from him and did not see him in a bad mood.

When the Beagle anchored off the coast of Brazil, Darwin found himself in places so full of temptations for the inquisitive naturalist that he felt rewarded for all his suffering. It seemed to him that he was in a magical land of fulfilled desires.

The beauty of the rainforest amazed him. Many creepers, like snakes, twisted around the trees, crawled along the ground and intertwined everything, creating a wild confusion that struck the eye with primitive beauty. Darwin admired the messy, luxurious greenhouse created by nature. What a wealth of species! What a lush growth of greenery under beneficial influence warmth and moisture!

Darwin watched the flight of large bright butterflies. Slowly and majestically they flew over the flowers, and when they landed on the ground, they spread their wings and ran, making crackling and noise. A whole army of leaf-cutting ants slowly walked through the tropics, hiding behind pieces of leaves, like umbrellas. The wasp hunted the spider, preparing food for its larvae. Chirpingly, tiny hummingbirds darted among the thorny trees. From time to time they flew up to the flowers, deeply immersed in them a thin curved beak and hung in the air on their invisible wings.
When dusk fell, tree frogs, cicadas and crickets raised an incessant concert and, listening to their discordant chorus, Darwin followed the luminous insects ...
In the summer of 1832, the Beagle approached the coast of Uruguay.

The evening dawn was fading, and the dull pink glow of the last ray sank behind the horizon. The fire lit by the natives flared brightly, and bizarre shadows from the dancing flames darted across the grass. Darwin lay on the ground, putting a saddle under his head instead of a pillow, and watched the local Gauchos fry the meat of a wild cow, wrapping it in skins so that not a single drop of meat juice would leak out. Some Gauchos caught this cow with a lasso (lasso, woven from rawhide belts). Darwin saw how the hunter made a big loop, twisted it over his head and, taking aim, deftly threw it forward, throwing it around the neck of the fleeing animal. And Darwin understood why in these places the animals were afraid of a man on horseback and did not pay attention to the shots: they did not know the gun. Taking a lasso, he wanted to hunt, but he caught his own horse, and the Gauchos laughed until they dropped, for the first time they saw how the rider caught himself.

In Uruguay, the sandy undulating plains were covered in places with faded, sun-burned grass. There were no trees, only stunted leafless bushes grew along the banks of the rivers, they silently told about the scorching heat, about the burning winds and the earth tempted by the heat.

Remembering the luxurious vegetation of the tropics, Darwin thought: what a big role the living conditions play in the development of plants and animals.

In Brazil and Uruguay, Darwin collected 80 species of birds and many reptiles. Here he found a large jaw and tooth of Megatheria, an extinct sloth. Standing on a steep river bank, Darwin looked with surprise at the found jaw. Judging by its size, the ancient sloths were huge animals, the size of an elephant. But how did they eat? Climbing trees, as modern sloths do, they could not (what branch could withstand an elephant?). Obviously, relying on their massive hind limbs and tail, they clasped the tree with their forelimbs, bent it towards themselves and ate the foliage. But why did they die? Man could not destroy them - then there were no people.

Perhaps the cause of the death of these giants were catastrophes? But if this were the case, sloths would have disappeared from the face of the earth altogether, and would not have been reduced to the size of modern sloths. Darwin did not find an answer: why did they die out? How to explain their similarity with modern animals?

Darwin was even more surprised when he found the tooth of a fossil horse. Wild American Horse! But there were no horses in America until the Europeans brought them there. At the sight of the horses brought by the Spaniards, the Indians shied away. Where is this tooth from? The bones of extinct animals made Darwin think about the distant past of the Earth. Cuvier believed that only the face of a catastrophe changes the face of the planet and its living world.

Darwin knew that volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods are a formidable force. Once he himself witnessed an earthquake. It happened in South America. That day he lay on the seashore and rested. Suddenly, a strong push lifted him to his feet. The earth hummed dully, groaned, stooped, the underground rumble and the rumble of stones merged into a deafening roar of the destruction of death. The trees swayed as if strong wind, huge waves rose in the sea, they crashed ashore, throwing heavy stones. Two cities were destroyed to the ground, the earth cracked, the banks rose noticeably, and the shells, for which the inhabitants had recently dived to the bottom, now covered the coastal rocks.

