DARWINIAN

Darwin, Charles Robert 1809-1882.   British naturalist who revolutionized the study of biology with his theory of evolution based on natural selection. His most famous works include Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Dar·win'i·an adj. & n.

Main Entry: Dar·win·ian
Pronunciation: där-'win-E-&n
Function: adjective
: of or relating to Charles Darwin, his theories especiallyof evolution, or his followers —Darwinian noun
Daráwin /'där-w&n/, Charles Robert (1809–1882), British naturalist. Darwin iscelebrated for his documentation of the theory of evolution and the development of the principle of natural selection. In 1831 he began a five-year voyage around the world, making stopovers in So.America where he gained critical insight into the variation between populations of animals on the various islands and the mainland which played an important role in the development of his ideas onevolution. In 1859 he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. This landmark work brought about a revolution in biology and firmly established the study of evolution aspart of the science of biology. The Descent of Man, 1871, was a follow-up work that contained his related theory of sexual selection. Darwin was not the first to question the immutability ofspecies in nature or to conceive the notion of evolution, but he added to the theorizing of Lamarck and others the concept of natural selection and voluminous documentary evidence.

Darwinian Dar·win·i·an (där-wĭn'ē-ən)
adj.
Relating to, following, or derived from the work or ideas of Charles Darwin.