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Birthdate
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12th, 1809. -
Darwin’s Background
In 1831, he went on a voyage aboard a ship of the British Royal Navy and went as a naturalist. His purpose was to survey the coastline of South America and record its harbors to make better maps. However, during this voyage, he ended up collecting samples of plants, animals, rocks and fossils. He sent them back home to be studied. In 1836, this led to ground breaking scientific discoveries that he then published to share with the world. That is where his theory of natural selection came about. -
Contribution to Philosophy of Science
In 1859, Darwin published his thoughts on evolution and natural selection in his book called “On the Origin of Species”. It discussed his views on how species change over time, but over a very long period of time. Darwin’s theory of natural selection says that individuals of a species are more likely to survive in their environment and pass on their genes to the next generation when they inherit traits from their parents that are best suited for that specific environment. -
Death date
Darwin died April 19th, 1882.