Darwin was shocked by the spectacle of a revolution that takes place over the centuries, and here it happened in one minute. He knew that landslides also produce terrible devastation, when huge masses of thick mud slide down grassy slopes into valleys and turn flowering places into a gray, slightly undulating, lifeless surface. Sometimes landslides block mountain valleys, create dams several hundred meters high and new lakes hundreds of kilometers long. The surface of the Earth is changed by sandstorms, and spring floods, and downpours, which, rapidly flowing down the slope, carry away the destruction products of rocks and minerals, depositing them somewhere else. But these blind forces of destruction do not act everywhere and not always, from time to time.
And Darwin had a different idea than Cuvier: besides these catastrophes, there are other forces.

Darwin took with him on his journey the just-published book by the famous geologist Lylel, The Fundamental Principles of Geology. Layle argued a new idea at that time - the whole appearance of the Earth is changing gradually, without catastrophes, under the influence of wind, water, temperature fluctuations. Crushed into sand and pebbles, rocks are washed into the sea, where they gradually settle and form deposits in the form of layers. In some places, the earth's crust sinks and instead of a dry treeless plain, a vast expanse of blue water appears. In others, the seabed rises, and new mountain folds appear where the surf once raged and foamed ...

Lylel overestimated the importance of the "small forces" of nature. But for that time, a book that talks about gradual change, about evolution, was wonderful.

If the conditions of life change, then living organisms must change. For the first time, Darwin had doubts about the creation of the world by God.

Darwin was especially interested in the flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands. These islands, located 700 kilometers west of the American coast, are covered with black volcanic lava, hardened by waves and furrowed with dark brown cracks. A low, skinny shrub in places rustled dryly with its leafless branches, and only on the slopes of the mountains, after heavy rains, did bright sunny greens rise. Large lizards basked in the sun on the coastal cliffs, they ran from under their very feet, seeking shelter in uneven masses of lava. On their feet they had swimming membranes, they could swim perfectly and fed on seaweed. Huge elephant turtles slowly wandered among the stones, lowering their heads, and when they saw the enemy, they hid in their shell and hissed loudly.

Here Darwin collected plants, samples of minerals, caught insects and birds. The birds were amazingly trusting. They approached the person at such a distance that they could be covered with a hat.

The colonists said that before the birds even sat on an outstretched hand, taking it, obviously, for a tree branch.

Darwin explained the gullibility of birds by the fact that they did not yet know man and had not learned from their bitter experience to be afraid of him.

The flora and fauna of the islands interested Darwin in their originality. He collected 20 species here composite plants and discovered 25 species of birds that were found only in the archipelago, such as finches, owls, pikas.

The finches were especially remarkable. Darwin counted 13 species. There was nothing remarkable in the coloring of the plumage of these small passerine birds, but the beaks ... Some species had wide beaks, like those of a grosbeak, others were medium, like those of a chaffinch, and others were thin, like those of a robin. Some hunted for insects, others collected grain. Comparison of their beak, tail, body shape and plumage led to the idea that all these 13 species of birds descended from one common ancestor. On different islands of the archipelago, turtles were different, and lizards, and plants ...

Darwin considered. The distance between the islands is small, only a few tens of kilometers, but the ocean between them is very deep, the current is fast, so the animals could not swim from one island to another. But maybe the wind carried the seeds and helped the birds to cross the straits? However, there are no strong winds blowing from island to island. In addition, these bare rocky islands were never one piece of land, they appeared as separate islands many thousands of years ago, when the seabed began to rise and volcanoes came out of the water. Consequently, the movement of animals between the islands was out of the question: their life is limited by the water washing the island.

So why are they so different? After all natural conditions the islands are similar: the same climate, the same height of the cliff... According to biblical legends, animals and plants were created by God for the environment in which they live. But God did not create his own species for each island! And what is especially strange: island species resemble American ones, although the islands have never been connected to the mainland of South America. It remains to be assumed that once upon a time plants and animals flew, swam or were brought by man to the Galapagos Islands in various ways, and on each island changed independently until they formed new species, the differences between which are the greater, the further the islands are separated from each other and the deeper the straits that separate them.
The study of the fauna of the Galapags Islands made Darwin think about the mystery of the appearance of new species on Earth, about the diversity of life, about the complex relationships between species.
Darwin lived on the "glorious boat" for 5 years. He swam across the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and again the Atlantic oceans. He saw the rich vegetation of the tropics, the bleak plains of Patagonia, the forested rocks of Tierra del Fuego.

