Charles Darwin

The naturalist, Charles Darwin, sailed from Devonport, England in 1831 aboard the survey vessel Beagle. Most of the time was spent in South American waters where Darwin systematically studied the living creatures and fossil evidence at each port of call. It was these observations that gave rise to his celebrated theory of evolution. The Beagle continued on her round-the-world voyage, dropping anchor in Sydney Cove on 12 January, 1836. In Australia, Darwin observed the indigenous creatures and was particularly fascinated by one of the strangest of all animals, the Australian platypus. In all, two months were spent in Australian waters before the Beagle departed for England. Darwin’s work On the Origins of Species was published in 1859. Highly controversial at the time, it contradicted the dominant theory that all the different species had been created instantaneously at some point near the beginning of time. Darwin’s theory that all contemporary species evolved gradually over the ages by means of natural selection is now basic to modern biology.