The Science of Biology
Darwin’s theory of evolution explains and describes how organisms on earth have changed over time and acquired a diversity of new forms. This famous theory provides a good example of how a scientist develops a hypothesis and how a scientific theory grows and wins acceptance. Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882; figure 1.5) was an English naturalist who, after 30 years of study and observation, wrote one of the most famous and influential books of all time. This book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, created a sensation when it was published, and the ideas Darwin expressed in it have played a central role in the development of human thought ever since. In Darwin’s time, most people believed that the various kinds of organisms and their individual structures resulted from direct actions of the Creator (and to this day many people still believe this to be true). Species were thought to be specially create