Charles Bonnet

Charles Bonnet was born on March 13, 1720 in Geneva. Mr. Bonnet could not communicate well at school. The other kids made fun of him. Because of this his father decided to home school him. His father hired a tutor (MP4). His tutor taught him other languages like Greek (MP4) and Latin (MP4). He also taught him science.

Mr. Bonnet was very adventurous (MP4) as a child. He searched for examples of the things he learned about in science outside. When Bonnet was 20 years old he ran an experiment. The insect he studied was called an aphid. He discovered parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis means that a mother insect (MP4) can have babies without a father insect. This was a very important discovery. His family did not want him to become a scientist so he became a lawyer. He continued to be a scientist as a hobby.

Bonnet was not just deaf. He also became blind and had asthma (MP4) when he was young. Bonnet spent most of his life alone. He did not enjoy being around other people. It was too hard to communicate.

Because he was blind and deaf he had to change what he studied. He became interested in botany (MP4). He studied photosynthesis (MP4). When this became too hard he hired helpers. When he could no longer do his own experiments he wrote down his ideas. Others scientists tried experiments (MP4) that he wrote down.

One of the papers Bonnet wrote was about species extinct (MP4). Extinction happens when the last member of one kind of animal dies. He believed in the catastrophism theory. This means that he believed that events like earthquakes and floods made the shape of the Earth. He also believed species evolved. Evolution (MP4) means that living things change. He was the first person to think of this idea.