Charles Darwin is someone that most people are familiar with, but the extent to their knowledge about him is normally only limited to his theories on natural selection. However, there is much more to his life and during the lecture with Jane Brown, I learned a lot about this, which I found to be very interesting.

Charles Darwin’s life is one that is particularly interesting because I knew so little about it. Darwin’s life is one that made a long lasting impact yet he never knew the extent of how his findings changed the world. Darwin lived during a time that was heavily religious and majority of people believed that God created the universe and world, and therefore would not be inclined to believe his findings or theories. The time in which he was born and solidified his theories greatly affected the way in which he presented them. This affected the way that he presented his information and the time in which it took him to do this. In Brown’s book it talks about how Darwin faced anxiety about releasing his findings and the amount of time that he took to make sure that it was correct and would be widely understood by his audience.

I also found it interesting to learn about how Darwin’s wife helped through the writing process of his book. The language that he used in his book was important because it needed to be understandable by the people in his current generation but also by people in future generations. I asked Brown if his wife played a significant role in his publication and editing process, and she said that she did indeed help but was not extremely involved. However, I always think about Mozart’s sister and how she did not receive credit for the work she did on Mozart’s pieces after he died.

I wonder what other artists and scientist were pressured by the times in which they lived in to publish or to not publish something. And how that affected them. I believe that this divide between religion and science still exists today, although it may be less apparent. But in terms of school, certain places are told that they can and cannot teach certain things due to religious reasons. Some scientific facts contradict religious truths, and it is hard to understand how two inherently different things, whether that be theories, ideas, stories, etc. can coexist and behave in two different worlds simultaneously. Which is why certain things are not accepted as universal truths everywhere. Which is something that I find interesting and relevant in terms of the discussion that was held on Darwin and the book that was read for class.