CHARLES DARWIN DYNEISHERA RILEY HUM101 VANCE

BACKGROUND INFO WHO? – CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN. WHEN? – FEBRUARY 12TH 1809 – APRIL WHY? – THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION CAUSED INTELLECTUAL FERMENT IN MID AND LATE VICTORIAN, ENGLAND. WHERE? – VICTORIAN, ENGLAND WHAT? – “IN 1859, CHARLES DARWIN SET OUT HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION AS AN EXPLANATION FOR ADAPTATION AND SPECIATION. HE DEFINED NATURAL SELECTION AS THE “PRINCIPLE” BY WHICH EACH SLIGHT VARIATION (OF A TRAIT), IF USED, IS PRESERVED”. NATURAL SELECTION IS DARWIN’S MOST FAMOUS THEORY; IT TELLS THAT EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE COMES THROUGH THE PRODUCTION OF VARIATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF CHARACTERISTICS WHICH INCREASE THEIR PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL WILL HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO REPRODUCE AND THEIR OFFSPRING WILL ALSO BENEFIT FROM HERITABLE, ADVANTAGEOUS CHARACTER. THEREFOR, OVER TIME THESE VARIANTS WILL SPREAD THROUGH THE POPULATION.

MORE BACK GROUND INFO NATURALIST CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY 12, 1809, IN THE TINY MERCHANT TOWN OF SHREWSBURY, ENGLAND. HE WAS THE SECOND YOUNGEST OF SIX CHILDREN. DARWIN CAME FROM A LONG LINE OF SCIENTISTS. HIS FATHER, DR. R.W. DARWIN, WAS AS A MEDICAL DOCTOR, AND HIS GRANDFATHER, DR. ERASMUS DARWIN, WAS A RENOWNED BOTANIST. DARWIN’S MOTHER, SUSANNA, DIED WHEN HE WAS ONLY 8 YEARS OLD. DARWIN WAS A CHILD OF WEALTH AND PRIVILEGE WHO LOVED TO EXPLORE NATURE. IN OCTOBER 1825, AT AGE 16, DARWIN ENROLLED AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER ERASMUS. TWO YEARS LATER, CHARLES DARWIN BECAME A STUDENT AT CHRIST'S COLLEGE IN CAMBRIDGE. HIS FATHER HOPED HE WOULD FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS AND BECOME A MEDICAL DOCTOR, BUT THE SIGHT OF BLOOD MADE DARWIN QUEASY. HIS FATHER SUGGESTED HE STUDY TO BECOME A PARSON INSTEAD, BUT DARWIN WAS FAR MORE INCLINED TO STUDY NATURAL HISTORY. HE EMBARKED ON A FIVE-YEAR SURVEY VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD ON THE HMS BEAGLE. HIS STUDIES OF SPECIMENS AROUND THE GLOBE LED HIM TO FORMULATE HIS THEORY OF EVOLUTION AND HIS VIEWS ON THE PROCESS OF NATURAL SELECTION. IN 1859, HE PUBLISHED ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION DARWIN'S EXPOSURE TO SPECIMENS ALL OVER THE GLOBE RAISED IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. OTHER NATURALISTS BELIEVED THAT ALL SPECIES EITHER CAME INTO BEING AT THE START OF THE WORLD, OR WERE CREATED OVER THE COURSE OF NATURAL HISTORY. IN EITHER CASE, THE SPECIES WERE BELIEVED TO REMAIN MUCH THE SAME THROUGHOUT TIME. DARWIN, HOWEVER, NOTICED SIMILARITIES AMONG SPECIES ALL OVER THE GLOBE, ALONG WITH VARIATIONS BASED ON SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, LEADING HIM TO BELIEVE THAT THEY HAD GRADUALLY EVOLVED FROM COMMON ANCESTORS. HE CAME TO BELIEVE THAT SPECIES SURVIVED THROUGH A PROCESS CALLED "NATURAL SELECTION," WHERE SPECIES THAT SUCCESSFULLY ADAPTED TO MEET THE CHANGING REQUIREMENTS OF THEIR NATURAL HABITAT THRIVED, WHILE THOSE THAT FAILED TO EVOLVE AND REPRODUCE DIED OFF.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION CONTINUED DARWIN'S 5 THEORIES WERE: I. EVOLUTION – SPECIES COME AND GO THROUGH TIME, WHILE THEY EXIST THEY CHANGE. II. COMMON DESCENT – ORGANISMS ARE DESCENDED FROM ONE, OR SEVERAL COMMON ANCESTORS AND HAVE DIVERSIFIED FROM THIS ORIGINAL STOCK. III. SPECIES MULTIPLY – THE DIVERSIFICATION OF LIFE INVOLVES POPULATION OF ONE SPECIES DIVERGING UNTIL THEY BECOME TWO SEPARATE SPECIES; THIS HAS PROBABLY OCCURRED BILLIONS OF TIMES ON EARTH. IV. GRADUALISM – EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE OCCURS THROUGH INCREMENTAL SMALL CHANGE WITHIN POPULATION; NEW SPECIES ARE NOT CREATED SUDDENLY. V. NATURAL SELECTION – EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE OCCURS THROUGH VARIATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS, SOME VARIATION GIVE THE INDIVIDUAL AN EXTRA SURVIVAL PROBABILITY.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION CONTINUED DARWIN CONSIDERED THESE THEORIES AS A PART ONE BIG GREAT IDEA; THEY ALL TAKE PLACE AT THE SAME TIME. NATURAL SELECTION WAS DARWIN’S MOST NOVEL AND REVOLUTIONARY IDEA, BUT IT IS VERY SIMPLE. DARWIN ADDED TO HIS BULK OF EVIDENCE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFETIME, FOR EXAMPLE WITH STUDIES ON HUMANS. SINCE 1859 THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAS BEEN BUSY TESTING HIS THEORIES, AND ALTERNATIVES, TO SEE WHAT BEST HOLDS UP. THE WEALTH AND DIVERSITY IS NOW EVIDENCE NOW INCLUDES EVIDENCE FROM DNA RECORD, FOSSIL RECORDS, AND FROM CASE STUDIES SELECTION.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION CONTINUED - NATURAL SELECTION DARWINISM DARWINISM IS A THEORY OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION DEVELOPED BY CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN AND OTHERS, STATING THAT ALL SPECIES OF ORGANISMS ARISE AND DEVELOP THROUGH THE NATURAL SELECTION OF SMALL, INHERITED VARIATIONS THAT INCREASE THE INDIVIDUAL'S ABILITY TO COMPETE, SURVIVE, AND REPRODUCE.

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