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Theory of evolution
The theory of evolution essay
Theory of evolution
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Evolution is described, as being the change that occurs on a genetic level when a new generation spouts from an ancestral population. Change is destined to happen. That is why in the science of biology the word evolution means descent with modification. Through various factors such as the temperature of the environment, humidity, and altitude a species will adapt to survive and will eventually pass on genetic traits that help the species next generation survive. In 1859, Charles Darwin, a geologist published ‘The Origin of species.’ This book was published in a society where the idea of a descent with change or evolution was not a controversial topic. Darwin used the data from his experiments on nature to convince everybody that his theory of Natural selection was correct. Darwin describes natural selection as “a description of what happens when variations occur in a population where resources are limited. The individual animal or plant that has certain change in its genetic make-up will survive natural (4)” For example, in a population where more individuals are born into a harsh environment that can’t sustain them all, those individuals that have expedient variations within their DNA will have a higher chance of surviving. This is called natural selection. When
The law of thermodynamics states that within an expected natural thermodynamic process there will always be increases in the entropies of the interacting systems. The law also states that the entropy of a system which is isolated without equilibrium will increase over time. Evolution causes a decrease in entropy. This means that evolution violates the law of thermodynamics. After reading chapter one, my views changed. The second law of thermodynamics referring to an isolated system and living organisms such as plants and animals are considered opened systems because they interchange energy with the
Evolution, also known as descent with modification, is a phrase Darwin used in proposing the evolution of Earth’s many species. Charles Darwin noticed that the descendants of ancestral species were different from the present day forms of species. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin who was an English naturalist. He expounded the theory of evolution in his book of the Origin Species in 1859. He expresses that all types of organisms emerge and develop through natural selection, small, acquired traits that expands the individuals of capacity, survival, and reproduction. In this book, Darwin theorized that animals and plants evolve and develop with the aid of the creator through the process of natural selection.
[1] This problem with the theory of evolution was addressed by Stephen Jay Gould and other evolutionists. They postulated the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution, which does not predict the numerous fossils predicted by the orthodox theory of evolution.
Natural selection is a theory suggesting that some genetic traits will be more common than another trait in a given environment in which the organisms live in. Natural selection is a slow and gradual process which will happen in the matter of generations of the species. The traits become less or more common depending on the environmental circumstances, in other words, selection pressure.
What is evolution? Evolution in modern terms is fairly easy to understand. Evolution is the theory that life on earth began with a single celled organism that lived more that 3.5 billion years ago that slowly evolved into many diverse creatures over time. When you break down this theory into sections you get 6 factors: evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection explains the general laws by which any given species transforms into other varieties and species. Darwin extends the application of his theory to the entire hierarchy of classification and states that all forms of life have descended from one incredibly remote ancestor. The process of natural selection entails the divergence of character of specific varieties and the subsequent classification of once-related living forms as distinct entities on one or many levels of classification. The process occurs as a species varies slightly over the course of numerous generations. Through inheritance, natural selection preserves each variation that proves advantageous to that species in its present circumstances of living, which include its interaction with closely related species in the “struggle for existence” (Darwin 62).
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.
Keith Henson a writer in evolutionary psychology once said that “Evolution acts slowly. Our psychological characteristics today are those that promoted reproductive success in the ancestral environment.” Evolution was first introduced by a naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin. Darwin had written an autobiography, at the age of 50, On the Origin of Species (1859) explaining how species evolve through time by natural selection; this theory became known as Darwinism. “Verlyn Klinkenborg, who writes editorials and vignettes on science and nature for the “New York Times”” (Muller 706) questions Darwin’s theory in one of his essays he wrote called Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea. Both articles talk about the theory of Darwinism, but the authors’ use different writing techniques and were written in different time periods. Darwin himself writes to inform us on what the theory is, where as Klinkenborg goes on to explain why Darwinism is just a theory. Today, evolution is still a very controversial topic among many. It comes up in several topics that are discussed everyday such as in politics, religion and education.
