Charles Darwin Hacked Together His Own Office Chair Because He Was A Genius

Charles Darwin Hacked Together His Own Office Chair Because He Was A Genius

If you’re reading this post there’s a pretty good chance you’re doing so on a computer. You’re probably sitting in a wonderfully ergonomic office chair too. We have Charles Darwin to thank for the latter — sort of.

Darwin was a notorious workaholic. Though he spent many years gallivanting around the world collecting specimens, at some point he had to sit down and actually study them. Office chairs hadn’t been invented yet, so Darwin slapped some wheels on the to feet of his chair so he could work faster. It’s basically an armchair on wheels which isn’t what we’re used to, but it was ahead of its time. It took people a long time to accept The Descent of Man, too.

The office chair actually went into mass production long before Darwin’s ideas were widely embraced. But we have industrialisation to thank for its advent. With the rise of the clerical worker in the second half of the 19th century, office chairs were adopted to facilitate sitting comfortably for long periods of time. They have since evolved into the wonders that are still saving our asses today.

Image from Wellcome Library via Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.