Charles Darwin was a scientist who formulated the theory of evolution. Darwin posited that human beings evolved from other animals, thereby questioning the widespread belief that humans are inherently different from other animals. Harari references Darwin to stress that humans aren’t fundamentally different from creatures on Earth: chance events enabled humans to climb to the top of the food chain, but the situation could easily change.
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Charles Darwin Character Timeline in Sapiens
The timeline below shows where the character Charles Darwin appears in Sapiens. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: An Animal of No Significance
Harari notes that we humans like to think of ourselves as unique. When Charles Darwin proposed that Homo sapiens are just another kind of animal, people were outraged. Some still...
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Chapter 14: The Discovery of Ignorance
...in contrast, assumes that humans don’t know what’s important about the world. Harari thinks that Darwin, for example, didn’t claim to “solve the riddle of life once and for all.” Today’s...
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Chapter 15: The Marriage of Science and Empire
...the H.M.S. Beagle to chart South America’s coasts for military purposes. They took along Charles Darwin, who discovered the theory of evolution on that trip. Harari thinks about a story in...
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