Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

More than a century after his death, and four generations after the

publication of his chief work, "The Origin of Species", Charles Darwin may still

be considered the most controversial scientist in the world. His name is

synonymous with the debate that continues to swirl around the theory of

evolution, a theory that deeply shook the Western view of humanity and its place

in the world.

We tend to speak simply of the theory of evolution, leaving off the

explanatory phrase, "through natural selection." At most, perhaps, the general

public has heard of "survival of the fittest" a poor phrase as far as I'm

concerned, since fitness in everyday usage is associated with physical

conditioning and athletic ability. "Survival of the most suited to its

environment" would be a more accurate, and convincing expression for this

pedicular concept. But to most of us, "evolution" simply means that human beings

are descended from apes, a slight misunderstanding, since both humans and modern

apes are descendants of a mutual ancestor that is now extinct. It's not

evolution but the theory of natural selection and the evidence he collected to

prove to fellow scientists, peers, students, and most importantly the masses of

public and the church that were at the heart of Darwin's contribution to

biological science.

Charles Darwin did not invent the concept of evolution. A number of prominent

scientists and other thinkers during the eighteenth century and the first half

of the nineteenth century (among them Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus

Darwin) had offered detailed theories of evolution (Clark, 1984, pg.24-25).

Therefor the idea of evolution went very far back in Western history.

At that time this concept was referred to as The Great Chain Of Life and was

conceived in the middle ages, based on a mixture of classical and Biblical ideas.

The ranking order ranged from the "lowest" forms of life to "higher" living

beings (lion), through the various classes of human beings from peasants to

nobles to Popes, and upwards through the hierarchy of angles to God.

This concept, in and of itself, has nothing to do with evolution, in fact it

seems to be anti-evolutionary, since every member is fixed in its own place.

This chain was created in a time when the world was considered to ...

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... the principle of natural selection.

Natural selection, as Darwin saw it, simply can not be ignored. For just as a

largely barren earth is re-colonized by the survivors descendants, which must

adapt through either variation or mutation to fill the ecological niches left

empty by the prior extinctions. Just as an area devastated by a forest fire are

filled by an evolution of new forms, not by the existing ones from unburned

areas. We may not be able to see the entire history of evolution but from our

viewpoint we have hundreds of examples of natural selection taking place all

around us each and every second of each and every day. Fortunately, Charles

Darwin (and maybe I should credit Alfred Lord Wallace) had the insight and

boldness to conceive and develop a theory so controversial to his time and

culture.

Bibliography

Clark, R.W. (1984). The Survial of Charles Darwin. New York:

Random House

Sproule, Anna (1990). Charles Darwin. Concord:Irwin

Warburton, Lois (1992). Human Origins-Tracing Humanity's

Evolution. San Diego:Lucent Books

Howell, F.C. (1980). Early Man. Virginia:Time-Life Books

Nouvelle, C (1885). The First People. Paris:Silver Burdett Co.