204 years ago Charles Robert Darwin was born and the life of one of the most influencial men in science began.  Today, we celebrate the life of the man who first described natural selecton in relation to biological evolution and express our gratitude for the enormous benefits that his scientific knowledge has contributed to humanity simply because he ventured to think outside the box.  Its Darwin's ingenuity and human curiosity  that has allowed the sciences to expand in the way they have the past 150 years.  When Darwin was alive, there was a lot of controversy and speculation behind his ideas (even now there are still a lot of people out there who think Darwin is a total quack, but those people are actually the ones quacking) but it is the questioning of and act of building on his ideas that has made such an impact on scientific thought.  The Origin of Species, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals and, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (quite the racey title for 1871, huh?) allowed scientists to think of nature in a way they had never thought of before and build on new ideas of what nature was and can become.  Darwin may not have been entirely correct with all of his theories but we cannot be anything but greatful for what he gave to the scientific community, and that's innovation.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!