Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

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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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...f Species: Horizon Caravel Books.

4. Chancellor, John. 1973, Charles Darwin, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

5. Eldredge, Niles. Life Pulse: Episodes From the Story of the Fossil Record. New York: Facts On File Publications, 1987

6. Introduction to Evolutionary Biology. [January 7, 1996] by Chris Colby - www on 26th Nov. 2000. http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-evolution.html

7. Foley, Jim. "Hominid Species." The Fossil Hominids FAQ. 1997 - www on 26th Nov. 2000. http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/origins/fossil-hominids/species.txt

8. Johanson, Donald and Edey, Maitland. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981.

9. Rak, Yoel. “The Australopithecine Face.” New York: Academic Press, 1983.

10. Turnbaugh, William A., et al., Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 5th Edition. Minnesota: West Publishing Company, 1993.

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