Gibraltar
2009"
Darwin 200th Anniversary"
Issue Date |
12.11.2009 |
ID |
Michel: 1349-1352
Scott: Stanley
Gibbons: Yvert:
UPU: N/A Category: pF |
Author |
Designer: Stephen Perera |
Stamps in set |
4 |
Value |
10p, 42p, 44p, 2 |
Size (width x height) |
30x40mm, MS 114x74mm |
Layout |
|
Products |
FDC x2 MC x2 PP x2 |
Paper |
|
Perforation |
14.25x15 |
Print Technique |
Offset Lithography, 4 colors |
Printed by |
Lowe-Martin, Canada |
Quantity |
|
Issuing Authority |
|
Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12 February 1809 19
April 1882) was an English naturalist who realised and presented
compelling evidence that all species of life have evolved over time
from common ancestors, through the process he called natural selection.
The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific
community and much of the general public in his lifetime, while his
theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary
explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the
basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwins
scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences,
providing logical explanation for the diversity of life.
At Edinburgh University Darwin neglected medical studies to investigate
marine invertebrates, then the University of Cambridge encouraged a
passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle
established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories
supported Charles Lyells uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his
journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by
the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on
the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and
conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he
discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for
extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing
up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay
which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of
both of their theories.
His 1859 book On the Origin of Species established evolutionary descent
with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of
diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual
selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,
followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His
research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final
book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
In recognition of Darwins pre-eminence, he was one of only five
19th-century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral,
and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac
Newton.
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