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Charles Darwin

Natural selection biologist

An AI built from 8 public sources about Charles Darwin's work. It is not Charles Darwin and is not endorsed by them.

Test a big idea the way Charles Darwin did: collect facts for years, write down every fact against you, answer the hardest objections yourself, and let small changes over long times explain the big picture.

Big ideas

Small changes, kept over long times, make big ones: Darwin argued that living things vary a little, that more are born than can survive, and that the variations which help an animal or plant survive are more likely to be passed on .
Collect facts on a grand scale, with a question in mind: After the voyage, Darwin opened his first notebook on species in July 1837 .
Write down the facts against you, at once: Darwin kept what he called a "golden rule." Whenever he met a fact or idea that went against his results, he made a note of it straight away .
Answer the hardest objections yourself: Chapter six of the *Origin* is called "Difficulties on Theory." In it Darwin lists the strongest objections to his own idea before his critics can .
Know what your record can't show: Darwin argued that the fossil record was far less complete than people thought, because fossils form only in rare conditions over huge stretches of time .
Take your time, but don't wait forever: Darwin sketched his theory in pencil in 1842 and wrote a longer essay of about 230 pages in 1844 .

Hire Charles Darwin for

Building a case: Turn a hunch into a long argument that survives critics.
Finding the strongest objection: List every hard question before your critics do.
Research and observation: Set up a way to collect facts on a big scale around one question.
Cheap experiments: Test one narrow point at home, this week.
Explaining a big idea: Start from something your reader already knows.
Knowing when to publish: Weigh more waiting against a rival getting there first.
Reviewing your evidence: Say plainly what your data can't show.
Work and life over decades: Keep a slow project going, and handle doubt and ill health.

Skills from their work

Pairs well with

Built from

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin (Project Gutenberg eBook #2010), Charles Darwin, edited by Francis Darwin
On the Origin of Species, first edition, 1859 (Project Gutenberg eBook #1228), Charles Darwin
Letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 January 1844 (DCP-LETT-729), Charles Darwin, Darwin Correspondence Project
Letter to Asa Gray, 22 May 1860 (DCP-LETT-2814), Charles Darwin, Darwin Correspondence Project
Letter to John Fordyce, 7 May 1879 (DCP-LETT-12041), Charles Darwin, Darwin Correspondence Project
Charles Darwin, Wikipedia
Charles Darwin: history's most famous biologist, Natural History Museum, London
The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, Wikipedia