The Resume

(December 12, 1731-April 18, 1802)
Born in Elston, England, United Kingdom
Natural philosopher, physician and poet
Wrote 'The Botanic Garden,' 'Zoonomia' and 'The Temple of Nature'
Grandfather of Charles Darwin and Francis Galton

Why he might be annoying:

He weighed well over 300 pounds.
When making house calls, he would have his driver, an equally large man, walk ahead to make sure the floors would support him.
He turned down an offer from George III to serve as Physician to the King.
After his first wife died, he had an affair with his son's governess and fathered two daughters out of wedlock.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, 'I absolutely nauseate Darwin's poem.'

Why he might not be annoying:

When an acquaintance asked if he found his stammer inconvenient, he replied, 'No, for it gives me time for reflection, and saves me from asking impertinent questions.'
Three of his children died in infancy.
Charles Darwin wrote, 'He was much in advance of his age in his ideas as to sanitary arrangements — such as supplying towns with pure water, having holes made into crowded sitting and bed-rooms for the constant admission of fresh air, and not allowing chimneys to be closed during summer.'
He was an advocate for women's education, ending property restrictions on voting, and abolishing the slave trade.
His 'The Botanic Garden,' which translated the works of Carl Linnaeus into verse, was a best seller and one of the first popular science books.
He indirectly inspired 'Frankenstein,' with Mary Shelley writing in the introduction, 'They [Percy Shelley and Lord Byron] talked of the experiments of Dr. Darwin... who preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion.'
Some of his musings on evolution influenced his grandson's theory of natural selection.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 18th Century Poets
• 18th Century Scientists
• 19th Century Poets
• 19th Century Scientists
• Breeders [Have 5 or More Kids] (Ranked: 14)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 52]
• Honey, I Banged the Babysitter
• I am a Deist
• I Attended Cambridge
• I Attended University of Edinburgh
• I Fathered Children Out of Wedlock
• I Outlived My Child
• I Stutter/Stammer
• Look at My Book Cover
• Poets
• Profiles 35251-35500 (Ranked: 35431)
• Scientists
• Teetotalers

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying