See https://www.getwisdom.com/charles-darwin-channeled-by-karl-mollison-27june2021/
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin, 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882
was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist,
best known for his contributions to the science of
evolution.
His proposition that all species of life have descended
over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted,
and considered a foundational concept in science. In a
joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he
introduced his scientific theory that this branching
pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he
called natural selection, in which the struggle for
existence has a similar effect to the artificial
selection involved in selective breeding.
Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling
evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species.
By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of
the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact.
However, many favoured competing explanations, and it
was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary
synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad
consensus developed in which natural selection was the
basic mechanism of evolution. Darwin's scientific
discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences,
explaining the diversity of life.
Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect
his medical education at the University of Edinburgh;
instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates.
Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College)
encouraged his passion for natural science. His five-year
voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent
geologist whose observations and theories supported
Charles Lyell's conception of gradual geological change,
and publication of his journal of the voyage made him
famous as a popular author.
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife
and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began
detailed investigations, and in 1838 conceived his
theory of natural selection.[17] Although he discussed
his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for
extensive research and his geological work had priority.
He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel
Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea,
prompting immediate joint publication of both of their
theories. Darwin's work established evolutionary descent
with modification as the dominant scientific explanation
of diversification in nature.
In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection
in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,
followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
Animals (1872). His research on plants was published in
a series of books, and in his final book, The Formation
of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms (1881),
he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.[20][21]
Darwin has been described as one of the most influ
