In 1831 a young Englishman called Charles Darwin went on a long voyage around the world.
He was only twenty-two, and his father thought that he was wasting his life.
On the Galápagos Islands he noticed that the birds looked different on each island.
Their beaks seemed to fit the food that they could find there.
Back in England he thought about this question for more than twenty years.
In 1859 he finally published his book On the Origin of Species.
It said that all living things change slowly and share common ancestors.
Many people were shocked at the time, but his idea changed science forever.
Words in this story
- young
- not old
- Englishman
- a man from England
- call
- to phone someone
- go
- to move to a place (past: went)
- long
- not short
- voyage
- a long journey by sea
- world
- the Earth and everyone on it
- be
- is / am / are / was
- only
- no more than; just
- father
- your dad
- think
- to have an idea or opinion
- waste
- to use badly
- life
- the time you are alive
- island
- land with water all around
- notice
- to see or become aware of
- bird
- an animal with wings and feathers
- look
- to use your eyes; to search
- different
- not the same
- beak
- a bird's hard mouth
- seem
- to appear to be
- fit
- to be right for
- food
- what you eat
- can
- to be able to
- find
- to see what you were looking for
- there
- in that place
- back
- get back = have again
- question
- something you ask
- year
- twelve months
- finally
- at last
- publish
- to print and sell a book
- book
- pages with words, to read
- say
- to tell with words
- live
- to have your home somewhere; to be alive
- thing
- an object
- change
- to become different
- slowly
- not fast
- share
- to have together
- common
- shared by all
- ancestor
- a person in your family long ago
- people
- more than one person
- shock
- to surprise very badly
- time
- an occasion; minutes and hours
- idea
- a thought
- science
- the study of nature
- forever
- for all time