Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Robert Darwin and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Also called Darwinian theory, it originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, including concepts which predated Darwin's theories, but subsequently referred to specif...