The Main Theses Of The Theory Of Evolution

Evolution

"I feel as if I confess a murder," begins Charles Robert Darwin his most famous work. And indeed, his theory of evolution not only revolutionized the natural sciences, but also shook the prevailing world view. By the mid-19th century, most people believed that God created the earth in 4004 BC, along with all the animals and plants. Their beauty, variety and perfect adaptation to nature were evidence of the power of the Creator. Since the birth of our planet no species has disappeared or been added.

Darwin's theory was a bestseller

Charles Robert Darwin pursued another idea for the creation of earthly life. In his book with the opulent title "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life" (in German "From the emergence of the species with the help of natural selection or conservation of preferred Breeds in the struggle for survival ") he published it on November 24, 1859 for the first time.

The circulation of 1250 copies was already out of print on the first day. The book and many other exhibits are exhibited in London's Natural History Museum.

First main thesis

The term "evolution" does not appear in the first edition. However, Darwin's first main thesis is precisely that. It says that nature evolved gradually and was not created in one fell swoop by God.

This consideration was backed up by Darwin's detailed scientific evidence gathered during his voyage on the HMS Beagle and on his return to England.

Other main theses

In his Theory of Species Darwin also claims that all life on earth has evolved from various archetypes.

In this context, the naturalist raises two other main theses: First, the species are constantly changing, and secondly, this change is a result of the so-called natural selection, which Darwin calls "struggle for existence", ie "struggle for existence".

Development through natural selection

Darwin's idea behind natural selection is simple. All life strives to multiply, but as there are only limited resources in each habitat, not all organisms can do it. To increase the likelihood of survival, the individual species produce many offspring - more than necessary.

These offspring are all randomly equipped with slightly different characteristics. Some individuals are better adapted to their environment than others, they survive and can multiply.

This is how the advantageous features automatically prevail. Darwin calls this "Survival of the Fittest". By that he means "the best adapted survives" and not "the strongest".

Adaptation to the environment

The adjustments to the respective living circumstances can be different within a kind. In the Galapagos, Darwin had observed that individual groups of one species, so-called populations, develop independently of each other, for example if they live far apart.

Certain types of finches and turtles, for example, had individually adapted to the conditions on each island and developed characteristic beak or armor forms.

During such an adaptation process, the populations of a species may develop so widely that eventually they become different species and can no longer reproduce with each other. Again, Darwin found examples in the Galapagos Islands.

The famous Galapagos turtles

The long way to publication

Despite the overwhelming evidence for his theory of evolution that he accumulated throughout his research career, Darwin was uncertain for a long time whether he should actually publish his findings.

More than 20 years after his return from the Beagle trip, he finally dared to do it. Some celebrated Darwin after reading as a revolutionary of science. However, as predicted by Darwin himself, most people scolded him for heretics and atheists.

Foundation of modern life sciences

In fact, Darwin was not right with all his considerations. The origin of life on earth, for example, was not clear to him, and so the so-called primordial soup did not exist in his theory.

In addition, he did not trace the entire life on earth back to an origin, but believed that each large group of animals had their own starting point, so that there had been numerous archetypes.

In addition, his heredity is not tenable from today's point of view. Nevertheless, no serious researcher doubts the principles of his work. Charles Robert Darwin's theory of the origin of species has long since become the basis of modern life sciences.