26 maart 2009 - During his student days Charles Darwin spent more money on shoes than on study books. Historians at Cambridge University have discovered documents listing the expenditure of the famous theology student. While studying theology, between 1828 and 1831, Darwin spent slightly over 636 pounds. His tuition fees were only 37 pounds, and the rent was 57 pounds, for one of the finest and most expensive student digs in Cambridge. As he employed a staff including a shoeshine boy, someone who did the dishes and a room maid, young Darwin had plenty of leisure time. Studying was not among his favorite pastimes: he preferred to go hunting, horse riding or collecting beetles. Darwin also paid an extra sum for a daily serving of vegetables at dinner -meat and beer- in the refectory of his college. Darwin’s father, who was a medical doctor, paid his son’s bills. (HOP)