Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Charles Robert Darwin FRS (12 February 1809 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist who established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. The scientific community and much of the general public came to accept evolution as a fact in his lifetime, but it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed that natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life. Dobzhansky 1973 Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge encouraged his passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories. Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871, he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil. In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was one of only five nineteenth-century non-royal personages from the United Kingdom to be honoured by a state funeral, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.

Charles Darwin's Books:

[De Lorigine Des Especes | El Origen De Las Especies | Observations Geologiques Sur Les Iles Volcaniques | On The Origin Of Species | Geological Observations Of Volcanic Islands | Geologische Beobachtungen ber Die Vulcanischen Inseln Mit | Movements And Habits Of Climbing Plants | The Autobiography Of Charles Darwin | The Formation Of Vegetable Mould Through The Action Of Worms | Geological Observations On Volcanic Islands | Insectivorous Plants | On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection | The Descent Of Man And Selection In Relation To Sex | The Effects Of Cross Self Fertilisation In The Vegetable Kingdom | The Expression Of Emotion In Man And Animals | The Formation Of Vegetable Mould Through The Action Of Worms With Observations Of Their Habits | The Foundations Of The Origin Of Species | The Movements And Habits Of Climbing Plants | The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection | The Power Of Movement In Plants | The Structure And Distribution Of Coral Reefs | The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication Volume 1 | The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication Volume 2 | The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication Volume Ii | The Voyage Of The Beagle]

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