Charles Darwin
The English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection became the organizing principle of biology — and the central religious flashpoint of the modern era.
Origin
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) spent five years on HMS Beagle (1831–1836), most importantly stopping at the Galápagos. He sat on his theory for twenty years, terrified of the religious storm, and only published On the Origin of Species in 1859 when Alfred Russel Wallace independently reached the same conclusion and forced his hand. The book made evolution mainstream within a decade. 'Survival of the fittest' was not Darwin's phrase — Herbert Spencer coined it — but Darwin later adopted it.
Modern usage
'Survival of the fittest' is everywhere — usually misapplied to business, dating, or geopolitics, when Darwin meant only reproductive success in an environment. 'Darwinian' competition is the corporate cliché for ruthless markets. The Galápagos finches are the canonical example anyone vaguely remembers from school.
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