Why Evolution Is True

A keen naturalist who originally studied to be a minister at Cambridge University (where, ironically, he occupied Paley’s former rooms), Darwin well knew the seductive power of arguments like Paley’s.

Some, like horseshoe crabs and gingko trees, have barely changed over millions of years.

differences are based on changes in the DNA, which originate as mutations

It can be summarized in a single (albeit slightly long) sentence: Life on earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive species—perhaps a self-replicating molecule—that lived more than 3.5 billion years ago; it then branched out over time, throwing off many new and diverse species; and the mechanism for most (but not all) of evolutionary change is natural selection.

the theory of natural selection.