Station: [134] Darwin's Theory of Evolution

 At the age of 22 Charles Darwin went on a trip around the world on the „Beagle.“  The ship travelled to remote places in order to chart them for nautical maps.  While doing this Darwin came across a huge diversity of species and it became clear to him that variation and selection are the important driving forces behind the creation of different species.  In 1859 he published his book, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.”

Humans are not mentioned in the book because Darwin didn’t turn his attention to this subject until much later, but he established the same underlying principle in both animal and plant wildlife.  This theory was that all life on earth developed from simple forms.  Archaeological proof of early human beings was in its infancy at the time, but Darwin assumed that the human species originated in Africa. Using comparisons with hominids that still exist today he presumed that the mutual ancestors of these species and of humans, lived in Africa.