History - As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as consequently, there is a frequently

“As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.” The author of the above passage is 

A. Charles Darwin. 

B. Herbert Spencer. 

C. Karl Marx.

 D. Ivan Pavlov. 

E. Gregor Mendel

Answer:

A. Charles Darwin. 

Charles Darwin is the author of this passage. In his book On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) Darwin maintains that according to the idea of natural selection the populations that tend to survive are those that are the fittest or best adapted to their environment. The surviving members of a species produce offspring that share their advantage. Over generations, the species may change. In this way new species evolve. Darwin’s idea of change through natural selection came to be called the Theory of Evolution. Herbert Spencer was the first to use the term “survivial of the fittest” and is associated with Social Darwinism. Karl Marx is considered the father of Communism. Ivan Pavlov was a nineteenthcentury Russian biologist who broke new ground in the social science of psychology. Gregor Mendel was a nineteenth-century German scientist who is considered to be the founder of the study of genetics.