Charles Darwin is considered a pioneer in terms of empirical science. His theory of evolution is widely used today. But, what some people don’t realize is that apart from writing a scientific novel, Darwin also wrote a great piece of literature. He uses several different poetic devices that, at least for me, truly help to develop the ideas of his theory in a way that’s easy for the reader to understand and picture.
Darwin’s first attempt at mapping out his tree of evolution.
“The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the truth. The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and those produced during each former year may represent the long succession of extinct species.” (Darwin, On the Origin of species)
When I read this passage, I think, Darwin did a fantastic job at explaining his theory. His overall argument is that species evolve from one another, and that those species with similar traits to others have a less likely chance at survival. He titled this theory Natural Selection and it’s widely used among the fields of environmental studies.