This man’s visage is on British currency. His ideas of natural selection and evolution influenced the direction of modern medicine, reshaped how we think of ourselves, and helped expunge the literal Biblical interpretations from modern society.
You have probably heard that Darwin recanted evolution on his deathbed. Even if this was true:
It changes nothing. If Jane Goodall, for example, changed her mind about chimps and gorillas, it would not alter the fact that chimpanzees use tools and gorillas use sign language.
When dying, a person's mental state is uncertain. A dying brain is likely to hallucinate, or become clouded. Noting his words in such a state would be like noting his words while he was trippin' on 'shrooms.
The story was fabricated by Lady Hope, who was not with Darwin when he died. Accounts of his death, as written by those who were actually present, do not mention recanting. His children, who were there, refuted the recantation and conversion story.
Darwin's The Descent of Man remains highly recommended reading.
