Lyel's Theory Of Natural Selection

Natural selection, a term often used in relation with the concept of evolution. Being as such, ones’ perspective is often led to take sides on a matter that they know little about. One side states that such a concept is full of lies and seeks to throw you from the path of belief. The other says that it proves that man came from a simpler being and that the supernatural is non-existent. Being someone of Christian faith, I was led down the path of the former. It is in my nature, however, to not blindly accept what someone has told me on the sole basis that it is what they believe. So I looked for myself, to come to my own understanding, and what I found led me to reconsider everything I had learned that had fallen onto this “two-path system.”

Evolution, before being called so, was first referred to by Charles Darwin in On the Origins of Species as descent with modification. This is a very good general explanation for what evolution is. Darwin believed that over long periods of time, animals’ traits changed and developed. This strayed from the traditional beliefs at the time which was that all species were created by God and did not change. He also believed that all animals were somehow related. He supported this belief with the idea that there were transitional species that existed as different animals evolved. His specific theory was that evolution occurred by means of a mechanism called natural selection.

The Theory of Natural Selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin in his work titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for life published in 1859. Darwin’s theory states that because of competition for finite resources within a habitat individuals must compete for survival and those more adapted to their specific environments have a greater success in surviving to maturity which enables them the opportunity to successfully reproduce. Individuals that successfully reproduce will pass down to their offspring the traits that gave then an advantage in survival to maturity and over long periods of time this can cause transformation within a species. (Houk 2013: 2-2) In

Natural selection is the key to evolution. The difference in genotype from generation gives rise to key traits that help species survive and flourish. When these species reproduce, they pass on their genes to their offspring who then will be able to survive. Those species who don’t have these key traits reduce in number because they don’t possess vital traits that can help them survive nor can they pass on vital traits to their offspring. Charles Darwin was the person who came up with this theory and he discussed it extensively in his book The Origin of Species. This theory explains why we have so much species with distinct traits but what it doesn’t explain is the evolution of neuter individuals. Neuter individuals can’t reproduce so if they had any trait that gave them a foothold over nature, it cannot be passed on to another

Although Ronald Aylmer Fisher isn’t a relatively famous or well- known statistician, he is still considered to be amongst the greatest twentieth century scientists. Ronald Fisher found success through his carefully researched statistics by unifying concepts of natural selection and sexual selection to discover ways to help improve the human race.

Life is evolution. Humans continuously try to keep up with the latest trends in an attempt to remain relevant in society. In the past ten years, humans have evolved immensely with the introduction, development, and integration of technology into their culture. Virtually everything can be found on the internet. Pictures and documents are being shared through cloud storage rather than being shared directly with a physical document, and doing homework online is now the norm. People have adapted to the new age, and those who have not adapted are being left behind--this is where the theory of natural selection meets modern cognitive science. Steven Pinker, the author of How The Mind Works, argues that the concept of natural selection is not as linear as society may think it is with today’s information. There is more to evolution than straightforward “survival of the fittest”. Using his background knowledge in cognitive science and the social sciences, Pinker links the biological approach to evolution with his cognitive science approach in an attempt to generate a new perspective to the theory of evolution. Steven Pinker supports his claim that the concept of natural selection is more than a simple biological adaptation, but rather a combination between biological adaptation and an adaptation to the “cognitive niche”, with historical observations, analogical evidence, and exploitation of archaeological evidence.

Natural selection is most often used in the area of the natural sciences, but can apply to other fields. The knowledge question, how does knowledge develop over time? will be explored within the context of history and the natural sciences. Natural selection will be defined, in the context of this investigation as, knowledge progresses as evidence is discovered and verified. Thus the theories that have persisted in a particular subject are the most accurate ones, supported by plentiful evidence.

After observing the wildlife at the Galapagos Islands and Australia he began to question why an almighty creator would make multiple animals to play the same roles in different locations. Evolution was already a discussed topic in the 1800’s but no one really had an idea of how it was carried out. In 1859, Darwin published his book explaining natural selection called The Origin of Species. He speculated that evolution worked through a process called natural selection which occurs as follows, “...a member of a species developed a functional advantage (it grew wings and learned to fly). Its offspring would inherit that advantage and pass it on to their offspring. The inferior (disadvantaged) members of the same species would gradually die out, leaving only the superior (advantaged) members of the species.”(Darwin's Theory Of Evolution) This theory challenged the previous thought that every organism was specifically designed for its environment known as “intelligent design”. Natural selection is still the accepted scientific explanation for the similarities between and

“Death pursues the native in every place where the European sets foot,” these are the words of Charles Darwin (Tasmanian Genocide ). Darwin was a biologist who studied many plants and animals and brought forth the theory of natural selection. This theory stated that when adversity strikes a population, the strongest will survive, and the adaptations of the surviving species would be passed on to the next generation, and so on. But what this theory did not include is what happens when all of the people of a population are killed in mass murder and by brute force due to greed and racism.

Natural selection is the notion that all forms of life have ultimately from a single common ancestor. Darwin argued about how “all the organic beings which have ever lived on this Earth have been descended from some primordial form.”

"Natural Selection." UXL Encyclopedia of Science, edited by Amy Hackney Blackwell and Elizabeth Manar, 3rd ed., UXL, 2015. Student Resources In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/KEUMWM876231840/SUIC?u=j101902&sid=SUIC&xid=a9f96d62. Accessed 21 May 2018.

Charles Darwin revolutionized biology when he introduced The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Although Wallace had also came upon this revelation shortly before Origins was published, Darwin had long been in development of this theory. Wallace amicably relinquished the idea to Darwin, allowing him to become the first pioneer of evolution. Darwin was not driven to publish his finding, which he'd been collecting for several years before Wallace struck upon it, because he had "never come across a single [naturalist] who seemed to doubt to permanence of species" (Ridley, pp. 70). What follows are the key points of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection taken directly from the two chapters concerning it in his book

Charles Darwin has probably made the most significant impact on our modern ideas of evolution. Although he wasn’t the first person to think of evolution, he was the first to try and test it. He then published a book based on his research called The Origin of Species. In his book, he covered five major theories: evolution—species can change over time, common descent—all living things share a common ancestor, speciation—the population of one species separating into two separate species, gradualism—biological change in a population at a slow and steady rate, and natural selection. Natural selection being the dominant force in a much bigger idea where all five occur simultaneously, evolution.

How individuals of the same species vary? This was a key question for Darwin to develop his theory. He notices this variability of individuals during the Beagle Voyage, yet, he comprehend the importance of variability and the vital importance for natural selection, by working on crustaceous, domestic plants and animals.

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.