 Charles Darwin was born in England in 1809. He was a keen naturalist and geologist who made detailed observations about the natural world. Darwin first became interested in nature while studying theology at Cambridge where he developed a passion for beetle collecting which was encouraged by his cousin William Fox. During this time Darwin learned many important scientific skills including species identification, how to catalogue specimens and fieldwork. At the age of 22 Darwin joined a five-year voyage on the Navy survey ship the HMS Beagle in order to serve as a naturalist and companion to Captain Robert Fitzroy. Although a junior naturalist, Darwin was already skilled in both biology and geology and he was expected to closely observe both plants and animals as well as rock formations. Whilst on board the Beagle Fitzroy presented Darwin with an important book called Principles of Geology. This helped him to understand how landscapes changed as a result of geological processes and led to Darwin suggesting that coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean developed as a result of tectonic plate movement. The most famous destination during the voyage of the Beagle was the Galopagos Islands off the coast of South America where Darwin spent five weeks studying a variety of animal and plant life, including finches, tortoises and mockingbirds in particular. During the five-year voyage of the HMS Beagle Darwin collected thousands of natural specimens of birds, plants and fossils from across the globe including 13 species of finch taken from some of the Galopagos Islands. Darwin kept detailed notes of all that he saw during his long voyage and these together with his diaries formed the basis of his book Journal of Researchers which was later to become famously known as the voyage of the Beagle. Darwin called his trip on the HMS Beagle by far the most important voyage of my life. Upon his return to the UK Darwin became puzzled by the geographic distribution of wildlife and fossils he had collected on the voyage. He noticed that whilst there were species of animal that existed unchanged across the globe some other species showed physical differences based on the ecological habitat from which they came. This was particularly apparent in his observations of the Galopagos finches which showed variations in their beaks and claws depending on the type of food that was available to them. After extensive investigation and discussion with other scientists Darwin developed the idea that all species evolved through a process of natural selection where certain members successfully adapt to cope with changes in their habitat and others that fail to adapt eventually die out. This theory was later published in his book on the origin of species. In this video you have learned the importance of observation in the development of one of the most famous biological theories of all time. What else can you find out about Darwin's life as a naturalist?