Charles Darwin:

Charles Darwin is best known for his work as a naturalist, developing a theory of evolution to explain
biological change.

Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 to April 19, 1882) was a naturalist and biologist known for
his theory of evolution and the process of natural selection. Born in Shrewsbury, England, in 1831 he
embarked on a five-year survey voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle; his studies of
specimens led him to formulate his theories.

Darwin’s theory of evolution declared that species survived through a process called "natural
selection," where those that successfully adapted, or evolved, to meet the changing requirements of
their natural habitat thrived, while those that failed to evolve and reproduce died off. Through his
observations and studies of birds, plants and fossils, Darwin noticed similarities among species all
over the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading him to believe that the
species we know today had gradually evolved from common ancestors. Darwin’s theory of evolution
and the process of natural selection later became known simply as “Darwinism.”

In 1858, after years of scientific investigation, Darwin publically introduced his revolutionary theory
of evolution in a letter read at a meeting of the Linnean Society. On November 24, 1859, he
published a detailed explanation of his theory in his best-known work, On the Origin of Species by
Means of Natural Selection.

In the next century, DNA studies provided scientific evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution.
However, controversy surrounding its conflict with Creationism — the religious view that all of
nature was born of God — still abounds today.