Summary:
- Darwin was influenced by other early thinkers, including Lamarck, Lyell, and Malthus.
- He was also aware that humans could breed plants and animals to have useful traits.
- By selecting which animals were allowed to reproduce, they could change an organism’s traits.
- Darwin called this type of change in organisms artificial selection.
- He used the word ‘artificial’ to distinguish it from natural selection.
- Alfred Russel Wallace sent Darwin a paper explaining his evolutionary theory.
- This served to confirm what Darwin already thought.