"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life," usually
shortened to "the Origin of Species," is the full title of Charles
Darwin's book, first published in 1859, in which Darwin formalized
what we know today as the Theory of Evolution. Although Darwin is the
most famous exponent of this theory, he was by no means the first
person to suspect the workings of evolution. In fact, Charles owed a
considerable debt to his grandfather Erasmus, a leading scientist and
intellectual, who published a paper in 1794, calledZoonomia, or, The
Laws of Organic Life. This set down many of the ideas that his
grandson elaborated on 70 years later. However, it was Darwin that
formalized the theory, and presented the most convincing case for the
theory.
Charles Darwin was born on the 12th of February 1809 (incidentally,
the same day and year as Abraham Lincoln), in Shrewsbury, England. He
had a privileged upbringing, and enjoyed science - particularly
biology. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1831, and on
December the 27th of that year, he set off for a five-year journey
aboard the Beagle, a ship bound for South America. His voyage was long
and eventful, including once, in Chile, encountering both an
earthquake and a tidal wave in a single day! He spent the entire
journey sea-sick, but found an interest in naturalism, and began to
think about evolution. Using the evidence he found during his tour of
South America to back up the basic theories set down by his
predecessors, and making his own adjustments and discoveries. Finally,
the Beagle arrived home on October the 2nd, 1836.
During his travels, Darwin kept five note-books, marked A to E, in
which he recorded what he found, made sketches and wrote about his
observations and theories. These later became the basis of his book,
though in a "condensed and corrected" version, to "render the volume
more fitted for popular reading," as Charles stated in the preface to
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.” On February 12, 1809, Charles Darwin was born. His childhood home took place in Shrewsbury, England. While he was a child, he took a liking to and collected shells, bird eggs, rocks and minerals, and insects.
Zhao, Buyun. "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Charles Darwin & Evolution. Christ's College, 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution, transforming the thinking of the entire world about the living things around us (Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)). After working on his theory for nearly 20 years, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. As soon as the book was released, the controversy began with each sides gaining followers until the climax on July 10, 1925. The idea that animals could “evolve” and change into new species, including humans, was one that challenged not only how people thought about the natural world, but challenged the story of the creation from the Bible itself. Even though Darwin himself never said that humans “evolved” from apes, everyone took it as a logical extension of his new theory. It went against the idea of argument for design that had unified theology and science for decades (Moran 5). This new threat to Christianity and the social culture of the time was one that would transform state laws on their educational curriculum.
Darwin did not come up with his theory out of nowhere. Like anyone else who has made discoveries, he was influenced by others. For quite a long time before Darwin, people didn't look beyond the Biblical creation story. Such things as fossils, primitive stone tools and visible layers of rock were said to have been placed on earth by God. There wasn't a great deal of work done on what we now call evolution, until the age of exploration began.
At Christ’s College, Darwin had a professor named John Stevens Henslow who in time became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle.The HMS Beagle was a ship that was to take a five year long trip around the world. Charles Darwin took the opportunity knowing that the up close experience with collecting natural specimen would teach and interest him greatly. Darwin uncovered many unknown thoughts about the specimens he discovered during his journey (Price, 2006). Other naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were created over the course of natural history. Darwin however, noticed similarities among species all over the globe...
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.
Charles Darwin was born in 1809 in England, he studied medicine at Edinburgh and ministry at Cambridge. He later became interested in natural history . From 1831 to 1836 he went on a cruise around the world; this sparked an int...
Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution and used the term natural selection to describe it. He proposed that all living species derived from a common ancestor. In On the Origin of Species (1859), Darwin explained: “if variations useful to any organic being do occur, assuredly individuals thus characterised will have the best chance of being preserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong principles of inheritance, will then tend to produce offspring similarly characterised” (p127).
Within a few decades, geneticists determined that quantitative characters are influenced by multiple genetic loci and that the alleles at each locus follow Mendelian laws of inheritance.
The ongoing scientific investigation of how exactly evolution occurred and continues to occur has been an argumentative idea amongst society since Darwin first articulated it over a century ago. The scientific basis of evolution accounts for happenings that are also essential concerns of religion; both religion and science focus on the origins of humans and of biological diversity. For instance, in the reading “Truth Cannot Contradict Truth,” Pope John Paul II, addressing the Pontifical Academy of Science, discussed the matter of God as creator of man. The Pope explains that men cannot relate to animals because men are superior. The reasoning for that is because God created humans under his likeness. What the church is saying about mankind contradicts with the scientific evidence scientists have found on human evolution. By analyzing the different scientific approaches, one will be able to grasp a clear understanding that the theory of evolution by natural selection conflicts with the Judeo-Christian worldview of God as creator.
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.
Charles Robert Darwin was a man of many hats. He was a friend, colleague, son, father, husband; but above all, he was a naturalist. Through his dedication and perseverance did he manage to, in less than a generation, establish the theory of evolution as a fact in peoples' minds. In fact, "[t]oday it is almost impossible for us to return, even momentarily, to the pre-Darwinian atmosphere and attitude" (West 323). Darwin formed the basis of his theory during the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, on which vessel he was posted as it travelled around the globe. During that five-year span, this young man saw foliage, creatures, cultures that he had never known first-hand before. He was exposed to environments that not many of his contemporaries saw and lived the life that few did.
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.
Darwin made a five year voyage on The HMS Beagle that would change his life, and all life as a matter of fact, forever. The observations that he made in the Galapagos Islands would be the basis for his theory. The Galapagos
Darwin, Charles. From The Origin of Species. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Corporation, 1937. 71-86; 497-506.