Charles Darwin Character Analysis

Darwin was a 19th-century biologist and the originator of the theory of natural selection, which he published in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. The theory of natural selection, which is now widely accepted by the scientific community, holds that evolution is spurred by mutations which confer an advantage on an individual in a species. That individual is thus more likely to survive and reproduce, thereby passing that trait on to its offspring and making the trait more widespread as it continues to be passed on in subsequent generations. Natural selection provides the foundation for many of Moalem’s arguments, as Moalem writes how certain illnesses actually confer advantageous traits when facing deadly environments or diseases and thus make it more likely for the people who have them to survive and reproduce.