Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin (December 12, 1731 - April 18, 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on medicine and botany. Living in Birmingham and Lichfield, England, he corresponded and discussed many topics with other members of the Lunar Society.

His long poem Zoonomia is widely considered to foreshadow the theory of evolution formulated by his grandson Charles Darwin. Another of his grandsons was Francis Galton. His experiments in galvanism inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.