Evolution is the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth (Google). Scientists have many evidences to prove Evolution. One of these evidences is rock layers. Rock layers are beds of sedimentary rock, consisting of one type of matter, and can usually have fossils found in them. Rock layers are an evidence of evolution because they show the development of life through fossils, show how rock layers relates to evolution, and can explain why the continent Pangea split into the continents we have today.
Randomization, in the form of mutations, provides genetic variation. Evolution itself is not entirely a random process, but the mutations that have appeared throughout history are. Because of this, one would argue that with the summation of many mutations over time, evolution would inevitably create more randomization within the system resulting in an increase in disorder. In an isolated system, the overall entropy would undoubtedly increase following a series of mutations. Because of natural selection (the idea that an organism that is better suited to its environment will survive and produce more offspring than those organisms who are not), it can be said that chance mutations are not the only driving force behind evolution, thus evolution is not entirely a spontaneous process (Williams,
There are two different parts of natural selection. There is natural selection itself and then there is also non-adaptive evolution. Natural selection deals with the change of allele frequencies because of the change in the environment. The allele frequencies give us an indication of how much variation there is in a population. A population wants more variation because it allows the population to deal
Charles Darwin has five parts to his theory of natural selection, firstly the “Geometric increase” which claims that “all living things reproduce in great numbers”, meaning that species may survive but not all will survive because, the resources used for survival for instance ,food will not be enough for all living things. “The struggle for existence” because there is a limited number of resources and can only sustain some and not all, not all living things will survive, however the question lies in which living being will survive?. “Variation” is the third part of natural selection which claims that within those living things there are variations within them that will determine whic...
Natural selection is simple yet complex process that allows species adapt to its environment. Natural selection guides evolution by “sifting out” favorable traits that increase survival for the species. Natural selection is driven by reproductive success. If a species can reproduce and its offspring survive than any traits in its genotype that assisted in its survival will be passed on from generation to generation and ensure that the species will live on. Around the time the Theory of Evolution was suggested, society was very religious and very pressed on the Theory of Creation, so the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection caused a lot of controversy. Darwin gave the world strong evidence that natural selection and evolution played a major role in the development of the species that we see today. Of course natural selection is not the only process driving evolution. In order for natural selection to happen, the species has to have genetic variation. Genetic variation happens because of mutations and recombination of genes. Other processes that contribute are gene flow and genetic
What is evolution and how does it work? Evolution is the theory of how one form of life changes into another form. Evolution also is the change in a population’s inherited traits from generation to generation. Evolution helps to explain why an animal, human, and plant looks the way it does and acts the way it does; it gives an explanation of the history of life. Genes come in many varieties, and the evolution helps to make it happen.
Many scientists in the past, such as Aristotle and Plato, believed that there were no changes in populations; however, other scientists, such as Darwin and Wallace, arose and argued that species inherit heritable traits from common ancestors and environmental forces drives out certain heritable traits that makes the species better suited to survive or be more “fit” for that environment. Therefore, species do change over a period of time and they were able to support their theory by showing that evolution does occur. There were four basic mechanisms of evolution in their theory: mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection. Natural selection is the gradual process by which heritable traits that makes it more likely for an organism to survive and successfully reproduce increases, whereas there is a decline in those who do have those beneficial heritable traits (Natural Selection). For example, there is a decrease in rain which causes a drought in the finches’ environment. The seeds in the finches’ environment would not be soft enough for the smaller and weaker beak finches to break; therefore, they cannot compete with the larger and stronger beak finches for food. The larger and stronger beak finches has a heritable trait that helps them survive and reproduce better than others for that particular environment which makes them categorized under natural selection (Freeman, 2002).
Charles Darwin in his book, On the Origin of Species, presents us with a theory of natural selection. This theory is his attempt at an explanation on how the world and its' species came to be the way that we know them now. Darwin writes on how through a process of millions of years, through the effects of man and the effects of nature, species have had an ongoing trial and error experiment. It is through these trials that the natural world has developed beneficial anomalies that at times seem too great to be the work of chance.