Charles Darwin





Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882) was a British
Naturalist. He developed the first theory of a naturalistic mechanism for
evolution, based on mutation and natural selection. It explains the
diversification of life through a lengthy process of descent with modifications.

Early life

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, the fifth of six children of
Robert and Susannah Darwin (nŽe Wedgwood), and the grandson of Erasmus
Darwin, and of Josiah Wedgwood.

After finishing school, Darwin studied medicine in Edinburgh in 1825. His
dislike for dissection and the brutality of surgery at the time led him to
leave the medical school in 1827. Whilst there, however, he was influenced
by the Lamarckian Robert Edmund Grant.

His father, unhappy that his younger son had not become a physician and
fearing that he would become a "ne'er do well", enrolled him at Cambridge
University, with the hopes of Charles' eventually becoming a parson. While
at Cambridge, he came under the intellectual influence of scientific minds
such as William Whewell and John Stevens Henslow which (combined with his
interest in collecting beetles, which was encouraged by his cousin, William
Darwin Fox) resulted in him pursuing natural history.

After taking his degree with honors, Darwin stayed at Cambridge for further
studies in geology, where he proved particularly adept. In the summer of
1831, Darwin worked with the great geologist Adam Sedgwick mapping strata in Wales.

Darwin had planned to visit Madeira with some class-mates upon graduation in
1831. These plans, however, fell through. After Darwin finished his studies,
Henslow recommended him for the position of gentleman's companion to Robert
Fitzroy, the captain of the HMS Beagle, which was departing on a five-year
expedition to chart the coastline of South America.

Journey on the Beagle

Darwin's work during the expedition allowed him to study both the geological
properties of continents and isles and a multitude of living organisms and
fossils. He collected an enormous number of specimens new to science in a
very methodical way, and his specimens sent back to the British Museum were
by themselves a significant contribution to science. No other collector has
rivalled his work since. During his voyage, he visited the Cape Verde
Archipelago, the Falkland Islands, the South American coast, the Galapagos
Islands and Australia, collecting considerable quantities of specimens.

After returning from the voyage on October 2, 1836, Darwin analyzed the
specimens he collected, and noticed similarities between fossils and living
species within the same geographic area. In particular, he noticed that
every island in the Galapagos Archipelago had its own kind of tortoises and
birds that were all slightly different in appearance, favored food etc., but
otherwise similar. In the spring of 1837 ornithologists at the British
Museum informed Darwin that the several very different species of birds he
had taken in the Galapagos were all finches. This, coupled with a re-reading
of Thomas Malthus' 1798 essay on populations, triggered a chain of thought
that would culminate in the theory of evolution by natural and sexual
selection. He developed the hypothesis that, for example, all the different
turtles had originated from a single turtle species, and had adopted to life
on the different islands in different ways.

Based on these thoughts, he formulated his ideas about the changes and
developments of species in his Notebook on the Transmutation of Species,
which was in accordance with Lyell's Principles of Geology and Thomas
Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population, which stated that the size of
a population is limited by the food resources available. Realizing the
potential of this understanding, Darwin undertook extensive experiments with
pigeons and plants, and extensive consultation with pig breeders and other
animal husbanders, in an attempt to discover holes in the hypothesis.

First writings

In 1842, Darwin formulated a short "Pencil Sketch" of his theory and by 1844
had written a 240 page "Essay" which provides an expanded version of his
early ideas on natural selection. Between 1844 and 1858, when he would
present his theory to the Linnean Society of London, Darwin would modify his
theory in a number of ways.

Darwin published other treatises in science, including an explanation for
the creation of coral atolls in the South Pacific, and the story of his
voyage aboard the Beagle.

Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839. After living for a number
of years in London, the couple eventually moved to Down House, in Downe,
Kent (which is now open to public visits, south of Orpington). Darwin and
his wife had ten children, three of whom died early. Between 1839 and 1843,
Darwin's Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle was published in five volumes.

The Origin of Species

Darwin's work brought him a correspondence relationship with Alfred Russel
Wallace, working in the islands of the South Pacific. In June, 1858, Wallace
sought Darwin's ideas on a theory Wallace had developed which exactly
mirrored Darwin's own work. Scientist friends persuaded Darwin to go public
with the theory, now independently confirmed. On 1 July, 1858, Darwin's
paper about The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was read to
the Linnean Society in London, jointly with Wallace's paper.

Darwin's book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was
published one year later, and was of sufficient interest to have the
publisher's stocks completely sold to bookstores on the first day.

It provoked an outraged response from the Church. A large meeting was
organised in Oxford where 'Soapy Sam' Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford,
numerous Clergy and Robert Fitzroy (the Captain of HMS Beagle) argued
against Darwin, Thomas Huxley and their Evolutionist supporters. On being
asked by Wilberforce, whether he was descended from monkeys on his
grandfather's side or his grandmother's side, Huxley, recognizing the
stupidity of the question, apparently muttered to himself: "The lord has
delivered him into my hands", and then replied that he "would rather be
descended from an ape than from a cultivated man who used his gifts of
culture and eloquence in the service of prejudice and falsehood" [several
alternative versions of this supposed quote exist, see Wilberforce and
Huxley: A Legendary Encounter.

