On the Origin of Species is the seminal work of the English naturalist and traveler Charles Darwin. He was one of the first to put forward the idea of the evolution of species and substantiate it; he recognized natural selection as the main mechanism of evolution. In 1859, in “The Origin of Species,” he outlined in detail the essence of his theory and the evidence on which he based it. The book aroused great interest, as it was understandable to a wide range of readers and debunked theories about the origin and evolution of life on Earth that had prevailed for many millennia. Today, Darwin's ideas have not lost their value and are still fundamental to the modern theory of evolution.< /p>