Why was Darwin concerned about the age of the Earth?
Charles Darwin is most famous for his work on natural selection, the idea that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors. This process involves favourable traits becoming more common in successive generation of living things, while at the same time, unfavorable traits become less common.
For Darwin’s theory to be correct, it was essential that the earth be hundreds of millions of years in age, because the process of natural selection is a long one needing enormous amount of time. Darwin come into conflict with same scientists who calculated that, the Earth was only 100 million years old or less. Their claim trouble Darwin, as it went agenst his theory. However , later the confusion was clear up, and it was accepted that the earth was around 4.5 billion years old. This calculation supported Darwin’s theory.