Introduction to Evolution

The idea of biological evolution has derived as a philosophical idea since the Ancient Greek and Roman eras. However, the scientific formulations of the idea did not arise until the 18th and 19th C. A hypothesized mechanism for biological descent with modification was proposed by Jean-Baptist Lamarck, who suggested that organisms inherit the characteristics acquired by their parents during the course of life. 'Darwinism' was first publicly put forth by Charles Darwin and discussed in great details in Darwin's later publications, including his most famous exposition of the theory, 'On the Origin of Species'. Despite the details of his work Darwin fail to explain the mechanism of evolution. The first person to begin to give answers to the question that Darwin and other naturalists of his time failed to understand, i.e. the mechanisms of evolution, was an Austrian Monk named Gregor Mendel.