Charles Darwin and the theory of Evolution

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h the complementary process of sexual selection. According to Darwin, in sexual selection,
one gender of a species develops a preference for individuals of the other gender who possess
certain features. The individuals who possess these features will than have a reproductive
advantage over others, resulting in a greater number of offspring, and thus, again, a change in the
composition of the population. Therefore, it was Darwin who made the theory of evolution
feasible by providing the mechanisms of natural and sexual selection.

Darwin's Formative Years

Charles Darwin was born in England in 1809 and belonged to a wealthy and respectable
family. His grandfather, Erasamus Darwin, was a noted botanical expert in his day who published
two important books, Zoonomia, and the Botanic Garden. In these books, Erasamus speculated
about various evolutionary ideas that were dismissed as too radical (i.e., the nose of the swine has
become hard for the purpose of turning up the soil in search of insects and roots). Darwin who in
his youth read his grandfather's books with admiration, later commented that his grandfather
anticipated the views and erroneous grounds of opinion of Lamarck. Nevertheless, Erasamus
may have unconsciously influenced Darwin in preparing the way for evolution by natural
selection.

In 1818, at the age of 9, Darwin entered the Shrewsbury school, which was ran by Dr. Butler.
Darwin later recalled that nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than
Dr. Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught , except a little ancient
geography and history. The school as a means of education to me was simply a blank. He was
removed from the school in 1825, and was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine. There he studied
for two years before deciding that he didn't like medicine. But before he left Edinburgh, he was
introduced for the first time to the...