Charles Darwin - A True Natural Philosopher & Geologist

While Darwin’s contribution to our understanding of the underlying principles that determine the diversity of organic life (his theory of evolution) is well known, what is less well appreciated is that he also developed an explanatory theory for how the Earth worked, based on his skills as an observer, and wise advice acquired at Cambridge

Charles Darwin was trained as a natural philosopher (= scientist) by a group of highly influential academics who happened to be in Cambridge at the time he was admitted as an undergraduate. This lucky happenstance fuelled his career and, ultimately, his entire life.

Prof. David Norman Biography
I am a Fellow of Darwin’s College (Christ’s) and have set up a trust fund that supports research, linked to the work of Charles Darwin, on the Galapagos Islands. My primary research work is themed around dinosaurs and I’ve trained most of the top dinosaur experts in the UK, and elsewhere. My latest work has been a series of monographs on the dinosaur Scelidosaurus (published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society). I’ve also been involved in challenging our understanding of fundamental dinosaur relationships. Another strand of my work has been focused on Charles Darwin’s (largely overlooked) contributions to the Earth Sciences. Outside academia, I am a rugby referee for local clubs and at the University.

Curator: Sedgwick Museum of Geology, Cambridge
The Odell Fellow in the Natural Sciences, Christ’s College Cambridge

This talk was held on Zoom on 9th February 2022.