Darwin began his schooling as a physician in Edinburgh
in 1825, at the age of 16. His father, Robert, and grandfather
Erasmus had both been physicians, and both had been trained at
Edinburgh. They chose Edinburgh because it had a larger and stronger
medical program than Cambridge, and it was home to a more radical
and cosmopolitan faculty and student body. Edinburgh itself was
a relatively liberal, cosmopolitan city where the Darwins and the
Wedgwoods had many friends.
Charles's brother Erasmus came to Edinburgh in 1825 for
a hospital residency after completing his course work at Christ's
College in Cambridge. Charles and Erasmus stayed in a hotel at
first, but quickly found a boarding house at eleven Lothian Street.
At first they were both enthusiastic about learning if not about
lectures, checking out more books from the library than all the
other students combined. But Erasmus stayed in Edinburgh for only
four months, after which he returned to Shrewsbury to assist his
father, leaving Charles to face the trials of medical training
alone. Edinburgh was the best choice for medical school for Charles,
but unfortunately medical school proved not to be something for
which he had any particular enthusiasm. Although he had spent the
summer of 1825 in Shropshire helping his father treat the local
poor, and found it satisfying, he found little to like at Edinburgh.
While he found the lectures "intolerably dull," even those on
what was to become his life-long passion, zoology, he did start
to make a few tentative steps into the world of science, including
becoming a member of the Royal Medical Society. He found the anatomy
sessions disgusting; he attended two surgeries, both done without
anesthesia. After the second, a particularly gruesome surgery on
a small child, he swore never to return the operating room. Charles spent
the summer of 1826 hiking through North Wales with friends, and
then went to Maer, the Wedgwood estate, to hunt rabbits, birds,
and foxes.
In his second year, 1826–1827, Charles was just as dissatisfied with
his classes and had lost his enthusisam for the library. He did, however,
become a friend of Dr. Robert Grant, a physician and lecturer at
Edinburgh with a particular interest in marine biology. Grant took
him to meetings of the Wernerian Society, where he heard lectures
by the master bird-watcher John Audubon and others. During the
two years at Edinburgh Darwin almost certainly heard about the
idea of evolution for the first time. But the evolution he heard
about remained a vague, mysterious process that depended on unknown
mechanisms. It was starting to seem clear to some that all living
beings were related, but as of yet it was difficult to say how
they were related. Darwin became an active member of the Plinian
Society, a society of students and some faculty and community members
that met to present and discuss scientific papers. Darwin himself
presented, at the beginning of 1826, a short paper on oyster larvae
that he had conducted with advice from Dr. Grant.
Unfortunately, hunting was capturing his attention far
more than the prospect of becoming a physician, as was a new hobby: beetle
collecting. The combination of his lack of interest in the medicine
with his absolute squeamishness at the prospect of surgery boded
ill for his success in the profession. His father scolded him for his
"indolent" lifestyle. After Charles's second year at Edinburgh, Robert
Darwin, realizing that Charles would not follow in his footsteps,
encouraged him to seek another occupation. Darwin considered the
possibilities over the course of the summer of 1827, carefully
reading books on divinity to see if he might make a place for himself
as a clergyman.
