Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist. He is best known for his work in evolutionary science and for his immense contribution to knowledge of life on Earth. His revolutionary On the Origin of Species introduced the concept of "natural selection" as the basic mechanism of evolution, and is viewed as one of the most influential works of scientific literature ever written.

John van Wyhe is a historian of science at the National University of Singapore, specialising in Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. He is the founder and Director of Darwin Online (http://darwin-online.org.uk/). Dr van Wyhe has published eleven books and lectures and broadcasts around the world.

Tom Butler-Bowdon is series editor for the Capstone Classics series. He has written Introductions for Capstone editions of Plato's The Republic, Machiavelli's The Prince, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. Tom is the author of the 50 Classics series and is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Sydney. www.Butler-Bowdon.com