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Two centuries ago, modern biology’s founding father was born in England. He became the most celebrated scientist of his time, deciphering the records of life’s history from creatures extinct and living and thereby explaining the genesis of life’s diversity. Today his view of evolution by natural selection forms the core of the scientific study of life, and his mode of thought has earned its own addition to the lexicon of both scientific and popular discourse. Darwinian logic pervades the sciences of life, from the spread of viruses to interactions between and within human cultures, and has infiltrated other arenas as diverse as quantum physics and computer science. Far from a relic in textbooks, Darwinism breathes vitality into biology on a broad spectrum of research frontiers, inviting reflections on the life of, and the science made possible by, Charles Darwin. Credit: Reproduced with permission from John van Wyhe ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)