Charles Darwin was the sort of man who might accidentally invent a universe while tidying his desk. Born in 1809 in England, he spent his childhood enthusiastically collecting bugs, shells and other items that most people would avoid stepping on. His family, a respectable mix of doctors and thinkers, likely wondered if young Charles would ever grow up to do something sensible—like medicine, which he briefly tried before deciding that surgery wasn’t nearly as fun as beetles.
At 22, Darwin hopped aboard the HMS Beagle, a ship destined to change his life and, incidentally, our understanding of, well, everything. Armed with a notebook, some questionable sea legs and an unshakable curiosity, he traveled to exotic places like the Galápagos Islands. There, he met creatures so peculiar—giant tortoises, finches with peculiar beaks—that he couldn’t help but wonder if nature had an absurd sense of humor or just a knack for DIY projects. This sparked his groundbreaking idea: evolution, the notion that life changes and adapts over time, like a cosmic game of dress-up.
Darwin’s big idea didn’t win everyone over right away. Some people thought it was as outrageous as saying fish could walk (which, as Darwin might point out, some sort of did). But he stuck with it, writing On the Origin of Species and forever changing how we think about life. If Darwin inspires anything, it’s this: be curious, be persistent and never underestimate the world’s ability to surprise you—or the importance of a really good notebook.
At 22, Darwin hopped aboard the HMS Beagle, a ship destined to change his life and, incidentally, our understanding of, well, everything. Armed with a notebook, some questionable sea legs and an unshakable curiosity, he traveled to exotic places like the Galápagos Islands. There, he met creatures so peculiar—giant tortoises, finches with peculiar beaks—that he couldn’t help but wonder if nature had an absurd sense of humor or just a knack for DIY projects. This sparked his groundbreaking idea: evolution, the notion that life changes and adapts over time, like a cosmic game of dress-up.
Darwin’s big idea didn’t win everyone over right away. Some people thought it was as outrageous as saying fish could walk (which, as Darwin might point out, some sort of did). But he stuck with it, writing On the Origin of Species and forever changing how we think about life. If Darwin inspires anything, it’s this: be curious, be persistent and never underestimate the world’s ability to surprise you—or the importance of a really good notebook.
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