Charles Darwin is obviously one of the most well known scientists of all time, but like many people, I did not know much about his life other than his work in the Galapagos islands and his writing of the Origin of Species.  After reading this first part of Darwin’s autobiography, I have the same reaction I did after reading Franklin’s autobiography.  The writing in an autobiography allows the reader to better understand the type of person the author is, rather than just a biographer highlighting typical successes.

            I found Darwin’s early life and schooling very easy to connect with.  I feel as though hearing about successful people’s journey to find their career is comforting in a way.  Darwin obviously struggled to become attached to a single discipline in his schooling, jumping from medicine to religion and studying various forms of science.  I also found Darwin’s struggle to find a career similar to Franklin’s in that they both had their father’s influence in their field of study and they jumped between different disciplines.

            I enjoyed reading more about Darwin’s life and about his journey towards writing about evolution. I also found it  quite entertaining when Darwin wrote about his collecting of beetles, and about how successful people knew also collected beetles, so it must be a sign for success.