Race

Introduction

The most important individual in the development of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was an English naturalist. His seminal work, On the Origin of Species, was published in 1859, and posited the theory that populations evolve by a process of natural selection over the course of generations. The book presented evidence for the diversity of life having arisen out of a branching pattern of evolution from common descent. Darwin’s ideas, alongside those of other, now more obscure evolutionary thinkers of the period, were to be challenged and debated for the remainder of the century, both in scientific circles but also more widely in theology, literature, philosophy, political science, anthropology, psychiatry and many other fields. Darwin’s later key publications included The Descent of Man, published in 1871.

Please select the scanned page from 'The Origin of the Species' you wish to view:

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