Charles Darwin was born on Feb 12, 1809. This was about two generations after Leclerc [1] published a book stating that species are interrelated, and are seen to change over time. Darwin was a bible scholar, and got a degree in Divinity (not science). But his studies of geology and then biology, and his decision to publish popular books about his observations rather than staid peer-reviewed articles led him to his present fame (or infamy, depending on your church).
Here is a good Darwin Day article [2] showing the evolution of his ideas, based on biographer and science writer P. Thomas Carroll [3], who published and annotated Darwin’s correspondence.
Not to slight our own, here is Erich’s post [4] from “Evolution Weekend” 2007.
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