What is a "geek"? If a geek is someone who is curious and inquisitive about the world in which he/she lives, and actively pursues a greater understanding of the world by making careful observations and pursuing active inquiry, then, yes, Darwin was a geek. During his early education at Shrewsbury School, where he was introduced to Latin, Greek, Ancient History etc., Darwin admitted that he had no exceptional abilities. His real interests lay outside of school. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting, and natural history studies. He was curious about the natural world and enjoyed collecting (rocks, insects etc.). As a young boy he collected plants and animals and then observed them more carefully in a "laboratory" that his older brother Ras created for him in a toolshed on the Darwin estate in Shrewsbury [the toolshed is still there, although it is now in the back yard of a privately owned home]. The curiousity that Darwin exhibited as a young boy and his interest in collecting, served him well as he travelled around the world on his 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle when he was a young man. It is interesting to contemplate what might have happened to Darwin had he been born in today's world where young boys spend so much of their time mindlessly sitting in front of a TV or playing video games, when they could be outside exploring the natural world.

By: Floyd Sandford at: 17th August, 2009