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Darwin presented a theory of evolution that is, except concerning the inheritance of traits acquired by education in which he still believed (see discussion page), almost identical to the theories now accepted by scientists. He carefully argued out this theory of evolution of species by natural selection by presenting all of the accumulated scientific evidence from his voyage on the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. His theories were opposed to the then-accepted viewpoint of creationism. It is arguably one of the pivotal works in scientific history. Moreover, it was (and still is) eminently readable, even by the non-specialist.

Darwin, as evidenced by his later work, The Descent of ManThe Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by British naturalist Charles Darwin was first published in 1871. It is seen as a sister book to Darwin's original work The Origin of Species''. Despite its title, it contains about 1/3 human origins (no, was well aware of the implications such a theory would have on the study of the origins of humanity; consequently, he withheld publication of his accumulated evidence in favour of natural selection for more than a decade. He was eventually forced into publication because of the independent development of a similar theory by Alfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel Wallace ( January 8, 1823- November 7, 1913) was a British naturalist, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. Together with Charles Darwin, he independently devised the theory of evolution by natural selection. Life Wallace was born at Us, who sent Darwin his manuscript in 1858. A joint publication of Darwin/Wallace's theory of evolution was put forth the following year. It is felt by some that Wallace deserves as much credit as Darwin for the theory of natural selection, and that he has been rather unfairly marginalised from the history of its development.

The exact mechanism of inheritance was not known to Darwin. This caused some serious problems for the theory; Darwin even speculated on Lamarckian inheritance. The successful combination of Darwin's natural selection with Gregor MendelGregor Johann Mendel ( July 22, 1822 January 6, 1884) was an Austrian monk who is often called the father of genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Mendel was born in Heinzendorf, Austria (now Hyncice, Czech Republic). During h's geneticsGenetics is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. Humans began applying knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools in the i was achieved only later in the Modern evolutionary synthesisThe modern evolutionary synthesis (often referred to simply as the modern synthesis , neo-Darwinian synthesis or neo-Darwinism brings together Charles Darwin's theory of the evolution of species by natural selection with Gregor Mendel's theory of genetics.

Although now supported by overwhelming scientific evidence and widely accepted by scientists today, it is still highly controversial among non-scientists, as it is perceived to contradict literal interpretations of various religious texts.