Darwin was born in Elston, near Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. His father was a lawyer. When Erasmus was a child, he was very interested in nature. He liked clocks and electricity. He understood nature well. He said that people should eat meat during Lent, a Christian time of fasting before Easter when people eat only simple food.
He went to the University of Cambridge, and then studied to be a doctor in Edinburgh. He became a doctor in 1756, and worked in Lichfield in Staffordshire. He worked hard and learned a lot about medicine. Soon, lots of people respected him, and the King, George III asked him to become the Royal Doctor, but Erasmus preferred to stay where he was.
Darwin married twice and had 14 children, including two illegitimate daughters by an employee, and, possibly, at least one further illegitimate daughter. In addition to the five children of his first marriage to Mary Howard (1740–1770), and seven to his second wife, Elizabeth Pole, there are two daughters by the governess Mary Parker, and another probable with a married woman, Lucy Smith.
Darwin formed the "Lichfield Botanical Society" in order to translate the works of the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus from Latin into English. This took seven years. The result was two publications: "A System of Vegetables" between 1783 and 1785, and "The Families of Plants" in 1787. In these volumes, Darwin coined many of the English plant names that we use today.
Darwin then wrote "The Loves of the Plants," a long poem, which was a popular rendering of Linnaeus works. Darwin also wrote "Economy of Vegetation", and together the two were published as "The Botanic Garden".
His last long poem, the "Temple of Nature", was published after his death, in 1803. This is considered his best poetic work. It centers on his own newly-conceived theory of evolution, tracing traces the progression of life from microorganisms to civilized society.
Darwin's most important scientific work is "Zoönomia" (1794–1796), which contains a system of pathology, and a treatise on generation, in which he anticipated some of Lamarck's ideas on evolution.
The essence of his views is contained in the following passage, which he follows up with the conclusion that one and the same kind of living filament is and has been the cause of all organic life:
Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind, would it be too bold to imagine that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued (invested) with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions and associations, and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!
This is a clear statement of the kind of evolutionary thinking which Lamarck is known for.
Darwin's idea of evolution surfaced in several of his other works. In the "Loves of the Plants" (1789), reprinted in several editions as "The Botanic Garden", there occurs the comment: "Perhaps all the productions of nature are in their progress to greater perfection!". All these natural history works are in the form of poems, and so they are not satisfactory from the point of view of modern science. But the 18th century was a time when intelligent men made connections; the specialist types of scientist occurred first in the lifetime of his grandson Charles.
The last two leaves of Darwin's "A plan for the conduct of female education in boarding schools" (1797) contain a book list, an apology for the work, and an advert for "Miss Parkers School". The work probably resulted from his liaison with Mary Parker. The school advertised on the last page is the one he set up in Ashbourne, Derbyshire for their two illegitimate children, Susanna and Mary.
Darwin translated the work of Carolus Linnaeus from Latin to English. The books explain how plants are classified. Darwin was friends with many important scientists and businessmen, in the Lunar Society. Darwin wrote poems against slavery. He was a generous man, he helped people who had no money.
He wrote poems explaining his ideas about evolution. He also made many inventions and predicted that electricity and aeroplanes would be useful in the future. He also made a sketch (simple drawing) of a hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine in 1779.
Erasmus Darwin died on 18 April 1802, and is buried in All Saints Church, Breadsall, north of Derby.
Kowloon
Kowloon (; ) is one of the 3 main parts of Hong Kong. It comprises the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2.1 million in 2011. it is the most populous area in Hong Kong.
Kowloon is north of Hong Kong Island and south of the mainland part of the New Territories. The size of Kowloon is about 47 km² (18 sq mi). In law, Kowloon refers to the area south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island, leased to the United Kingdom by the Qing dynasty in 1860. In 1898, the Qing dynasty leased the New Territories to the United Kingdom for 99 years. New Kowloon, the area north of Boundary Street, is officially part of the New Territories. In modern culture, however, New Kowloon is part of Kowloon.
Kowloon was developed largely in the 20th century, after Kowloon Wharf and Kowloon-Canton Railway were built. Airplanes used to fly above Kowloon to and from Kai Tak Airport until 1998, so buildings there are usually lower than the ones on Hong Kong Island because they had height restrictions. The height restrictions were lifted after the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport in 1998.
The name Kowloon means "nine dragons" (九 – nine, 龍 – dragon). This refers to eight mountains and a Chinese emperor: Kowloon Peak, Tung Shan, Tate's Cairn, Temple Hill, Unicorn Ridge, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Crow's Nest and Emperor Bing (Song Dynasty).
2,108,419 people lived in Kowloon in 2011. 94.2% of Kowloon's residents are Chinese. Smaller groups include Indonesians (1.8%), Filipinos (1.5%), Indians (0.5%), Nepalese (0.4%), and White people (0.3%).
86% of the people in Kowloon usually speak in Cantonese, 2.3% use English and 1.2% use Mandarin.
Kowloon is divided into the following districts:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Open University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong are all located in Kowloon. There are also many primary and secondary schools as well.
New Territories
New Territories () is one of the 3 main parts of Hong Kong. It is between Kowloon and the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China. It also includes over 200 outlying Islands. About 3.5 million people live there. It makes up 85% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong.
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí is a state in central Mexico. About 2,400,000 people live there. Its capital is also called San Luis Potosí.
Morelos
Morelos is a state in central Mexico. About 1,600,000 people live in Morelos. Its capital is called Cuernavaca.
Michoacán
Michoacán is a state in south-west Mexico. About 4,000,000 people live there. Its capital is Morelia.
Paul Pena
Paul Pena (January 26, 1950 – October 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Pena was completely blind by the time he was 20.
Pena was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Pena spoke Cape Verdean Creole with his family while growing up. His grandfather, Francisco Pena, and father, Joaquim "Jack" Pena, were both professional musicians, and taught Paul to play Cape Verdean music.
Creole language
A creole language (or a creole) is a language that comes from a pidgin. Creoles seem very similar to each other, even if they come from different languages. There is not a widely accepted theory that explains why this happens.
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