Charles Darwin Academic
- Gender: Male
- Citizenship: United Kingdom
- Born: Feb 12, 1809
- Died: Apr 19, 1882
Charles Robert Darwin, FRS was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.
Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which 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.
What a book a devil's chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low, and horribly cruel work of nature!
nature & work
To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.
being good & truth
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.
history & learning
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
life & time
An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men.
men
How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children.
the future
If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.
greatness & nature
A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.
best & friendship