Part 2 – Book Summary Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman When Charles Darwin was in his late twenties, he decided it was time to decide whether or not he should marry. He created a list of the pros and cons of marriage and eventually decided on marrying his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, in 1839. They had ten children together, three of which died at a young age. Through his travels and observations, Charles discovered the roots of the theory that would shake the world. Naturally, he believed his theory of evolution to be true – debunking the biblical version of Creation, which was accepted by mostly everyone at the time. This led Charles to have religious doubts his entire life. His wife, Emma, was a deeply religious yet open-minded person. She often asked Charles to read verses from the Bible. She never forced her beliefs on Charles, and vice versa. In 1842, Charles and Emma moved to Down House, where they lived for the majority of their lives. In May 1839, Charles Darwin published his first book: Voyage of the Beagle, which he hinted at natural selection in. It …show more content…
Charles Darwin created the theory of evolution, and through his books, made it public. While on his five year voyage, Charles visited the Galapagos Islands and noticed how each island seemed to have its own exclusive species of finch that were different from the ones on the mainland. Through this and other observations, Charles concluded that living things are always changing to adapt to their environment. After about 23 years after his voyage Charles published The Origin of Species. There was much controversy about it. Nonetheless, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution paved its way to become widely accepted and regarded as right. It was a great discovery that not only changed the world of science, but also affected the lives of everyone, starting with Charles and