On the day the Beagle anchored off its native shores, a storm raged. A thick darkness covered the sky, a damp, piercing wind beat in gusts, a fine slanting rain poured down. Darwin traveled by stagecoach to Shrewsbury. The father, looking at his matured figure, exclaimed with satisfaction:
- That's what you are! Well, it looks like the trip did you good.

Darwin began to dismantle the boxes with the collections. What was not there! Herbariums of plants, bones of extinct animals, jars of snails, boxes of insects and a whole bunch of scribbled notebooks are his diary. All this required processing.

For some time Darwin lived in London, then married and moved with his family to Down, a small secluded town not far from London.

Now he was no longer interested in individual species, but in the mutual relations between them, their adaptation to the environment. Previously, species were described as they were, now it was necessary to find out how and why they became so. Here are the fossils. The further back centuries, the less extinct animals are similar to modern ones. How to explain it? Apparently the animals have changed. But how did the process of change take place? It was important to know - this was the key to unraveling the appearance of new species. Darwin no longer believed in the divine "let it be", he recognized the "natural course of things."

The answer to the question of how new species arise, Darwin was looking for practical human activity. He studied the work of livestock growers, he himself was engaged in breeding chickens and pigeons, observed the feeding of insects and pollination of plants, conducted extensive correspondence with people of science and practice, and read many books.

Studying the history of breeding different breeds of horses, chickens, sheep, Darwin found that numerous breeds originate from one or a few wild species. Their changes are associated with changes in living conditions: nutrition, climate, etc. Man selects animals and plants with changes that are beneficial to him. Man himself, as Darwin thought, cannot create these changes, nature causes them, and man only combines these gifts of nature, selects them. Through selection, they accumulate and intensify useful to man changes, and this leads to the improvement of old breeds and varieties and to the development of new ones.

But how do new species arise in nature? Selection can proceed not only according to a predetermined plan, but also without it, without a clearly conscious goal. At the same time, a person not only selects the best, but also destroys those that do not meet his needs or tastes. Consequently, not every creature that is born can survive and give offspring to the world.
But what about in natural conditions? Will every sprout that breaks out of the earth develop into a plant? Will every chick that appears in the nest become an adult bird? No. But who will survive? Obviously, the one who will be more adapted to the conditions of life. But in nature there is no rejector. Who is taking away?

Selection occurs by itself, naturally. Yes, word found: natural selection.

In the economy, the hand of a person takes away - this artificial selection, in nature - the hand of time - natural selection. In nature, animals and plants also change under the pressure of changing living conditions. But not all individuals of the same species change in the same way, and those of them that have at least some, however insignificant, advantage over the rest survive as a result of natural selection, leave offspring and eventually crowd out the less adapted. Natural selection leads to a gradual accumulation and intensification of changes beneficial to the organism, to the improvement of organisms and their adaptation to changing environmental conditions, and as a result, to the emergence of new species.

Finally, the adaptability of organisms and the origin of species - something that previously seemed a mystery, a miracle, which seemed to many a manifestation of the "wisdom of the creator" - found their explanation.
According to legend, once he saw how a ripe apple fell to the ground, Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation.

The economic practice of man turned out to be for Darwin the "Newtonian apple" that prompted him to correctly solve the great question that worries the restless human mind - the emergence of new species in nature.

A bold leap of thought took place in the minds of great scientists: Newton - from a falling apple to a planet rushing through the endless expanses of the Universe; Darwin - from the methods of pastoralists - to the laws that govern the living world.

Darwin came to the conclusion that species are variable, and related species are descended from a common root. He found a new and simple explanation for the mysterious phenomenon. For him personally the question of the origin of species was settled, but how little it meant! He imagined the difficulties he would face in proving his theory, but it explained too much to be false.

It was not so easy to explain why all living things are adapted to life. In 1858, Darwin received from the English naturalist Wallace, who was then in the Malay Archipelago, an essay "On the desire of varieties to infinitely move away from the original type." The essay presented a theory similar to that of Darwin himself. Darwin was struck amazing coincidence his and Wallace's thoughts. For more than 20 years, Darwin developed the question of the origin of species with extraordinary depth, and now ... he was ahead of him.

On the advice of friends, Darwin briefly outlined his thoughts in an article, which, together with Wallace's essay, was published in the Proceedings of the Linean Society. But these works did not attract the attention of scientists, and only one professor wrote a review in which he noted that everything new in the notes was wrong, and everything that was correct was not new.

