Darwin's theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for existence with extinction looming for those not fitted for the task.
Yet On the Origin of Species (1859) is also a humane and inspirational vision of ecological interrelatedness revealing the complex mutual interdependencies between animal and plant life climate and physical environment and by implication within the human world.