CHARLES DARWIN WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY 12 1809 AT THE MOUNT HIS FAMILY’S HOME IN SHREWSBURY ENGLAND HE WAS THE FIFTH OF SIX CHILDREN HIS MOTHER’S FAMILY HAD A SUCCESSFUL POTTERY FACTORY WHEN CHARLES’S MOTHER DIED HIS SISTERS HELPED TAKE CARE OF HIM HIS FATHER ROBERT DARWIN WAS A DOCTOR AND A FINANCIER HE WAS ALSO A STRICT PARENT 5
CHARLES’S GRANDFATHER ERASMUS DARWIN WAS A DOCTOR TOO HE WAS ALSO A SCIENTIST AND HE USED TO WRITE POEMS ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD CHARLES WAS INTERESTED IN SCIENCE FROM A YOUNG AGE HE WOULD DESIGN EXPERIMENTS WITH HIS BROTHER ERASMUS ALVEY DARWIN BUT WHAT CHARLES LIKED BEST WAS WATCHING THE NATURE AROUND HIM HE NEVER TIRED OF WANDERING AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE HE WOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE INSECTS AND OTHER ANIMALS HE FOUND THERE 6
LOOK UNCLE JOSIAH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LOCUST AND THE OTHER DAY I SAW A BEETLE WITH SUCH LONG HORNS YOU REALLY LIKE WILDLIFE DON’T YOU DO YOU WANT TO BE A NATURALIST 7
A NATURALIST NEVER YOU WILL BE A DOCTOR BUT FATHER A DOCTOR LIKE YOUR GRANDFATHER AND ME THAT IS A RESPECTABLE PROFESSION LOOK AT ME I’M NOT ONLY THE DOCTOR OF OUR DISTRICT BUT ALSO AN IMPORTANT FINANCIER ALL OUR NEIGHBORS ASK FOR MY ADVICE YOU WILL STUDY MEDICINE AT EDINBURGH AND THAT’S FINAL YES FATHER 8