In the same year, Darwin wrote a concise summary of his theory, and the following year, when he was 50 years old, a small green volume appeared entitled "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Breeds in the Struggle for Life." The book sold out in one day. The success was huge.

Some scientists compared the impression of a book with a flash of lightning, which suddenly illuminates the road for a lost person on a dark night. Others - with a bomb that Darwin threw from his peaceful rural home into the enemy camp.

In France, scientists treated the theory with contempt. German anti-Darwinists issued a lead medal depicting Darwin in an insulting caricature with donkey ears.

The English geologist Sedgwick said indignantly that this theory was nothing more than a chain of soap bubbles, and ended his letter to Darwin as follows: "Now - one of the descendants of the monkey, in the past - your old friend". Since Darwin's teachings undermined the foundations of religion, reactionary scientists set the clergy on him. About one criticism, Darwin wrote to friends that the critic himself, perhaps, would not burn him at the stake, but he would bring brushwood and indicate to black beasts how Catholic priests organized a special academy to fight evolutionary teaching, calling it "bestial philosophy."

The abuse and contempt of ignorant people upset Darwin, but he did not answer them. He valued only the opinions of people he respected.

Advanced scientists met Darwin's theory with great enthusiasm. The German biologist E. Haeckel wrote that, after reading this brilliant book, he felt "the veil fell from his eyes." Young Professor Huxley was ready to "go to the stake" for new idea. The path along which Darwin proposed to follow him did not seem to him to be an air path of cobweb threads, but a wide bridge over which one could cross many abysses.

F. Engels noted that Darwin dealt a severe blow to idealistic ideas about nature, proving that the modern organic world is a product of historical development that lasted millions of years. He compared the merits of Darwin in the discovery of the laws of development of nature with the merits of Marx, who discovered the laws of development of society.

A Russian translation of The Origin of Species appeared in 1864. The spread of Darwinism in Russia coincided with the rise of the revolutionary movement, with the awakening of public consciousness after the Crimean War, with the spread of the ideas of the great Russian democrats N. G. Chernyshevsky, A. I. Herzen, D. I. Pisarev. And although here, too, attempts were made to turn the theory into an "incoherent heap of rubbish," but with the help of numerous popularizers, Darwin's teaching became the property of a wide readership and was greeted with sympathy. D. I. Pisarev called Darwin a brilliant thinker and wrote that Darwin talks about the laws of organic nature so simply and proves so irrefutably that anyone who reads his book is surprised that he himself did not think of such clear conclusions a long time ago. But the main fighter in this battle of ideas was Darwin's book itself.

Years passed, and the teachings of Darwin overflowed with a stormy stream, sweeping away all obstacles in the way. Darwin was lucky during his lifetime to see the triumph of his children: not a year passed without him receiving some kind of award.

AT last years During his life, Darwin felt especially bad: he could not walk, everything tired him. On the night of April 18, 1882, Darwin had a heart attack, he lost consciousness, and when he came to, he woke his wife and said quietly:
- I'm not afraid to die at all.
On April 19, 1882, Darwin passed away. He was buried in London in Westminster Abbey - the tomb of the great people of the country.

My name is Charles Darwin. I was born in 1809, studied, circumnavigated the world, and studied again."
This shortest autobiography reflects the feat of life of the greatest naturalist of the 19th century, the founder of the evolutionary doctrine. The legacy he left is all the more striking when you learn that for almost half a century he suffered, according to the latest findings of modern scientists, a severe chronic illness - an anxiety disorder.

"attacks" leading to stress

At school, little Charles did not excel in learning, but with all his heart he loved poetry, music and nature. It was natural for the son of an English doctor to enter the medical faculty of the University of Edinburgh. But medicine does not attract him, he is fond of zoology and botany, travels a lot around England, collects various collections. His father transfers him to the theological faculty of the University of Cambridge, but young Darwin is even less interested in theology.

And after graduating from university, he abandons his career as a village priest and goes on a five-year round-the-world voyage on the USS Beagle. Perhaps, if it were not for this journey, where Darwin formed himself as a biologist of a wide profile, he would not have become the creator of the doctrine of the origin of life on Earth.

