Charles Darwin 's Theory Of Evolution

Charles Darwin developed a theory of biological evolution that stated all species evolved from other species through natural selection. Herbert Spencer followed up with this theory by coining the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ as a way to describe natural selection. This theory grew among scientist, but the Fundamentalist Christians opposed Darwinism because it goes against their core beliefs. Some used it as a way to justify classifying some people as second-rate and how they treated those people. Darwinism also played a major role in America’s immigration policy and furthermore is one of the main reason for the start of World War I.

The documentary, “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea” tells the story of Charles Darwin’s conception of his theory of natural selection, and how it explains the evolutionary process and species adaptation. The story begins with a brief overview of his 5-year stint on the HMS Beagle as the ship's naturalist, during her South American voyage. The film shows how Mr. Darwin collected fossils and many species of animals and birds from many different regions especially the Galapagos Islands. It portrays Mr. Darwin’s return to England and his struggle between the mainstream religious beliefs and his personal beliefs of how different species came to be. Additionally, the documentary covers his presentation of fossils and ideas to the scientific community,

Charles Darwin was an influential ideologist, known as the father of evolution. He created the theory of evolution in which species change overtime through what he called natural selection. Natural selection is the process when organisms that are better adapted to their environment survive and pass on their genetics. In The Descent of Man, Darwin explains various topics such as the similarities between races, the relevance of evolution in society, and the process of sexual selection. Ideas of The Descent of Man, were explored before Darwin, but what sets him apart is that he wanted to find the origin of man and ape as opposed to just stating similarities and differences. The theories that Darwin created contributed knowledge to evolution as

The 19th century was one of the most revolutionized eras in the history of the world. It is in this time period that the power shift was on a constant stir; empires falling, empires rising, and important discoveries that would change the world forever. Many Significant theories and belief systems were established, as well as the rise of some of the potent people in history. One person that is remembered for his work and celebrated for his theories is English biologist and scientist Charles Darwin. He is the sole theorists who conjured up the idea of human evolution, commonly known today as “Darwinism”. In effort to ensure this is recognized this paper continues on into the life of Charles Darwin, his story, his achievements,

Although Darwin’s (1809-1882) work in evolutionary observation might appear radically different from those focused on other areas, the theories he developed from these observation lead to such groundbreaking publishing’s as The Origin of Species. These intern caused an upset within the then accepted norms of philosophy and religion, had a profound impact on the academia, and further

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, a scientific theory that supported the belief of evolution, was manipulated and applied to different areas of life, and thus it became the shaping force in European thought in the last half of the nineteenth century. Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species. He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive. They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics. This new theory was radical and interesting to the scientific world but its effects reach far beyond this small institution of

For more than 150 years, a revolutionary idea has been spreading all over the world. It helped us discover our origins and revealed our place in nature. It led to the unification of once independent fields of scientific inquiry. And it is being used today to tackle some of the most pressing problems facing modern civilization. But its implications go far beyond science. It has shaped our culture, politics, philosophy and religion, and it has been used to justify war and genocide. That idea is Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

Although Charles Darwin is usually just looked at in the light of purely biology, his work that impacted other fields such as psychology or his work that lead to the rapid expansion of certain fields such as ethology, is often looked over. Darwin’s work impacted these fields both directly and indirectly at such a level of influence that some people believe that psychology should be looked at as pre- and post-Darwin. On the Origin of Species, while being primarily about biological phenomena and theories, was one of these works that impacted psychology indirectly. Other than giving a new perspective for psychologists to possess when contemplating different ideas, Darwin’s work on natural selection lead to the creation of evolutionary psychology.

This is indeed interesting, that the concept that Darwin is given so much credit for was not even a very modern idea in his own day.

After the publishing of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, many of his followers began to apply the same idea of natural selection to society, believing that the “survival of the fittest” applied to social problems as well nature. It was a common ideology of the time that those who were better off, like wealthy citizens and corporations, were ….because they were better adapted to the environment. Therefore, the wealthy and the corporations were the fittest, and deserved wealth and power because they were adapted to survive. On the other hand, if someone was poor, it was

In the 19th century, scientific research progressed rapidly outside the world of industry and technology (McKay 744). British scientist, Charles Darwin, was the most influential nineteenth-century evolutionary thinker. Darwin spent his early career, amassing enormous amounts of biological and geological data from his voyage to South America (Fiero 3). In 1859, he published his classic work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, where he summarizes his theory of evolution with the thought of struggle for survival, or natural selection. Furthermore, natural selection is the idea of groups of species surviving through generations by adapting to changes in the environment and using certain characteristics as an advantage. In addition, natural selection challenged traditional ideas about nature and world order, and it was also taken steps further by many thinkers. English philosopher, Herbert Spencer, saw the human race driven forward to ever-greater specialization and progress by a brutal economic struggle that determined the “survival of the fittest” (McKay 745). The notion of a body of thought drawn from the ideas of Charles Darwin that applied the theory of biological evolution to human affairs and saw the human race as driven by an un-ending economic struggle that would determine the survival of the fittest defines Social Darwinism (McKay 745). As European and American upper class sought to extend political and economic power, Social Darwinism proved to

Charles Darwin was an English scientist who had a huge impact on Western thought when he developed a theory of evolution based on the idea of "natural selection." His theory proposed that an animal species may change over time as the best-adapted members survive and the less successful members die out. Social Darwinists took Darwin's theory and used it to justify the racist belief that the world's more technologically advanced white races were fittest and intended by nature to dominate "lesser"

“As a world view, Darwinism cannot of course be refuted, since Faith is, always has been, and always will be, stronger than facts. “ - Francis P. Yockey

Darwin and Evolution are inextricably linked in the minds of most people who have had the opportunity to study them in basic biology. However, Darwin's theories of selection and survival of the fittest have been applied to moral, economic, political, and other cultural aspects of society. Dennett briefly touched on some of the political and social ramifications of Darwin's theories in the final chapter of Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Other philosophers and thinkers have also adapted Darwin's evolutionary ideas, in order to apply them in a societal or cultural context. One great example of this adaptation of the biological concept of evolution, is the appearance of Social Darwinism during the 19th century.

Charles Darwin was a man who shaped the way in which we think about evolution in modern times. He brought forth and described the theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest. To fully understand modern evolutionary thoughts it is necessary for one to completely understand the early theories of Charles Darwin. In this paper I will provide the reader with a complete background on Charles Darwin, describe his voyage on the HMS Beagle, and discuss his theory of natural selection.