Charles DarwinFiled Under: Important People
Charles Darwin was born (1809) in England into a rather wealthy family. As a young man, he attended the prestigious Edinburgh University and then Cambridge University. While he was a student at Cambridge, Darwin made the famous trip on HMS Beagle to the Galapagos Islands, and around the world. This is where he began to develop, but by no means establish, his theory of evolution. During the voyage, Darwin noticed the incredible diversity of life even amongst islands relatively close, though separated due to some sort of geological barrier. Darwin understood that there must be an explanation for this wonderful diversity beyond that of theology. But, Darwin was still convinced by William Paley’s explanation for diversity (that such complicated forms of life imply a designer). However, Darwin began to find flaws in Paley’s argument, as it simply wasn’t wide ranging enough to account for the overwhelming amount of variation between similar species.
This is where the theory of natural selection comes into play. Darwin had been developing this theory for decades, and as he began to fear an early death coupled with his peers urging him along, Darwin finally polished and published his On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (On the Origin of Species). This theory was an immediate success amongst many in the scientific circles, though was rejected by the majority of the religious (due to its incompatibility with a literal reading of the Bible).
Prior to Darwin, the only rejection to creationism was largely based on rational thought. As, the question of “where did the designer come from?” still remains. After Darwin, it was much easier to reject the notion of a personal god, as the diversity of life was finally given a proper scientific theory. Evolution by Natural Selection remains to this day, the only major theory for wide variety of species and the large fossil record. It is due to Darwin (though I suppose it would have happened sooner or later) that not only can we reject a literal reading of the supposed Holy Books, but we have a much more intellectually satisfying alternate. It is for this reason, that every freethinker alive should deeply admire the works and genius of Charles Darwin.
I will leave you with some great quotes from Darwin.
“I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars.”
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Tags: charles darwin, evolution, natural selection
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- Moiz Khan
- 1 Aug 2008 11:50 AM
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