Clarles darwin
- 2. Introduction • Charles Darwin, an English Naturalist firmly established the theory of organic evolution of spices. • The doctrine of the survival of the fittest showed the struggle for life between one species and another. • After Charles Darwin put forward the theory that men and apes descend from common ancestor, there arose a series of controversies. • His theory threatened to shatter the very foundation of religious belief in God’s having created the world because Darwin scientifically conducted research and demonstrated with proof the evolution of plants and animals and their adoption. • This doctrine of organic evolution profoundly influenced the thinking of mankind.
- 7. Early Life Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. His father Robert Waring Darwin was a wealthy physician at Shrewsbury. His grand father, Erasmus Darwin was a famous poet, physician and philosopher. In 1818, Darwin was educated at Shrewsbury school where his scholarly career was undistinguished. Then Darwin went to Edinburg University to prepare for the medical profession, but he disliked the subject and learnt more about natural history. In 1828 he went to Christ College, Cambridge with the idea of becoming a clergy man.
- 8. He took a degree in theology in 1831. The chief advantage which he gained at Edinburg and Cambridge was the chance to meet men of science in all fields. The turning point in his career came in 1831, when the government sent a ship “H.M.S.Beagle” for surveying expedition in the south Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Darwin joined this expedition as a naturalist without pay. For five years Darwin roamed about seven seas and carefully noted the fauna, flora and the geology of many little known islands.
- 9. He visited Cape Verne and other Atlantic Islands, the south American coasts and the Galapagos Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Keeling Island, Maldives, Mauritius, St.Helena and Brazil. The Galapagos Islands which lie on the coast of Ecuador on the west coast of South America gave him an inspiring scientific thought. The tiny islands of the place making up the archipelago where he discovered different kinds of living species unknown to science. Darwin worked patiently and collected specimen throughout the five years of his voyage. In 1836 upon his return to England, the young naturalist became the secretary of the Geological society.
- 13. In 1839 he married his cousin Emma Wedge Wood and three years later, the young couple moved to Downe House, near the village of Downe in Kent. Here Darwin lived for the rest of his life. The voyage was the real preparation for his lifework. The immense collection of specimens was sorted and arranged in a systematic order. His observation on the relationship between geographically separated animals and time-separated animals led him to reflect upon the prevailing view of fixity of species. He had also been much impressed by “the manner in which closely allied animals replace one another” in South America.
- 18. In 1837, he began to collect facts about the formation of different breeds of domestic animals and plants. He observed in his notebook that selection was the keystone of man’s success in bringing about variations in different breeds. Darwin came to believe that the different species of animals and plants were due to gradual change. Meanwhile he studied “T.R.Malthus” “Essays on the Principles of Population” which convinced him of the struggle for existence. His continued observation of the habits of animals and plants at once stuck him that under these circumstances, favourable variation would tend to be preserved and the unfavourable ones would tend to be destroyed.
- 22. The result of this would be the formation of a new species. Darwin then set about to put this theory to test and a reasonably complete theory of organic evolution emerged in his mind. In 1856, he started to write a large treaties on his view and completed half of it. In the meantime in 1858, he received a manuscript form another naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace a scientist who worked in Malaya Archipelago had came to the same conclusion of organic evolution. To Darwin’s dismay, his own theory formulated many years earlier, was found in Wallace’s manuscript.
- 23. Darwin published his famous theory on November 24, 1859 in his great work “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. This book was the most important books in the history of science. The whole edition of 1250 copies were sold out on the day of issue. During Darwin’s life time it was translated into many languages. The book had the effect of a bomb.
- 24. In this work, “Origin of Species”, Darwin presented an explanation of the working of natural selection which involves the following stages: 1. All species produce more germ cells, pollen or spores before they ever reach maturity. 2. The number of individuals in species remained fairly constant. 3. There must be a high rate of mortality since more young ones are produced than before they ever reach maturity. 4. The individuals of a species are not all identical but show variation. 5. Some variations are better adapted than the other to fit into the ecological riches of nature.
- 29. 6. The better-adapted variation will have a better chance of surviving and of producing offspring than the less adapted variants. 7. The offspring resemble their parents by hereditary. 8. Therefore each successive generation will tend to have an increased proportion of better adapted variations until finally the population will consist only of the better adapted and the less well-adapted will be entirely eliminated.
- 31. Darwin concluded that species had not been independently created but had descended like varieties from other species. Another famous work “The Descent of Man” (1871) contains scientific research for the origin of man and his history. In this book he has presented the evolution of man from apes. The theory of organic evolution burst like a bombshell upon England. The theory was violently attacked by clergymen as it was contrary to the teachings of the Bible. Many people felt that the foundation of religion had been undermined.
- 32. Politically, battle over Darwin’s theory of evolution was a fight between the liberals and the conservatives (traditionalists). By the end of the 19th century, the evolution theory had won wide acceptance. The strongest supporters found flaws in his complicated explanation of the reproduction process in the germ cell. Though much of Darwin's original theory has been revamped or discarded, its influence upon almost every field of human activity has been immeasurable. The history of archaeology and ethnology have undergone profound changes because of this theory. Darwin died on April 19, 1882, and after seven days, he was buried in Westminster Abbey near the tomb of
- 35. • Though Darwin’s theory faced sever criticism, the Church gradually changed its attitude and moved towards accepting the triumph of science.