Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was a nineteenth-century English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection transformed biology and our understanding of life on Earth.
His 1859 book *On the Origin of Species* proposed that species evolve over generations through inherited variations that improve survival and reproduction.
Darwin's name often appears in debates about science and religion: Darwin's theory, Darwinian evolution, social Darwinism.
Differential reproductive success
- evolutionSpecies changing over generations
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
- variationChange from a norm
speciation · transmutation · tree of life · sexual selection · adaptation · divergence · gradualism · struggle for existence
- GalapagosEcuadorian Pacific archipelago
- expeditionOrganized exploratory journey
- South AmericaWestern Hemisphere's southern continent
- PatagoniaSouth America's southern tip
Tierra del Fuego · Cape Verde · Australia · New Zealand · Tahiti · coral reefs · circumnavigation · surveying
Preserving animal skins lifelike
- geologyStudy of Earth's composition
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
- barnaclesShell-armored marine clingers
- earthwormsSoil-dwelling segmented invertebrates
orchids · pigeons · finches · tortoises · coral · climbing plants · observation · classification
Study of species change
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- phylogeneticsScience of ancestral relationships
- evolutionary psychologyStudy of adapted minds
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
creationism · scientific revolution · paradigm shift · Westminster Abbey · statue · commemorations
Market town in Shropshire
- CambridgeUniversity city, two countries
- EdinburghScotland's seat of government
- VictorianOf a prim era
- gentleman scientistWealthy self-funded researcher
illness · recluse · agnosticism · autobiography · prolific writer · twenty years · family
natural selection
Differential reproductive success
- evolutionSpecies changing over generations
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- survival of the fittestAdaptive advantage perpetuates species
variation · speciation · transmutation · tree of life · sexual selection · adaptation · divergence · gradualism · struggle for existence · artificial selection
HMS Beagle
- GalapagosEcuadorian Pacific archipelago
- expeditionOrganized exploratory journey
- South AmericaWestern Hemisphere's southern continent
Patagonia · Tierra del Fuego · Cape Verde · Australia · New Zealand · Tahiti · coral reefs · circumnavigation · surveying · specimens
taxidermy
Preserving animal skins lifelike
- geologyStudy of Earth's composition
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
- barnaclesShell-armored marine clingers
earthworms · orchids · pigeons · finches · tortoises · coral · climbing plants · observation · classification · dissection
evolutionary biology
Study of species change
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- phylogeneticsScience of ancestral relationships
- evolutionary psychologyStudy of adapted minds
controversy · creationism · scientific revolution · paradigm shift · Westminster Abbey · statue · commemorations
Shrewsbury
Market town in Shropshire
gentleman scientist · illness · recluse · agnosticism · autobiography · prolific writer · twenty years · family
- biologistsbiologist, geneticist, molecular biologist, microbiologist, biochemist
- Famous Charles
- Biology HistoryMendel, evolution, natural selection, cell theory, germ theory
- British NaturalistsDavid Attenborough
- British ScientistsIsaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawking, Francis Crick, Joseph Priestley
- Cambridge AlumniIsaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, Bertrand Russell, John Milton
Charles DarwinLamarckian
Acquired characteristics inherited
neo-Darwinism, social Darwinism, Charles, Darwin, Darwinian, Darwinism, Darwinist, Darwinians