Darwin

Darwin is a concept in the field of biology and evolutionary theory, named after the scientist Charles Darwin, who proposed the theory of natural selection.

Overview

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who proposed the theory of biological evolution through natural selection. Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation for diversity in nature. He published his theory with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species.

Darwin's Theory

Darwin's theory of evolution is based on key facts and the inferences drawn from them, which biologist Ernst Mayr summarized as follows:

• Every species is fertile enough that if all offspring survived to reproduce, the population would grow.
• Despite periodic fluctuations, populations remain roughly the same size.
• Resources such as food are limited and are relatively stable over time.
• A struggle for survival ensues.
• Individuals in a population vary significantly from one another.
• Much of this variation is inheritable.
• Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive and less likely to reproduce; individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce and leave their inheritable traits to future generations, which produces the process of natural selection.
• This slowly effected process results in populations changing to adapt to their environments, and ultimately, these variations accumulate over time to form new species.

Impact

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection underlies all modern biology. It enables us to decipher our genes and fight viruses, and to understand Earth's fossil record and rich biodiversity.

See Also

• Natural Selection
• Evolution
• Charles Darwin
• Biology
• Ernst Mayr

References

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