One day, on looking at an orchid, I was struck with the idea that the structure of the flower was adapted to the visits of insects.
Theory of evolution
From his autobiography, describing an 'aha!' moment.
c. 1860s
Found in 1 providers: grok
Cross Reference
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"Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence."
Strange & Unusual"Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows."
Strange & Unusual"It is a cursed evil to any man to become so absorbed in any one subject as I am in mine."
Strange & Unusual"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by sc…"
Strange & Unusual"Nothing is easier than to admit in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult—at least I have found it so—than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind."
Humorous