In honor of Charles Darwin’s birthday on February 12th, I am posting a series of diaries on Darwin and his theory. My first entry in this miniseries covered the basics of Darwin’s theory of evolution. My second essay addressed some of the objections that have been made to Darwinian evolution and showed how year after year we find more evidence to support the theory of evolution. Today, I want to finish this miniseries by describing something about Darwin himself. Happy Birthday, Mr. Darwin. This one’s for you!

Charles Darwin is of course best known for his theory of evolution. But Darwin was a famous naturalist even before he published Origin of Species. He had written many essays before that, covering diverse topics: from a travelogue on his voyage as naturalist on the HMS Beagle around the world to an essay on coral reefs. Later in life he wrote essays and books on human evolution, insectivorous plants, the phenomenon of hybrid vigor, orchids, motility in plants, and the ecological contributions of earthworms. Many of these essays and books were best sellers in their own right and were highly regarded by the scientific community completely separate from his theory of evolution. Charles Darwin would have been a scientific celebrity of his day even if he had never written about evolution. His earlier writings, including Voyage of the Beagle, also made him a popular figure outside of scientific circles.

But it was the publication of Origin of the Species that in a very real way made Darwin a superstar. I use that word intentionally. Charles Darwin is almost unique in the history of science in being, in addition to an eminent scientist, a popular celebrity and major part of popular culture. About the only other scientist to reach the same level of popular recognition and near worship was Einstein. More cartoons have been made of Darwin than most other celebrities in history. His face was recognized throughout Europe and America in his day and ever since. People made pilgrimages to his house and struggled to catch glimpses of him. And, yes, young women showed undue interest in him, though there is no record of his sleeping with the 19th century equivalent of a roadie.

Darwin came from a typical 19th century English country gentleman’s family. He was rich. And he had investment savvy. He preferred playing around with family finances to even his scientific work. He suffered from many of the prejudices of his time and place, including a sense of “inferior

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