Happy Birthday, Chuck!

On February 12, 1809, Charles Robert Darwin was born, the 5^th of six children of Robert and Suzanna Darwin. Robert Darwin was a well-known physician, and Suzanna was a daughter of the pottery magnate Josiah Wedgwood, so the young Charles and his siblings grew up in comfortable circumstances, although Darwin’s mother died when he was 8 and he was raised by his three older sisters.

Charles was not an avid student of the classical education he was exposed to in grammar school, and found himself adverse to his father’s line of work. After Charles dropped out of medical school in Edinburgh, his father despaired, that "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.”

Happily, Charles Darwin found his life’s avocation and his accomplishments outlived the folly of his youth.

Image: The cover of Nature magazine, a family portrait of Charles and "friends"