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Darwin 's Theory Of Evolution Essay

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When Charles Darwin wrote The Origin Of Species, there was controversy over his theory of evolution natural selection. Darwin’s theory was debated between Thomas Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce at the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860. Wilberforce was against the idea that all living things descended from a common ancestor. He was highly critical of Darwin’s research, often arguing in his review that many points in Darwin’s theory did not have enough support to be valid.

Debate of Darwin 3

The Debate of Darwin: The Position of Samuel Wilberforce on Natural Selection

Introduction

Samuel Wilberforce was a Bishop of Oxford who was against Darwin’s theory of evolution. Wilberforce finds Darwin’s work to be illogical and not properly structured because of the little evidence to support his findings. He is mainly against Darwin’s hypothesis of all living things deriving from one common ancestor, and refutes his ideas solely on scientific grounds. In this paper, Darwin’s theories and hypothesis will first be discussed, then Bishop Wilberforce’s position will be covered.
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin published the Origin of Species in 1859. According to Kilpatrick, S. P. (2016), Darwin was able to make significant contributions to science on evolution. Darwin proposed that evolution is descent with modification that occurs through natural selection. Natural Selection is defined as the “process by which environmental effects lead to

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