From David Ehrenfeld
If Alfred Russel Wallace and Patrick Matthew both deserve credit for the theory of evolution alongside Charles Darwin (23 November, p 34), what about the Baghdadi scholar al-Jahiz?
In the 9th century, 1000 years before Darwin, al-Jahiz wrote in his vast Book of Animals: “Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to their offspring.” Here is evolution by means of natural selection in a nutshell.
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Rutgers University
