Darwins Theory of Evolution :: Natural Selection, Evolution Essays

"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life," usually shortened to "the Origin of Species," is the full title of Charles Darwin's book, first published in 1859, in which Darwin formalized what we know today as the Theory of Evolution. Although Darwin is the most famous exponent of this theory, he was by no means the first person to suspect the workings of evolution. In fact, Charles owed a considerable debt to his grandfather Erasmus, a leading scientist and intellectual, who published a paper in 1794, calledZoonomia, or, The Laws of Organic Life. This set down many of the ideas that his grandson elaborated on 70 years later. However, it was Darwin that formalized the theory, and presented the most convincing case for the theory. Charles Darwin was born on the 12th of February 1809 (incidentally, the same day and year as Abraham Lincoln), in Shrewsbury, England. He had a privileged upbringing, and enjoyed science - particularly biology. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1831, and on December the 27th of that year, he set off for a five-year journey aboard the Beagle, a ship bound for South America. His voyage was long and eventful, including once, in Chile, encountering both an earthquake and a tidal wave in a single day! He spent the entire journey sea-sick, but found an interest in naturalism, and began to think about evolution. Using the evidence he found during his tour of South America to back up the basic theories set down by his predecessors, and making his own adjustments and discoveries. Finally, the Beagle arrived home on October the 2nd, 1836. During his travels, Darwin kept five note-books, marked A to E, in which he recorded what he found, made sketches and wrote about his observations and theories. These later became the basis of his book, though in a "condensed and corrected" version, to "render the volume more fitted for popular reading," as Charles stated in the preface to