Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

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,

have probably heard the term “survival of the fittest,” but if an organism is not able to also grow and reproduce,

Charles Darwin proposed that the mechanism of evolution is natural selection and that it explains

For natural selection to process it has to occur with along other bunch of things. Historians and biologists who interrupt Charles Darwin’s work identify five theories which he stated in his book ‘Origins of Species’ and work together to bring about the theory of evolution. The five theories was:

Darwin wanted to further his studies in plant and animal life, and he also became interested in the similarities of plant and animal species to those of the human species. He noticed that humans too also had to develop new characteristics that would help them adapt to their environments. This made him want to look further into where humans came from and also question the idea of creationism. He argued that men are animals because they have to adapt to their surroundings just as animals do. He suggested that the stronger animals have a better survival chance and they produce offspring that carry this trait. A whole new population of species can derive from these offspring and traits that have evolved from older generations and species. This became known as Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

The Darwinian revolution marked a paradigm shift in science from which we have realized that it is possible there is an entirely different explanation for evolution than Paley initially asserted. Rather than the Paley’s dichotomy in which organisms were suited to their environments due to either random natural occurrences or intervention by a designer, Darwin pushed that there was a single explanation for why animals seem so perfectly fitted to their environments; survival of the fittest. The Darwinian revolution mostly supports Kuhn’s claim that the choice between paradigms cannot be made by either observation or logic. Paley argued passionately for design by God. Paley asserts that the organs and characteristics of organisms, as well as the fit of organisms to their environments are perfect.

Charles Darwin discovered and developed this evolutionary mechanism called natural selection. It basically stated that if there existed variation in population there would be a struggle of survival. Darwin meant that those traits that were the most fit would be passed on to the next generation more often.

“If no such variations exist, the population rapidly goes extinct because it cannot adapt to a changing environment” (O’Neil, 1998-2013). Scientists call this reproductive success. “Within a specific environment context, one genotype will be better than another genotype in survival or reproduction for certain reasons having to do with the way its particular features relate to the environment or relate to other organisms within the population” (Futuyma, 2000-2014). The theory of evolution is explicable through various kinds of scientific research.

This paper discusses the theory of evolution in detail. Topics this paper will address include defining the theory of evolution and explaining how the theory has evolved over time, as well as highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the theory and examining how effective the theory is in today’s world.

Natural Selection: According to this theory, traits that increase the fitness of an organism are selected by nature, and these traits are efficiently inherited by the offspring. A trait that gives reproductive or survival advantage to an organism becomes more common in a population, and this allele frequency increases in population over successive generations.

In the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin gives a detailed explanation of his observations and on the Theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin’s theory of natural selection is based on his observations aboard H.M.S. Beagle and recorded data in South America and neighbouring islands. Darwin records that there is more variety in Domestic species than in species in nature due to the random selection. He also explains that

Charles Darwin was the creator of Darwinism which is, “the theory of evolution by natural selection” (Junker 1). In school we are often taught that natural selection is survival of the fittest or the strongest wins. What seems to be a simple topic is actually one of the leading theories on the side of evolution in the highly controversial debate on Darwinism vs. Creationism. Darwinism states that certain genes in a population change through individuals. These “strong” genes are then produced more and are better able to survive making them the fittest. According to natural selection this process of evolving “usually takes place over many years, but in fast-breeding organisms it can occur rapidly, for example the spread of antibiotic resistance in some bacteria” ("Natural Selection” 1).

Charles Darwin broached the theory of natural selection in his book the Origin of Species, which has been considered the basis of evolutionary biology to this day. Natural selection is when populations of a species evolve over the course of many generations. Darwin believed that species were not created separately, but instead, species were derived from one another. In other words, the evolution of species creates many variations among creatures, and this is because all of those species came from a common ancestor, and characteristics changed to increase the species chance of survival.

Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution through natural selection. Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural allowed others to explore and learn new things. Darwin was not a member of the HMS Beacon, but was a member of the HMS Beagle. During this time he visited many different places, took notes and samples of any scientific observations which helped him develop his theory. Darwin’s work was influenced by the writing of Thomas Maithus, who developed the theory of population growth. He discovered that species, whose features that make them better able to cope, tend to increase overtime. If related individuals continue to breed, inbreeding problems arise. This is another thing Darwin discovered. Small differences can be found when the same species lives in

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.