In several of his later books The Variation of Animals and Plants Under
Domestication (1868), The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
(1871) and The Expression of Emotions in Animals and Man (1872), Darwin
expanded on many topics introduced in Origin of Species.

The value of Darwin's work was appreciated throughout the scientific
community. He became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1839 (on the
basis of his collecting during his voyages) and of the French Academy of
Science (l'AcadŽmie des Sciences) in 1878.

Darwin died in Downe, Kent, England, on 19 April 1882 was given a state
funeral, and interred in Westminster Abbey near Isaac Newton.

Darwin was given particular recognition in 2000 when his image appeared on
the Bank of England ten pound note, replacing Charles Dickens. Reportedly
his impressive and supposedly hard-to-forge beard was a contributing factor
in this choice.

Before Darwin

Before the nineteenth century, the accepted theory for the extinction of
species was called Catastrophism, which stated that species went extinct due
to catastrophes that were often followed by the formation of new species ex
nihilo (out of nothing). The extinct species can then be found as fossils.
The new species were considered unchangeable. This theory was in accordance
with the story of the Flood in the Bible. In the early nineteenth century,
several new theories started to compete with Catastrophism. One of the most
important ones was developed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829). He
observed that every new generation inherits the traits of its ancestors. He
suggested that traits or organs become enhanced with repeated use and
weakened or removed by disuse in each individual, who will pass these
improvements or losses directly to their offspring. In 1830, the British
geologist Sir Charles Lyell disproved the Catastrophism Theory, but held on
to the theory of species staying unchanged during time. Lyell founded
uniformitarianism, a theory stating that the surface of earth changed slowly
through eons by constant forces.

Darwin's theory of evolution

Darwin's theory of evolution is based on five key observations and
inferences drawn from them. These observations and inferences have been
summarized by the great biologist Ernst Mayr as follows: First, species have
great fertility. They make more offspring than can grow to adulthood.
Second, populations remain roughly the same size, with modest fluctuations.
Third, food resources are limited, but are relatively constant most of the
time. From these three observations it may be inferred that in such an
environment there will be a struggle for survival among individuals. Fourth,
in sexually reproducing species, generally no two individuals are identical.
Variation is rampant. And fifth, much of this variation is heritable. From
this it may be inferred: In a world of stable populations where each
individual must struggle to survive, those with the "best" characteristics
will be more likely to survive, and those desirable traits will be passed to
their offspring. These advantageous characteristics are inherited by
following generations, becoming dominant among the population through time
(Fig. 2). This is natural selection. It may be further inferred that natural
selection, if carried far enough, makes changes in a population, eventually
leading to new species. These observations have been amply demonstrated in
biology, and even fossils demonstrate the veracity of these observations.

Darwin imagined it might be possible that all life is descended from an
original species from ancient times. DNA evidence supports this idea.

Response to Darwin's theory

After the publication of Darwin's book, evolution as the means of natural
selection was widely discussed (Fig. 3), particularly by the religious and
the scientific communities. Though Darwin was supported by some scientists
(e.g., T.H. Huxley), others hesitated to accept the theory due to the
unexplained ability of individuals to pass their special abilities to their
offspring. The last point remained a mystery until the existence of genes
was discovered. In 1902 Peter Kropotkin published the book Mutual Aid: A
Factor of Evolution, challenging Darwin's Theory as too narrow. In 1874, the
theologian Charles Hodge accused Darwin of denying the existence of God by
defining humans to be a result of a natural process rather than a creation
designed by God. Darwin's theory is now backed up by the comparison of DNA
from different organisms which shows the closeness of their relationship.

Today, whilst the overwhelming majority of biologists consider Darwin's
basic theory correct, a significant fraction of the general population,
particularly in the United States amongst Western countries, do not do so on
religious grounds. See Pseudoscience creationism.

Contrary to popular opinion, Darwin did not "discover" evolution as it was
accepted by many since the beginning of the 1800s. Instead, he and Wallace
discovered the first really coherent mechanism that explains how evolution
occurs (natural selection).
Other important aspects of Darwin's overall theory were: common descent,
sexual selection, gradualism, and pangenesis. It is important to remember
that Darwin's version of natural selection was different from that presented
by Wallace in that he held that natural selection was continuously
operating, whereas Wallace argued that selection only occurred when the
environment changed.

Darwin is included in the top 10 of the "100 Greatest Britons" poll
sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public.

Views on religion

It has been falsely claimed that Darwin converted to Christianity on his
deathbed. The claim can be dismissed by his never having renounced the
church. This claim is discussed in The Survival of Charles Darwin: A
Biography of a Man and an Idea, by Ronald W. Clark (Weidenfeld & Nicholson
1985), p. 199:

     "Shortly after his death, Lady Hope addressed a gathering of young men
     and women at the educational establishment founded by the evangelist
     Dwight Lyman Moody at Northfield, Massachusetts. She had, she
     maintained, visited Darwin on his deathbed. He had been reading the
     Epistle to the Hebrews, had asked for the local Sunday school to sing
     in a summerhouse on the grounds, and had confessed: 'How I wish I had
     not expressed my theory of evolution as I have done.' He went on, she
     said, to say that he would like her to gather a congregation since he
     'would like to speak to them of Christ Jesus and His salvation, being
     in a state where he was eagerly savouring the heavenly anticipation of
     bliss.'

