NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Inception of Darwin's theory

The inception of Darwin's theory began with a search for explanations of contradictions in current Creationist ideas, and led him to formulate his theory of evolution which was eventually published in his book On the Origin of Species. This is an article on wide range of beliefs in creation ex nihilo. ... This article is about biological evolution. ... The 1859 edition of On the Origin of Species First published in 1859, The Origin of Species (full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) by British naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the pivotal...

This article covers the period during which Darwin conceived of his theory, and includes the context of his life, work and outside influences at the time. See the development of Darwin's theory, the publication of Darwin's theory and the reaction to Darwin's theory for the periods that followed. The Development of Darwins theory began with a search for explanations of contradictions in current Creationist ideas, and led him to formulate his theory of evolution which was eventually published in his book On the Origin of Species. ... The publication of Darwins theory followed on from the development of Darwins theory of evolution and culminated in the publication of his book On the Origin of Species. ... The reaction to Darwins theory came quickly after the publication of Darwins theory which had followed twenty years of development of Darwins theory of evolution. ...

Background: influences

See also History of creationism and Charles Darwin's views on religion The history of creationism begins with the ancient Hebrew text describing creation according to Genesis, though the term creationism was not in use before the late 19th century. ... Charles Darwin ( 1809 — 1882), who proposed the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. ...

Charles Darwin grew up in a conservative era when repression of revolutionary Radicalism had displaced the 18th century Enlightenment. The Church of England dominated the English scientific establishment which saw natural history as revealing God's plan underlying and supporting the existing social hierarchy, rejecting Enlightenment philosophers such as David Hume who had argued for naturalism and against belief in God. Charles Darwin, about the same time as the publication of The Origin of Species. ... In political science, the label radical denotes one who desires extreme change of all or part of the social order. (Britannica Deluxe CD2000). ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... David Hume David Hume (April 26, 1711 – August 25, 1776) was a Scottish philosopher and historian and, with Adam Smith and Thomas Reid among others, one of the most important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment. ...

Discoveries of fossils showing the extinction of species were explained by catastrophism, which propounded the belief that animals and plants were periodically annihilated as a result of natural catastrophes and that their places were taken by new species created ex nihilo (out of nothing). The extinct organisms could then be observed in the fossil record and their replacements were considered to be immutable. FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL stands for Fido Opus SEAdog Standard Interface Layer and was made by a group of Fidonet sysops to make their software work on different machines. ... Catastrophism is the theory that Earth has been affected by sudden, short-lived, violent events that were sometimes worldwide in scope. ...

Darwin's extended family of Darwins and Wedgwoods was strongly Unitarian, and one of his grandfathers, Erasmus Darwin, was a freethinker who hypothesized that all warm-blooded animals sprang from a single living "filament" long, long ago and proposed evolution by acquired characteristics. This anticipated the theory later developed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck who observed that every new generation inherits some characteristics of its ancestors and that an individual's traits or organs become enhanced with repeated use, or weakened or removed by disuse, then deduced that these changes would be passed directly on to offspring, eventually forming new species. Historic Unitarianism believed in the oneness of God as opposed to traditional Christian belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). ... Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Darwin (December 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on medicine and botany, as well as poetry. ... Freethought is a characteristic of individuals whose opinions are formed on the basis of an understanding and rejection of tradition, authority or established belief. ... Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (August 1, 1744 - December 28, 1829) was a major 19th century naturalist, who was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. ...

University

Lamarck's ideas gave rise to theories of Transmutation, associated with radicals and revolutionaries. At the University of Edinburgh Darwin joined Robert Edmund Grant on field trips and learnt these theories. see also transmutation of species Transmutation is the conversion of one object into another. ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Robert Edmond Grant (1793-1874), born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University as a doctor, became one of the foremost biologists of the early 19th century at Edinburgh and subsequently a professor at London University, particularly noted for his influence on Charles Darwin. ...

He then went to the University of Cambridge to qualify as a parson, and joined the natural history course of the Revd. John Stevens Henslow who gave him tuition in theology. Charles became particularly interested in the writings of the Revd. William Paley, whose Natural Theology set out to refute Hume and saw a rational proof of God's existence in the complexity of living beings exquisitely fitted to their places in a happy world, proving their design by a Creator. While this was a odds with the ideas of Grant and Erasmus Darwin, it convinced Charles and encouraged his interest in science. The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest in the English-speaking world, after Oxford University. ... John Stevens Henslow (February 6, 1796 - May 16, 1861) was an English botanist and geologist. ... This article is about William Paley, the philosopher. ... A teleological argument (or an argument from design) is an argument for the existence of God based on evidence of design in nature. ...

