The Origins of Darwin’s Evolutionary Theories on His 214th Birthday

“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” – Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (1859)

Charles Darwin is, perhaps, one of the most famous scientists. Many colloquial phrases mention “Darwinism” and “survival of the fittest” (though, these are almost always