school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught , except a little ancient geography and history. The school as a means of education to me was simply a blank(Darwin, 1958). He was removed from the school in 1825, and was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine. There he studied for two years before deciding that he didnt like medicine. But before he left Edinburgh, he was introduced for the first time to the theories of Lamarck. According to Darwin at the time he was not very impressed with Lamarcks ideas. (Bowler, 1990)In 1828, at his fathers suggestion, Darwin entered Christs College in Cambridge to become a clergyman. To Darwin a good education meant instruction in the methods and logic of thought. Therefore, Just about the only thing he enjoyed studying there was Paleys works on theology, because of their logic. For the rest, however, he judged Cambridge to be just as much a waste of time as Edinburgh and Shrewsbury. Nevertheless, in his spare time at Cambridge, Darwin became interested in various scientific endeavors, and became acquainted with and influenced by the scientific ideas of Henslow, Sedgwick, and Whewell (ironically Sedgwick later became a bitter opponent of Darwins theory). In addition, during his last year at Cambridge Darwin read two books which influenced him greatly, Herschels Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, and Von Humboldts Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent. Darwin later confessed that these books inspired in him a burning zeal to add even the most humble contribution to the noble structure of Natural Science.(Darwin, 1958)Darwin graduated from Cambridge in 1831, and as he was pondering his future he received a proposal to join a scientific expedition that would survey the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego. Darwin accepted the proposal, and sailed from England aboard the famed Beagle on December 27, 1831. His job was to collect and ...
