1. Introduction
For my Project Learning Summary I chose to focus on two people and one movement that I believe have a strong impact on society today. Each of the topics has had an influence during their respective eras, and each proved that their work has gone onto make changes in the world as we see it today. I first looked at Darwin, for his work on natural selection and the significance it has had on science and religion. I then took another look at Booker T. Washington, and how his stance on integration of African Americans into a “white” society was at the end of slavery and what his efforts have done since. Lastly, I looked at the Feminist Movement and the efforts that were taken for improving equality as a whole in society.
1. Charles Darwin’s Historical Significance
In Charles Darwin’s life he had helped make a significant advancement in the way mankind viewed the world. With his observations, he played a part in shifting the model of evolution into his peers’ minds. Darwin’s theory on natural selection impacted the areas of science and religion because it questioned and challenged the Bible; and anything that challenged the Bible in Darwin’s era was sure to create contention with the church. Members of the Church took offense to Darwin’s Origins of Species because it unswervingly contradicted the teachings of the book of Genesis in the Bible. (Zhao, 2009) Natural selection changed the way people thought. Where the Bible teaches that “all organisms have been in an unchanging state since the great flood, and that everything twas molded in God’s will.” (Zhao, 2009) Darwin’s geological journey to the Galapagos Islands is where he was first able to get the observations he needed to prove how various species change over t...
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... real-world jobs in order for integration to work. The feminist movement gave the opportunity for women to have a voice in their lives, and has provided women with resources they otherwise would be unable to access. Each topic that was covered in the paper has had a hand in our lives. Whether it was being taught natural selection in school, getting an education, or equality we all have been influenced by the past.
Works Cited
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Norrell, Robert J. Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2009. Print.
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Zhao, Buyun. "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Charles Darwin & Evolution. Christ's College, 2009. Web. 04 May 2014.
One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis or Modern Evolutionary Thought. Ernst Mayr. Harvard University Press, 1993.
1. "Booker Taliafero Washington." Alabama Department Archives & History. asc.edu. World Wide Web. 18 Jan. 1996. Available http://www.asc.edu/archives/famous/b_wash.html.
Scarborough , William . "Booker T. Washington and His Work." Christian Recorder [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] 25 Jan 1900, n. pag. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
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.
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Maxwell, Joe. (1996). The legacy of Booker T. Washington: a family reunion. Capital Research Center http://www.pff.org/crc/pcs/pcs-1196.html
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.
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"Man or Beast? The Lasting Effects of Darwin." Florida Gulf Coast University. Unpublished essay, 2001.
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.
Darwin, Charles. "Natural Selection." The Norton Mix. Editor Katie Hannah. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 55-62.
Wiester, John L. 1993. The Real Meaning of Evolution. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 45 (3): 182-86.