We explain who Charles Darwin was and what his theory says about the evolution of species. In addition, we explain his characteristics and tributes.
Darwin introduced the concept of Natural Selection.
Who was Charles Darwin?
Charles Darwin He was an English naturalist born in 1809 and died in 1882.considered one of the most influential scientists of his time, for having first proposed (simultaneously and independently with Alfred Russel Wallace) the notion of biological evolution through natural selection.
This idea was developed by Darwin in his work On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, in which he justified his views with examples taken from his observations of nature. This theory of the origin of life would revolutionize the scientific field and would implement the idea of evolution as the main explanation, the basis for the modern evolutionary synthesis.
The scientific and cultural importance of his theories and observations is such that he was one of only five non-royal citizens of the 19th century to receive a state funeral in the United Kingdom, and to be buried in Westminster Abbeyalong with Isaac Newton and John Herschel.
See also: Evolution of man
Training by Charles Darwin
The works of Alexander von Humboldt inspired Darwin to become a naturalist.
Born into a wealthy family, Darwin He showed early on his inclination towards Natural Sciencesa vocation that he cultivated at the University of Edinburgh, although in the Faculty of Medicine. The works of John Herschel and Alexander von Humboldt were decisive in his abandonment of medical sciences and his determination to become a naturalist.
Voyage on the Beagle
At the age of eighteen, Darwin was invited as a companion to Captain Robert Fitzroy aboard the ship Beagle, A journey of cartographic observation and marine currents which lasted for five years.
This experience would be decisive in his life, since It would allow extensive observation of the fauna and flora from regions as diverse as the Canary Islands, the Azores, Cape Verde, Brazil, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, the Galapagos Islands, Australia and Cape Town (South Africa).
Travel diary
In his travel diary Darwin recounts his encounter with other cultures.
During this trip Darwin will write frequent geological, zoological, botanical and paleological notes which he will send back to university, but also a leafy travel diary entitled Diary of a naturalist’s journey around the world where he recounts his encounter with other cultures and his appreciation of life on the planet. His passage through the Galapagos Islands will be important and will become so famous that it will end up becoming a tourist attraction in our days (“Darwin’s route”).
The origin of species
His masterpiece, however, will be published in 1859 and will be titled The origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. There Darwin will explain and justify the key points of his theory on the origin of lifeidentifiable in two theoretical blocks:
- Descent with modification of individuals.
- The natural selection of individuals.
Theory of descent with modification of individuals
Darwin claimed that all species come from pre-existing ones.
In this theory Darwin postulates the following:
- All living beings have evolved from more or less simple beings.
- All species come from pre-existing species.
- New species appear gradually and take time to generate.
- Higher classifications of living beings (taxa) evolve through the same mechanisms as individual beings.
- The extinction of living beings is a consequence of competition between species.
- The fossil record of species is incomplete. There must be missing transitional species (missing links).
Theory of natural selection
In this theory Darwin maintains the following postulates:
- The number of individuals in a given population increases geometrically.
- This number of individuals remains stable, however, because the resources of the environment are limited and therefore not all will survive and reproduce successfully.
- Individuals that survive and reproduce are different from those that perish in variations inherited from previous individuals.
- The probability of surviving and reproducing will determine which hereditary variations will be passed on to subsequent generations.
- Natural selection determines the accumulation of positive traits over negative ones, through the survival and extinction of individuals and species.
Impact
Darwin claimed that man and ape are evolutionarily related.
Darwin’s theories represented a giant leap forward in human understanding of the origin of life and, above all, of his own origin. Evidence of the similarities between our species and that of certain primates superiors was evident in the light of their theories, thanks to which the commonplace that “man comes from the monkey” was produced. The correct conclusion would, in fact, be that man and the monkey are evolutionarily related.
Reception of his theories
The church viewed Darwin’s theory as an attack on creationism.
Darwin’s theories They were received with no small amount of reservation by the scientific community.who questioned many of its terms, such as gradualism, and much more so on the part of the religious, who saw it as an attack on the religious theory of creationism. A famous caricature of Darwin is drawn as an ape, mocking his deductions regarding the origin of man.
Non-biological applications
Darwin’s theories on the prevalence of some species over others (those most suited to adapt to the environment) They have been taken out of context and applied to other fields of life.such as economics and politics.
Such is the case of the regimes of social Darwinism, such as the one proposed by German Nazism: Darwinism It would supposedly justify oppression by powerful peoples (fit) to the weak (less fit), based on the belief that the latter would either become stronger and liberated, or become extinct.
Tributes to Darwin
The scientist stopped on Darwin Island during his journey.
Darwin has been honored in the use of his surname for the scientific name of several botanical species (TO. darwiniiM. darwinianusP. darwinianumfor example), as well as to name a lunar crater, a Martian crater and a space asteroid (1991), as well as Darwin Island in the Galapagos, where the scientist is supposed to have stopped during his trip.
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