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Darwin's Origin

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Darwin, whose life is now almost obscured by a veil of history and controversy, is most famous for his legendary voyage on the Beagle; during which his visits to the Galapagos islands sowed the seeds that would later flourish into the theory of evolution: He stands as the first man in history able to provide an explanation for how our species came to be.

However much of his time during which he formulated his ideas was spent in quiet contemplation, often with his family in his own garden at his home in Kent, England. Also, while many people cite 'Darwin's finches' as the birds which sparked in him the theme of adaptive evolution, it was instead the pigeons which he bred at his leisure that fascinated him for most of his life.

He bred the birds to investigate, for example, how odd feather shapes and other variations could be passed down successive generations. By crossing birds with different characteristics, he also tried to determine the mechanism by which the finches he observed on the Galapagos developed their specialised beaks.

It was also on one of his many private strolls through the wooded copse in his garden, that he is said to have had his 'eureka' moment, when everything he had observed came together. It came when observing the flowers on the forest floor: Darwin noted the subtle variations between those in his garden, and those he had studied further afield. He thought to himself that "perhaps the plants have migrated down the hill ... and adapted to the slightly different environment there."

This essentially was the theory of evolution by natural selection on a small scale, but it was not until 20 years later when, threatened with a rival publication, he published his life's work in "On the Origin of Species", which stands today as one of the most enlightening works in the history of mankind.

Although his observations on the Beagle laid the foundations for his great theory, it is said that he was conscious that without formal training in Biology, he was unqualified to present what he called his "extravagant views". It was only after quiet, gradual observations in his garden, and with his pigeons, that he finally gained enough courage and certainty to publish his ideas.

Far from being the brutal theory that "survival of the fittest" (a phrase not used by Darwin himself) suggests, his was rather a quiet, elegant theory of the resourcefullness of nature, and totally undeserving of the vicious backlash which came first from Victorian society and, quite depressingly, continues to this day: How far we have come...
rwylie

10 responses // Darwin's Origin

  • Every year I see new species of insects and plants that have crossed.....life on this planet is so miraculous.....there may be planets that have different qualities but none that have what Earth has and has always had.......then there are people....one thousand apples in a barrel.....one bad one......if you don't watch out......they are all ruined.......Humans are not evolving...they are going backwards.....the amount of people that are stronger...with more character and spine than their predecessors is constantly dimenishing......I am one of them....dimenishing not stronger....Golden Ruler.....facing extinction.......Johnnie Hargrave...........
    Relevations
  • Pretention personified.
    rwylie
  • little known fact...Darwin's friend was about to copyright this theory, which prompted Darwin to beat him to it.
    SilenceNoMore
  • It says that in my article.
    rwylie
    2 responses to this
  • At six views this post was 100% positive....at 15% 25% positive......I hope that my posting did not do this.....I seem to have developed a following that feels about me like they feel about Darwin...they vote all my posts down quickly.....and I hope it is not deemed pretentious......Charles Darwin was tied to the Universe in a way that few will ever know....when you look at the ones like Darwin....you notice a pattern of misunderstanding...and even hatred.....that is so misplaced.....all of these receivers only wanted to help mankind......they have been hung....crucified...shot.....etc.......all the miracles you see around you are the result of thought reception.....many people pick up great thoughts....some use them.....some abuse them.....some do nothing........please start encouraging the future Darwin's........Golden Ruler......Johnnie Hargrave.......
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  • I do not understand why the two 'theories" (evolution and creationism) cannot stand side by side. .... 1st how do we know what a day is to God? It could be a million years or a split second of light. -- 2nd it seems to me that a god that could make the human body work and make humans able to adapt to their environment sounds a lot smarter than one who can snap his fingers and make it happen,.... Also in the bible people forget that there were Giants mentioned as well as when Cain was sent to live East of Eden -- there were other "people" there as well as those who lived "under the earth"
    Sounds like Darwin has been much misunderstood
    LectrkLady
    1 response to this
  • Origin of the Species in a marvel of observational science.
    brad149

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