Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Robert Darwin <a href="/facts/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society/cWs8TdC5">FRS</a> (12 December 1731 – 18 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the <a href="/facts/Midlands_Enlightenment/9oTgAKhC">Midlands Enlightenment</a>, he was also a <a href="/facts/Natural_philosophy/CUAsDWdk">natural philosopher</a>, <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiologist</a>, <a href="/facts/Society_for_Effecting_the_Abolition_of_the_Slave_Trade/AWaKN0sp">slave-trade abolitionist</a>, inventor, <a href="/facts/Freemasonry/zgLC9973">freemason</a>, and poet.
His poems included much <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">natural history</a>, including a statement of <a href="/facts/Evolution/Hj0qAaBk">evolution</a> and the relatedness of all <a href="/facts/Form_of_life/j8JkL09u">forms of life</a>.
He was a member of the <a href="/facts/Darwin%E2%80%93Wedgwood_family/8AXRgYPK">Darwin–Wedgwood family</a>, which includes his grandsons <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a> and <a href="/facts/Francis_Galton/9Hu0Ex1R">Francis Galton</a>. Darwin was a founding member of the <a href="/facts/Lunar_Society_of_Birmingham/KKK87WJn">Lunar Society of Birmingham</a>, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers.
He turned down an invitation from <a href="/facts/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom/1RGERms7">George III</a> to become <a href="/facts/Physician_to_the_King/Y3eoqcoN">Physician to the King</a>.

Erasmus Darwin open-in-new

Erasmus Darwin