Darwin's theory of evolution is based on key facts and the inferences drawn from them, which biologist Ernst Mayr summarised as follows:
Every species is fertile enough that if all offspring survived to … 展开

Time taken to publish
In his autobiography, Darwin said he had "gained much by my delay in publishing from about 1839, when the theory was clearly conceived, to 1859; and I lost nothing by it". On the first page of his 1859 book he noted that, … 展开

Nature and structure of Darwin's argument
Darwin's aims were twofold: to show that species had not been separately created, and to show that natural selection had been the chief agent of … 展开

Various alternative evolutionary mechanisms favoured during "the eclipse of Darwinism" became untenable as more was learned about inheritance and mutation. … 展开

Developments before Darwin's theory
In later editions of the book, Darwin traced evolutionary ideas as far back as Aristotle; the text he cites is a summary by Aristotle of the ideas of the earlier … 展开

Title pages and introduction
Page ii contains quotations by William Whewell and Francis Bacon on the theology of natural laws, harmonising science and religion in … 展开

The book aroused international interest and a widespread debate, with no sharp line between scientific issues and ideological, social and … 展开