What is the origin of the Theory of Evolution?

Answer 1

Evidence of evolution began to be recognised as far back as the eighteenth century, but naturists could not yet identify an explanation for this evidence. Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet (1744-1829) was an early advocate of evolution and believed that it proceeded in accordance with natural laws.

Thus Charles Darwin (1809-1892) was not the first to study evolution, but he was the first to recognise the role of natural selection in evolution. He had studied medicine, before dropping out and studying taxidermy, then natural history. His father enrolled Charles to study theology, hoping he would become a clergyman. Charles Darwin developed the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection after observing the evidence for evolution during his voyage in HMS Beagle. The captain of the Beagle was already aware of evolutionary theories that were already beginning to shock Christian believers in Europe, and had hoped that by having a naturalist on board he might obtain geological evidence to refute the them. During the voyage, from 1831 to 1836, Darwin travelled hundreds of miles inland, from country to country, trying to interpret the fauna, flora and geological formations. He then spent a further twenty years gathering and investigating evidence before publishing his conclusions.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection says that species evolved over time in response to changes in the natural environment, and is seen by scientists as the best explanation for the facts. Darwin wrote Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871.

The English naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace also invented the theory of natural selection, independent of Charles Darwin. However, he believed that natural selection did not apply to humans, because our evolution was divinely guided. In the years since, paleoanthropologists have found ample evidence that human evolution did occur as the result of natural selection, just as the evolution of all other species did.