     "With Moody's encouragement, Lady Hope's story was printed in the
     Boston Watchman Examiner. The story spread, and the claims were
     republished as late as October 1955 in the Reformation Review and in
     the Monthly Record of the Free Church of Scotland in February 1957.
     These attempts to fudge Darwin's story had already been exposed for
     what they were, first by his daughter Henrietta after they had been
     revived in 1922. 'I was present at his deathbed,' she wrote in the
     Christian for February 23, 1922. 'Lady Hope was not present during his
     last illness, or any illness. I believe he never even saw her, but in
     any case she had no influence over him in any department of thought or
     belief. He never recanted any of his scientific views, either then or
     earlier. We think the story of his conversion was fabricated in the
     U.S.A. . . . The whole story has no foundation whatever.'" (Ellipsis
     original.)

In the introduction of The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin wrote:

     "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is
     those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively
     assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Later on in the book he dismisses an argument for religion being innate:

     "Belief in God- Religion.- There is no evidence that man was
     aboriginally endowed with the ennobling belief in the existence of an
     Omnipotent God. On the contrary there is ample evidence, derived not
     from hasty travellers, but from men who have long resided with savages,
     that numerous races have existed, and still exist, who have no idea of
     one or more gods, and who have no words in their languages to express
     such an idea. The question is of course wholly distinct from that
     higher one, whether there exists a Creator and Ruler of the universe;
     and this has been answered in the affirmative by some of the highest
     intellects that have ever existed."

     "The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest,
     but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower
     animals. It is however impossible, as we have seen, to maintain that
     this belief is innate or instinctive in man. On the other hand a belief
     in all-pervading spiritual agencies seems to be universal; and
     apparently follows from a considerable advance in man's reason, and
     from a still greater advance in his faculties of imagination, curiosity
     and wonder. I am aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has
     been used by many persons as an argument for His existence. But this is
     a rash argument, as we should thus be compelled to believe in the
     existence of many cruel and malignant spirits, only a little more
     powerful than man; for the belief in them is far more general than in a
     beneficent Deity. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does
     not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by
     long-continued culture."

Darwin's own struggle with faith got sharper the older he became, and his
posthumously-published autobiography contained quotes about Christianity
that were omitted by Darwin's wife Emma and his son Francis because they
were deemed dangerous for Charles Darwin's reputation. Only in 1958 Darwin's
granddaughter Nora Barlow published a revised version which contained the
omissions. This included statements such as:

     "Whilst on board the Beagle (October 1836-January 1839) I was quite
     orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the
     officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an
     unanswerable authority on some point of morality. I suppose it was the
     novelty of the argument that amused them. But I had gradually come, by
     this time, to see that the Old Testament; from its manifestly false
     history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a sign,
     etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a
     revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of
     the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian." (Charles Darwin: The
     Autobiography of Charles Darwin with original omissions restored. New
     York, Norton, 1969. p.85)

     "By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to
     make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is
     supported, --that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more
     incredible, do miracles become, --that the men at that time were
     ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us,
     --that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously
     with the events, --that they differ in many important details, far too
     important as it seemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies
     of eyewitness; --by such reflections as these, which I give not as
     having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I
     gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation.
     The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of
     the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as is the
     morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its
     perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on
     metaphors and allegories." (p.86)

     "Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but at last was
     complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never
     since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct."
     (p.87)

     "I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be
     true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the
     men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and
     almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is
     a damnable doctrine." (p. 87)

     "The old argument of design in nature, as given by Paley, which
     formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural
     selection had been discovered. We can no longer argue that, for
     instance, the beautiful hinge of a bivalve shell must have been made by
     an intelligent being, like the hinge of a door by man. There seems to
     be no more design in the variability of organic beings and in the
     action of natural selection, than in the course which the wind blows.
     Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws." (p.87)

     "At the present day (ca. 1872) the most usual argument for the
     existence of an intelligent God is drawn from the deep inward
     conviction and feelings which are experienced by moat persons. But it
     cannot be doubted that Hindoos, Mahomadans and others might argue in
     the same manner and with equal force in favor of the existence of one
     God, or of many Gods, or as with the Buddists of no God...This argument
     would be a valid one if all men of all races had the same inward
     conviction of the existence of one God: but we know that this is very
     far from being the case. Therefore I cannot see that such inward
     convictions and feelings are of any weight as evidence of what really
     exists." (p.91)

     "Nor must we overlook the probability of the constant inculcation in a
     belief in God on the minds of children producing so strong and perhaps
     as inherited effect on their brains not yet fully developed, that it
     would be as difficult for them to throw off their belief in God, as for
     a monkey to throw off its instinctive fear and hatred of a snake."
     (p.93)