During this time Cambridge was briefly visited by the Radicals Richard Carlile and the Revd. Robert Taylor on an "infidel home missionary tour", causing a stir before being banned, and Taylor would be remembered by Charles as "the Devil's Chaplain", a warning example of an outcast from society who had challenged Christianity and had been imprisoned for blasphemy.

Voyage on the Beagle

During the Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin became convinced by Charles Lyell's uniformitarian theory of gradual geological process over eons of time, and puzzled over how various theories of creation fitted the evidence he saw. HMS Beagle, from an 1841 watercolour by Owen Stanley The Voyage of the Beagle refers to the survey expedition of the ship HMS Beagle under captain Robert FitzRoy which set out on 27 December 1831. ... Charles Darwin, about the same time as the publication of The Origin of Species. ... Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell ( November 14, 1797 – February 22, 1875), British geologist, and popularizer of uniformitarianism. ... Uniformitarianism has had two separate meanings, both more prevalent in 19th-century discourse: Within religious philosophy, Uniformitarianism (with a capital U) is the belief that the Universe has existed as it is now for an infinite time and will continue to exist for ever. ... The history of creationism begins with the ancient Hebrew text describing creation according to Genesis, though the term creationism was not in use before the late 19th century. ...

He returned with his reputation established as a theoretical geologist, and set about getting his huge collection of specimens properly assessed by experts as well as writing books based on his notes.

Richard Owen showed that Darwin's fossil specimens were of extinct species related to current species in the same locality. John Gould startlingly revealed that completely different birds from the Galápagos Islands were species of finches, and Darwin found that the finch species as well as species of tortoises were distinct to each island. Sir Richard Owen and Dinornis bird skeleton Sir Richard Owen (July 20, 1804 - December 18, 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. ... John Gould (September 14, 1804 - February 3, 1881), was an English ornithologist. ... NASA Satellite photo of the Galápagos archipelago. ... Genera Chersina Dipsochelys Furculachelys Geochelone Gopherus Homopus Indotestudo Kinixys Malacochersus Manouria Psammobates Pyxis Testudo Tortoise is the name given to the land-dwelling reptiles most of whose body is shielded by a special shell. ...

Transmutation

Early in 1837 Darwin was speculating on transmutation in his "Red Notebook" which he had begun on the Beagle. At this time, when the Revd. William Whewell recruited him to the establishment position of secretary of the Geological Society, Darwin was privately scorning Whewell's faith in a human-centred universe being perfectly adapted to man and writing of "my theory" which he thought "would give zest to recent & Fossil Comparative Anatomy", transforming the "whole metaphysics". In July 1837 as his speculation deepened he started the first of a series of secret notebooks on transmutation. 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... see also transmutation of species Transmutation is the conversion of one object into another. ... William Whewell William Whewell (May 24, 1794 – March 6, 1866) was a British philosopher and historian of science. ... The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of investigating the mineral structure of the Earth. It is the oldest geological society in the world. ... 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Darwin's ideas fitted with the radical Unitarianism of his brother Erasmus's circle including Harriet Martineau, but were heretical to his Anglican friends in the scientific establishment. Such "Materialist" ideas had been seized on by socialist agitators, red Lamarckians who stirred the mob to overthrow the social order and even demanded the vote for working men! The establishment and the Tory press were quick to crush such ideas, using the full force of the law at a time when blasphemy was a criminal offence. Many were denounced and overthrown for such scandalous ideas, including the surgeon William Lawrence who was forced to resign his post and lost copyright on his book Lectures on Man. This book was promptly pirated by the notorious agitator and pornography publisher William Benbow, and then published in cheap editions such as the copy that Darwin now read. As a result Darwin was secretive and very cautious in even hinting about his ideas to the friends he was bursting to share discussions with. Historic Unitarianism believed in the oneness of God as opposed to traditional Christian belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). ... Erasmus Darwin Stone-cast bust of Erasmus Darwin, by William John Coffee, c 1795, (Crown Derby Modeller and world renown artist) Erasmus Darwin ( December 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on medicine and botany, as well as poetry. ... Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (June 12, 1802 - June 27, 1876), English writer, was born at Norwich, where her father was a manufacturer. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... This article primarily focuses on the general concepts of matter and existence. ... The term Tory derives from the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. ...

Animal observations

By February 1838 Darwin was on to a new pocketbook, the maroon C notebook, and was investigating the breeding of domestic animals. He found the newspaper wholesaler William Yarrell at the Zoological museum a fund of knowledge, and questioned if breeders weren't going against nature in picking varieties. He was now writing of Descent rather than transmutation, and hinting at ideas of adaption to climate. He found a pamphlet by by Yarrell's friend Sir John Sebright with a passage reading: "A severe winter, or a scarcity of food, by destroying the weak and the unhealthy, has all the good effects of the most skilful selection. In cold or barren countries no animals can live to the age of maturity, but those who have strong constitutions; the weak and the unhealthy do not live to propagate their infirmities." After reading the pamphlet, Darwin commented "excellent observations of sickly offspring being cut off". 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... William Yarrell (June 3, 1784 - September 1, 1856) was an English bookseller and naturalist. ...