In his youth, Charles Darwin was distinguished by strength, endurance and dexterity, walked tirelessly, jumped over a pole raised to the level of his chin, and easily endured hunger and thirst. During the "circumnavigation" he climbed mountains, rode a lot, experienced natural disasters, including an earthquake. But it turns out that a secret ailment, like a wound clockwork, was already doing its dirty deed in his body.

From the age of 16, Darwin began to think about health problems and turned to them throughout his life. The symptoms he had, according to modern scientists - Thomas Barlun and Russell Noyes - affected many organ systems, but the alarming condition was especially pronounced.

In adolescence, Darwin experienced episodes of abdominal pain (pain in the abdomen) in stressful situations. Later, in anticipation of a trip to the Beagle, he experienced interruptions in cardiac activity and retrosternal pain. And when he returned from the trip and began to generalize his observations and write works, he began to experience bouts of fear.

In describing his illness, Darwin often referred to periodic "attacks" that suddenly arose and depleted the body. His personal physician, Dr. Lane, in analyzing them, noted that the slightest exertion or deviation from routine in a patient led to dizziness, palpitations, general weakness, and frustration, often for many days.

Phobic situations associated with fears of new meetings, trips, and speaking in front of an audience became especially dangerous for him. They caused great stress and significantly affected the work and social life of the scientist.

the best of pleasure

And what about Darwin himself, how did he resist these attacks?

In 1839, Charles married his cousin, Miss Emma Wedgwood, and found with her family happiness, and subsequently six children. But the noisy city life became unbearable for him, and in 1842 the family moved to the Dawn estate bought near London, where Darwin lived for 40 years "the life of a hermit". He had difficulty leaving his house without Emma's escort.

"The thought that I am probably forever deprived of the best of pleasures - the opportunity to explore a new area," he wrote to his friend Lyell in 1849, "makes me moan." Fortunately, this gloomy presentiment did not come true, and all the following years - until his death - passed in intensive scientific activity and the fight against the disease.

The courage, patience and perseverance with which Darwin carried out scientific work are amazing (after all, according to eyewitnesses, during all the time spent at Down, there was not a day when he felt completely healthy). He developed the question of the origin of species for 21 years before he decided to publish his work. The "pangenesis" hypothesis is the result of 25 years of thinking about the causes of heredity. He wrote a work on the expression of sensations for 33 years. One of the experiments on earthworms lasted 29 years and so on...

It happened that, carried away by some experience and undermined his strength, Darwin was forced to quit all work and go to Dr. Lane's hydropathic institution, where cold baths improved his condition, at least for a short time. Sometimes for many months he could work no more than 1 - 2 hours a day. But, in order not to lose "the best of pleasures," he accustomed himself to an invariable order in his studies.

the closer to the end

Over the years, the scientist noted in himself the gradual withering away of aesthetic inclinations, he retained only one passion until the end of his life - love for nature. But Darwin's powers were getting weaker. Sometimes he felt completely overwhelmed by the fact that for a long time he looked at some flower in his garden. Increasingly, he began to spend several days in bed, but did not leave experiments on plants.

Great fame came to the scientist during his lifetime. The Origin of Species, published in 1859, sold out in one day. In the scientific world, the name of Darwin was sometimes put next to the name of his famous compatriot - Newton. Many foreign academies, including St. Petersburg, awarded him honorary titles. Scholarly visitors flocked to Dawn to meet the great naturalist. However, towards the end of his life, Darwin, feeling the fear of losing control and symptoms close to depersonalization, almost completely limited his contacts with people other than relatives.

Charles Darwin loved his children very much and was proud of them. And yet - he was always tormented by the thought of a hereditary, as he thought, disease that could be passed on to children; These fears, fortunately, were not justified.

Doctors of that time, examining Darwin, made various diagnoses: from "hidden gout" and dyspepsia to possible arsenic poisoning and neurasthenia. Foreign scientists, having studied the generalized clinical picture of his disease, determined the diagnosis: panic disorder - panic disorder. One can only regret that during the life of Darwin there were no those effective antidepressants that today affect this disease.

In the spring of 1882, Charles Darwin fell ill. Due to heart pain, he kept losing consciousness. On April 17, he was still on his feet and he himself did another experiment on plants. On April 19, the scientist passed away. The last words of a man who spent almost half a century in fear were: "I am not at all afraid to die."
He was buried in Westminster Abbey, indeed next to Isaac Newton. On the gravestone is the inscription: "Charles Darwin. Author of the book "The Origin of Species".