b) Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 into a rich and powerful family.
a) His paternal grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a famous scientist who came up with his own theory of evolution, while his maternal grandfather was Josah Wedgwood, of pottery fame.
d) Despite this, for the first decades of his life Darwin failed to distinguish himself, first dropping out of medical studies in Edinburgh because he hated the sight of blood, and subsequently entering Cambridge to study for the profession of clergyman very much as second option.
c) Yet Darwin was gaining great skill as an amateur naturalist and it was this that allow him to seize the opportunity presented when he was offered an unpaid position as scientist on board the Beacle, a naval surveying ship bound for the farthest corners of the globe.
e) The five-year voyage was the making of Darwin, providing him with the wealth of observations of the natural world that established him as one of the foremost scientists of his age and provided the raw material for his revolutionary theory.
