Charles Darwin
More than a century after his death, and four generations after the
publication of his chief work, "The Origin of Species", 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 ...
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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 ...
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the acquired characteristics of the parents
could be handed down to their offspring. Suppose, to take the most over used
example, that the first generations of giraffe had a neck of ordinary length.
Because the lower branches of the trees they fed off were easily striped, these
early giraffes stretched out their necks to reach higher branches. In doing so,
they caused their offspring to be born with slightly longer necks, until the
ultimate result was the giraffe of today.
This theory had virtues far beyond the necks of giraffes. Taking this concept
to its extreme one would now be under the impression that all that the past
European forefathers have passed on all their acquired ...
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"Charles Darwin." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 25 Dec. 2005. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Darwin/38547>
"Charles Darwin." Essayworld.com. December 25, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Darwin/38547.
"Charles Darwin." Essayworld.com. December 25, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Charles-Darwin/38547.
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