The book 'The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection' was authored by
- (a)Charles Darwin
- (b)Carolus Linnaeus
- (c)Barbara McClintock
- (d)Copernicus
Correct — A, Charles Darwin. The English naturalist Charles Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection' in 1859, laying out the theory that species change over generations because individuals with favourable inherited traits survive and reproduce more successfully — natural selection. The very phrase 'by Means of Natural Selection' in the title is Darwin's own thesis, which is why he, and no one else on the list, is the author.
- (b)Carolus Linnaeus — Linnaeus was the eighteenth-century Swedish botanist who created the binomial system of naming (genus and species) and modern taxonomy in 'Systema Naturae'. He classified life but did not propose evolution by natural selection.
- (c)Barbara McClintock — McClintock was a twentieth-century American geneticist who discovered 'jumping genes' (transposons) in maize and won the Nobel Prize in 1983. Her work is in genetics, not the authorship of the 1859 evolution treatise.
- (d)Copernicus — Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer whose 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres' placed the Sun at the centre of the solar system. He belongs to astronomy, not biology.
Natural selection is the mechanism Charles Darwin proposed for evolution: within a population, individuals vary in inherited traits; those whose traits suit the environment tend to survive and leave more offspring, so over many generations the population's characteristics shift. Darwin set this out in 'On the Origin of Species' (1859), one of the most influential science books ever written.
The trap is that all four names are famous scientists, so a student who only half-remembers the book may reach for whichever name they associate loosely with 'nature' or 'species'. The safe anchor is the title itself: 'by Means of Natural Selection' is Darwin's signature idea, and Linnaeus (classification), McClintock (genetics) and Copernicus (astronomy) each worked on something quite different.
- Charles Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection' in 1859.
- Natural selection favours individuals with inherited traits better suited to their environment.
- Carolus Linnaeus gave biology its binomial naming system and modern taxonomy.
- Barbara McClintock discovered transposable genetic elements; Copernicus proposed the heliocentric solar system.
- Do not confuse the author of the evolution book (Darwin) with Linnaeus, who named and classified species but did not explain how they change.
- Copernicus and Galileo belong to astronomy — a common distractor when a question mixes famous scientists from different fields.
Asked to name the author of a landmark science book, or to match a scientist with the theory or discovery they are known for.
Among living organisms, which one of the following is the most responsible factor for bringing about the origin of a new species?
- (a) Isolation
- (b) Mutation
- (c) Natural Selection
- (d) Sexual Reproduction
Answer(a) Isolation — reproductive or geographical isolation stops gene flow so accumulated differences (from mutation, drift and selection) can build up into a new species.
Turns on the same Darwinian machinery — the origin of species and natural selection — that Q131's book is famous for setting out.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The theory of evolution by natural selection is associated with which one of the following scientists?
- (a)Gregor Mendel
- (b)Charles Darwin
- (c)Louis Pasteur
- (d)Alexander Fleming
Answer(b) Charles Darwin — he proposed natural selection as the mechanism of evolution in 'On the Origin of Species' (1859).
- practice — not a real PYQ
The binomial system of nomenclature for naming organisms was introduced by
- (a)Charles Darwin
- (b)Carolus Linnaeus
- (c)Robert Hooke
- (d)Aristotle
Answer(b) Carolus Linnaeus — he gave each species a two-part Latin name (genus + species) in the eighteenth century.