ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Eclipse of Darwinism

Okay kiddo, so you know there was this guy named Charles Darwin who came up with the idea of evolution, right? Well, his theory was that all living things were related and over time, they changed and adapted to their environments. This was a big deal and changed the way people thought about life on Earth.

But over time, new discoveries were made and some people started to question Darwin's ideas. They thought that maybe there were other factors besides natural selection that played a role in how species changed over time. Some scientists also started to question how new species formed, and whether or not Darwin's gradual process could explain it all.

So this debate about evolution continued for many years and is sometimes referred to as the "eclipse of Darwinism." This was a period of time when people were trying to figure out if Darwin's ideas were still relevant or if they needed to be updated or changed.

Eventually, scientists came up with new ideas and theories, building on Darwin's work but also adding to it. So while some people thought that Darwin's ideas had been eclipsed or overshadowed, they were actually just evolving and changing over time, which is what evolution is all about!