At the zoo on 28 March he had his first sight of an ape, and was impressed at the orang-utan's antics "just like a naughty child" when the keeper held back an apple. In his notes he wrote "Let man visit Ourang-outang in domestication, hear expressive whine, see its intelligence.... let him look at savage...naked, artless, not improving yet improvable & let him dare to boast of his proud preeminence." Here Darwin was drawing on his experience of the natives of Tierra del Fuego and daring to think that there was little gulf between man and animals despite the theological doctrine that only humanity possessed a soul. March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in Leap years). ... For the chess opening, see Sokolsky Opening. ... Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: land of fire) is an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. ...

Malthus and Natural Law

On 21 June 1838 Darwin was elected to the establishment Athenaeum Club, and it was here in August that he read a review of Auguste Comte's Positive Philosophy which bolstered Darwin's ideas of natural laws, making him remark "What a magnificent view one can take of the world" with everything synchronised "by certain laws of harmony". Then in late September he began reading the new 6th edition of Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population which reminded him of Malthus's statistical proof that human populations breed beyond their means and compete to survive, at a time when he was primed to apply these ideas to animal species. Malthus had softened from the bleakness of the earlier editions, now allowing that the population crush could be mitigated by education, celibacy and emigration. June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A 4 piece band from Greensboro, North Carolina. ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) ( January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... The Rev. ...

Already Radical crowds were demonstrating against the harsh imposition of Malthusian ideas in the Poor Laws, and a slump was resulting in mass emigration. Lyell was convinced that animals were also driven to spread their territory by overpopulation, but Darwin went further in applying to his search for the Creator's laws the Whig social thinking of struggle for survival with no handouts. He did broach the subject with Emma around the time that he proposed to her in November, and when she wrote expressing concern about his faith, his warm reply eased matters but this tension would remain. The Poor Law was the system for the provision of social security in operation in England and the United Kingdom from the 16th century until the establishment of the Welfare State in the 20th century. ... This article is about the British Whig party. ... Emma Darwin Emma Darwin (née Wedgwood, 2 May 1808–7 October 1896) was the wife of the English naturalist Charles Darwin. ...

Theory

Darwin considered Malthus's argument, that human populations breed beyond their means and compete to survive, in relation to his findings about species relating to localities, earlier enquiries into animal breeding, and ideas of Natural "laws of harmony". Around late November 1838 he compared breeders selecting traits to a Malthusian Nature selecting from variants thrown up by "chance" so that "every part of newly acquired structure is fully practised and perfected", thinking this "the most beautiful part of my theory" of how species originated. 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

On 19 December 1838 as secretary of the Geological Society of London Darwin witnessed the vicious interrogation by Owen and his allies of Darwin's old tutor Robert Edmund Grant when they ridiculed Grant's Lamarckian heresy in a clear reminder of establishment intolerance of materialist theories December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of investigating the mineral structure of the Earth. It is the oldest geological society in the world. ... Robert Edmond Grant (1793-1874), born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University as a doctor, became one of the foremost biologists of the early 19th century at Edinburgh and subsequently a professor at London University, particularly noted for his influence on Charles Darwin. ...

In 1839, once married and settled in smoky London, Darwin continued to look to the countryside for information and began a Questions & Experiments notebook with ideas that would have seemed bizarrely mundane to the "philosophical" scientists of the time. He printed Questions about the Breeding of Animals and sent them out to gentlemen farmers, asking for information on animal husbandry from their nurserymen and gamekeepers on how they crossed varieties or selected offspring. Of only three who responded one simply found the questions too overwhelming to answer. He found agreement with the visiting Swiss botanist de Candolle who had first mooted the idea of "nature's war". However, when he tried explaining his theory to Hensleigh Wedgwood, his cousin "seemed to think it absurd... that [a] tiger springing an inch further would determine his preservation". 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... In a draw in a mountainous region, a shepherd guides a flock of about 20 sheep amidst scrub and olive trees. ...

The publication in May of Darwin's Journal and Remarks (The Voyage of the Beagle) brought reviews accusing him of theorising rather than letting the facts speak for themselves. He turned his attention to a book on coral atolls. HMS Beagle, from an 1841 watercolour by Owen Stanley The Voyage of the Beagle refers to the survey expedition of the ship HMS Beagle under captain Robert FitzRoy which set out on 27 December 1831. ...

See the development of Darwin's theory for the ensuing developments, in the context of his life, work and outside influences at the time. The Development of Darwins theory began with a search for explanations of contradictions in current Creationist ideas, and led him to formulate his theory of evolution which was eventually published in his book On the Origin of Species. ...

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