Darwin: Tenacious Scientist, A Pragmatic Lover, And A Man Pained By Losing His Religion

Mockingbirds: among the menagerie of animal specimens that inspired Charles Darwin’s thoughts on evolution. Photograph: Anna Gordon/Guardian

The significance of the two birds lying side by side on a purple cushion with tags dangling from their feet is easy to miss. But the subtle differences - a strip of white on the wing, a smudge of dark on the breast - set Charles Darwin on course to develop the most important scientific theory ever conceived: the evolution of species through natural selection.

The mockingbirds are perhaps the most important specimens Darwin collected from the Galapagos during his five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle in the 1830s, and today they go on show as part of a major exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. It reveals Darwin as a tenacious scientist, a pragmatic lover, and a man pained by losing his religion.

The Guardian, 11 November, 2008

It's rare that I will do birthdays, cuz 90 kabillion people blog and reblog "Born On This Date" every morning. The most ubiquitous daily blog topic across the web? I dunno. Gets bunches of traffic, though.

These two birthdays, though, are pretty damn important to me.

Andrew Bird, Imitosis