Charles Darwin

We have all heard of Charles Darwin in one way or another. Whether it be from his genetic research, Galapagos escapades, theory of evolution, or the theory of natural selection, Darwin is widely known and his contributions to the natural and biological sciences have made profound impacts on the way we view the world. As much as we value and accept his work today, his contributions weren’t always welcomed.

Charles was born in 1809 in England to a very wealthy family of doctors. He was the fifth of six children, and he was expected, like his brothers, to follow his father’s career of choice. Unfortunately for Charles, all he wanted to do was dive head first into the natural sciences. He was introduced to the wonders of nature very early on in his life and he quickly picked up many collections of various plants. When he was sixteen, he spent the summer of 1825 as an understudy to his father, and Charles helped him with the care of the poor of his hometown. Then in the fall, Charles and his brother were sent to the University of Edinburgh Medical School to become doctors. 

While in University, Charles learned that he had little interest in his medical studies, and he promptly ignored them in favor of his obsession with the natural sciences. His father, disappointed with Charles’s lack of application in the medical field, begrudgingly sent Charles to Christ’s College in Cambridge to study this time to become an Anglican parson. Again Charles neglected his studies and he picked up a passion for beetle collecting, which led him to discover the world of entomology. Despite his neglect for his studies, Charles was still able to earn his ordinary degree. So far in his life, Charles Darwin has been struggling against the well wishes of his father in order to pursue his passion, but now he will have to struggle with tradition and opposing viewpoints of the scientific community.

Professor John Stevens Henslow

After his graduation, Charles was approached by one of his professors, John Stevens Henslow, about a two-year planned voyage to chart the coast of South America that was leaving in four weeks. His father opposed the trip, but his brother in-law helped fund and convince Charles to go. After three months of delays, the voyage began and lasted for approx. five years. During that time, Charles would diligently send back notes, journals, and specimens of most if not all of everything he found. As Charles saw more and more of the natural world, the more he questioned  and found contradictions to the current scientific theories. This then culminated in the inception of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, where the origin of a new species could be explained by genetic variation across generations in a genealogical tree. That, over time, one species changes into another. This opposed many current views of the time, where species had independent lineages where one species could evolve into a higher form or that there was divine influence in creation. In response to his publication of “On the Origin of Species”, many critics attacked Charles’ beliefs and friends, as they felt that their ideas of divine intervention and many felt insulted that Charles proposed the possibility that humans came from monkeys. Many of Charles’ friends supported his publication, but were not convinced of his theory.

As time went on, Charles’ ideas gained more acceptances and with each publication came less and less opposition. Through continuous scrutiny and criticism, Darwin became an extremely popular and respected scientist. Who would commonly engage in public discourse and lecture halls when he could. Charles Darwin’s life choices were heavily influenced by his passion for the natural sciences, he made sure that he followed his passions, and he worked within his passions with a standard so high that eventually caused health concerns.

Chris Gardner

Now here is a person you all probably know the story of, or at least you heard of, as per the Academy Nominee performance by Will Smith in the film The Pursuit of Happiness. This was a film from 2006 that more or less chronicled the hardships of Chris Gardner as he struggled with homelessness while trying to raise his infant son. 

Chris Gardner was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin into a severe set of conditions. His mother was living off of welfare, his step-father was an abusive alcoholic, and his biological father was living in Louisiana and wanted nothing to do with him. By the time he was eight, Chris had been placed into foster care for the second time when his mother was arrested and convicted of attempted murder of his step-father. Then a year later, when he was nine years old, his closest foster father figure, Uncle Henry, drowned in the Mississippi River. All of these trials and tribulations only lead to further steel Chris’s resolve to avoid all of the issues he saw in his early life. From child abuse to alcoholism, Chris wanted to make a name for himself that entirely excluded these horrific behaviors.

So, following the best example he could find, Chris enlisted in the US Navy after being influenced by Uncle Henry’s stories in the Navy. While there Chris became acquainted with a highly skilled and influential San Francisco heart surgeon, Dr. Robert Ellis, who offered him a laboratory position at the University of California after his enlistment. Years passed and Chris eventually got married and had plans for a medical career ten years in the making. However, due to the time frame, Chris deterred from his medical career and, along with an affair and a child he subsequently lost his marriage as a result.

When Chris’s son Chris Jr. was born in 1981, Chris was still a lab assistant making a couple thousand a year, which could not support his girlfriend or his child forcing Chris to find better paying work. For years he was able to get by but just barely, and on one fateful sales call to the San Francisco General Hospital, Chris spotted a man with a fancy red Ferrari and he asked the man what his profession was. He responded with “stockbroker” and Chris suddenly knew what he wanted to be. That man, Bob Bridges, would then go on to help Chris set up numerous meetings between branch managers at many of the major stock brokers that were offering training programs. While attending these meetings, Chris neglected his most recent salesman job as well as his car’s parking eligibility, which ended up amassing $1200 worth of tickets. Chris kept this up for two months on end and he finally was accepted into a training program for E.F. Hutton. 

Chris Gardner and his son, Chris Jr. 1980s

Then everything hit the fan when Chris had a very emotional incident with his girlfriend Jackie that resulted in the police being called. Everything was actually fine between Chris and Jackie as there was nothing of this incident that could get Chris arrested unless Jackie pressed charges, however, during this the police checked his car’s registration and he was arrested for his outstanding parking tickets. Being unable to pay them, Chris was sentenced to ten days in jail and during which Jackie left for the east coast with Chris Jr. and Chris was left with nothing but the same suit he had on when he was thrown in jail and his unpaid internship. Chris was already broken but he was far from rock bottom.

Jackie came back to give Chris sole custody of his son, and Chris then continued in his passion of becoming a stock broker and spent the next five or so years of his life juggling homeless and fatherhood. Eventually he got a legitimate job position where he would always be sure to get to work early and leave late. He would sleep wherever he and his son could, and he always relied on his own strength and perseverance to not only survive but to flourish. 

Eventually Chris was able to save up for a house and his homeless troubles were over, but his dreams were not. Chris continued to work hard for years and in 1987 Chris Gardner created his own brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co. He started with ten thousand dollars in his pocket and a single wooden desk that was often used for family dinners. Chris sold his share of his firm in 2006 for millions and bought himself his very own Ferrari (from Michael Jordan).