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The Sandwalk is your first clue for today’s Geo Quiz. The Sandwalk is a walking path where Charles Darwin used to stroll.

It’s just one of the places where the 19th-century English naturalist spent time puzzling over his theory of evolution by natural selection.

We’re looking for another place where Darwin spent time.

Not the HMS Beagle… That was Darwin’s floating home as he voyaged around the world… exploring exotic lands and collecting everything from fossils to finches.

Not the Galápagos Islands – where he studied mockingbirds and giant tortoises. And not the Cambridge University library where Darwin’s field notes and manuscripts are kept.

Nope.

We’re looking for the name of the 3-story house where Darwin toiled away in his study and wrote On the Origin of Species.

The house is 15 miles outside of London. It’s right by the Sandwalk. And it’s the subject of our Geo Quiz.

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For today’s Geo Quiz, we asked you to name the house where Charles Darwin lived and worked on his ground breaking theory of evolution. Our Science Correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee is here with the answer.

RC: Hi Marco, the answer is Down House.

MW: And that house is located just outside a village called Downe, about 15 miles from London.

RC: Correct. And I spoke with someone who has a personal connection to that house. He’s Darwin’s great, great grandson. His name’s Randal Keynes.

MW: Oh so the house is open to the public obviously.

RC: Yes, but you don’t have to go all the way to London to see Down House. There’s a new film out. It’s called Creation and it tells the story of Charles Darwin in the months before he published On the Origin of Species. It’s based on a biography written by Randal Keynes, the great, great grandson. Keynes told me that parts of the movie were filmed on the grounds of Down House. And Keynes says it was eerie to watch the movie makers recreate his great, great grandfather’s life in Darwin’s own house. And by the way, Darwin’s played by the actor Paul Bettany.

MW: So does Randal Keynes like the final product?

RC: Yes he likes the film. He believes it was true to his book and Darwin’s life. He told me that if Charles Darwin and his wife Emma, who is a central figure in the film, were to watch the movie, they’d be pleased with it too.

MW: Rhitu, we’ll have to leave it there.

But our listeners can hear the full interview with Keynes on this week’s Science podcast.

RC: Right.
And here’s the exciting part, listeners can chat with Randal Keynes directly online. He’s the guest in our latest Science Forum. And the conversation will go through next week.

MW: To join the discussion with Randal Keynes and to download Rhitu’s podcast, go to www.theworld.org/science.

Rhitu Chatterjee, The World’s Science reporter thank you for joining me.