Page 120 - 100 Events That Made History

On the Beagle
In 1831, Charles Darwin
Darwin’s scientific expedition on a
joined a round-the-world

ship called the HMS Beagle.
new ideas terrible seasickness, he
Although he suffered from

still managed to take notes,
draw sketches, and collect
The THEORY that rocked the science world specimens of many of
the plants and animals
he came across on his
FIVE-YEAR TRIP.

In 1859, an amateur biologist from The Beagle visited four
England named Charles Darwin published continents on its epic voyage
his theory on how all life on Earth of scientific discovery.
evolved from a few common ancestors.
The book caused an instant uproar—and
changed the course of science forever.

Erasmus Darwin was
also a physician, an
inventor, and a poet.

Nature boy
Charles Darwin came
from a family of
scientists. Erasmus, his
grandfather, had written
a book titled Zoonomia,
which suggested that one
species of animal could
“TRANSMUTE” (change)
into another. Young Charles
became interested in
animals and the natural
world from an early age.

What came after…
In 1866, Czech friar German biologist AUGUST
GREGOR MENDEL published WEISMANN’S work on exactly
his research on pea plants. how animals passed on
He discovered that some physical characteristics to
traits, such as color or size, the next generation was
could be passed down from an important step in the
one “parent” plant to the science of genetics.
next generation of peas.
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