In the development of any one person, the people who touch their lives, in and out, day after day, and the thoughts and feelings that they stirred are summed and that quantity represents a large portion of the individual. When looking at the development of someone with as great an impact as Charles Darwin, the people with whom he kept aqaintence shine right through. From the love and support of family, to the help and guidance of friends, Charles Darwin had it all, and yet suffered all alone in his genius for years. The people who he encountered sculpted the man that we know of as Charles Darwin, out of a failure at schooling and a timid bearer of the theory that toppled Biblical science forever.
             Where did it all begin? What was the factor that started the ball rolling, and gave it the momentum to keep lurching ahead? "As a distraction from his sister's regime, Charles played solitary games in the vast family home. His father had become interested in the fashionable study of natural history and there were rooms full of exotic collections, stuffed animals and old bones. A massive greenhouse attached to the side of the house was a veritable jungle to a young boy and it was in this environment of learned eccentricity and an unforced seeking of knowledge that Darwin's fascination for natural history and biology began." (D 6) However, growing up in the family home of Dr. Robert Darwin, was not exactly the most pleasant aspect of young Charles Darwin's life.
             After the death of his mother, Charles had become rather listless and buried himself in his work or in the pursuits of wealthy youth. The time after the loss of him mother was a wasted period spent in an institution which did not foster nor nurture the scientist we know of as Charles Darwin. The time he spent at Shrewsbury School was in Darwin's own words useless, however it seemed to act as a time for him to accomplish two very important habits. Primarily Darwin took the time to g...