Evolution. Is it a fact or fiction? Darwin’s theory has had a great impact on the world today. It has caused many debates between religious authorities and those from the scientific community. This theory prompted individuals to think about the origin of life in the universe.
What distinguishes Charles Darwin from the others is the fact that he collected and provided substantial evidences and he related various branches of science such as geology, botany and biology, which helped, validate his theories. His theory of natural selection as stated by Nelson and Jurmain (1991, p.606) in the modern form is that "the evolutionary factor causes changes in allele frequencies in populations due to differential net reproductive success of individuals." His grasp of the evolutionary process and the clarity of his work makes Charles Darwin the most popular figure in the scientific field of Evolution (Francoeur, 1965, p.34).
The grandfather Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was a well renowned doctor, poet and philosopher who wrote many books concerning nature. He said that all different living things were produced over millions of years by one original ancient parent, such that each offspring had a natural tendency to improve itself (Karp, 1968, p.14). However, fossil records show that this theory of one original parent was not probable (Karp, 1968, p.14). His opposition toward any form of organized religion and his rejection of Christianity was considered to be superficial and eccentric (Chancellor, 1973, p.21). His tendency to theorize and create wild speculations without testing his theories caused his reputation as a scientist to suffer.
Around the end of the eighteenth century all discussions of evolution were suppressed because...
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Evolution became extremely popular since the publication of Charles Darwin’s theory in his infamous book, The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of...
...n a subject which the public had relatively no knowledge of. He described the way in which an individual of a species reproduced and genetically passed on variations. The species that adapted through variation was the one who survived. This is where the phrase “survival of the fittest” came from. As pointed out, Charles Darwin was a man ahead of his time, and his work laid the structural basis for how we now look at evolution. On the last page of Origin of the Species, Darwin summarizes his findings, “as Natural Selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress towards perfection”.
Evolution is the reason for many different species and their existence. Evolution proves that there is much more to the world than the human can see. Charles Darwin had looked into the eye of the storm, and found something revolutionary. His research has changed and reshaped science in it’s own very existence; changing how scientists see their works. Charles created a new way of thinking, and proven that there is always an alternate reason why something is the way it is, and how it became that way, not to mention he constructed against religion that proves itself to be wrong. Everything has a reason, and evolution has made that reason clear to us, through Darwin’s works.”Charles Darwin is best known for his work as a naturalist, developing a theory of evolution to explain biological change.”
Charles Darwin was a scientist from the United Kingdom who was a naturalist and geologist in the early 1800s. Although, he is best known for his role in the evolution theory. Darwin decided to take part in a five-year voyage in 1831, called the Beagle, to make naval charts of South America. At the beginning of the expedition Darwin was just a young graduate, at the age of twenty-two, with only eagerness to be able to be a part of the opportunity. He had no high expectations to find the rare discoveries that he had found during his time on land on the far off continent. By the end of the excursion, Darwin had made a name for himself as a geologist and fossil collector after his journal was published, later titled The Voyage of the Beagle. His writing got him a lot of attention from multiple scientists around the world.
Charles Darwin has had the greatest influence on the world by proving the evolution of living things. Charles Darwin had first noticed the similarities of plants and animals when he took a five-year cruise on the H.M.S. Beagle, which was available to him through a friend from school. During the cruise Charles Darwin started becoming interested with the similarities between the plants and animals that were similar on different islands with similar climates, so he decided to study them more closely.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
2004 Has the Comination of Genetic and Fossil Evidence Solved the Riddle of Modern Humans?, Evolutionary Anthropology 13: 145-159.
The impact these men had on religious thought was tremendous. Some of them are the starting points for many of the controversies existing today. Of all the scientists, historians, and philosophers in the nineteenth century, the most influential and controversial was Charles Darwin. Born in 1809, Charles Darwin always had an interest in the nature, so he chose to study botany in college. His strengths in botany led him to become the naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. On a trip to South America, he and the rest of the crew visited the near by Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was there he noticed many different variations of the same general plants and birdshe saw previously in South America. He also observed ancient fossils of extinct organisms that closely resembled modern organisms. By 1859, all of these observations inspired him to write down his theories. He wanted to explain how evolution had occurred through a process called natural selection. In his published work, On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, or On the Origin of Species for short, Darwin stated that, "new species have come on the stage slowly and at successive intervals."(1) He also said, "old forms are supplanted by new and improved forms," and all organisms play a part in the "struggle for life.
Gould, Stephen Jay. "Evolution as Fact and Theory." The Norton Mix. Editor Katie Hannah. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 110-119.