Charles Darwin 12 February 1809 19 April 1882 was an English naturalist geologist and biologist best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.