Charles Darwin.pdf

7/27/2019 Charles Darwin.pdf

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Table of contents

I . Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

II. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

III. Charles Darwins childhood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

IV. Beagle voyage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

V. Inceptio n of Darwins evolutionary theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

5.1. Preparing and publishing the theory of natural selection . 11

VI. Descent of Man , sexual selection and botany . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

VII. Charles Darwin works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

VIII. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

IX. Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

X. Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21


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I. Argument

There are multiple reasons why I decided to approach thissubject. It was definitely a topic that offered me numerous directions of investigation , a topic that, at the same moment, allowed me to write agood and documented presentation because of the plenty of informationI was able to find out that above all , the theme was of highly interestto me .

I am very dedicated to science, most to the biology . CharlesDarwin is the most important of the biologist of time and his theories,in particular On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life inspired my imagination, make me think profound the evolution

process .

Studying another biology works (human and animalembryology) there are many similarities between the anthropoidmonkeys and the human species homo sapiens sapiens , the reasonwhy I considered Darwins theory valid .

For thousands of years many philosophers had argued that lifemust have been created by a supernatural being ( creator, God ) due tothe incredible complexity of Nature (in particular, we humans and our minds). Thus it is remarkable that Charles Darwin was able to explainour existence by means of Evolution from Natural Selection - which isvery obvious once understood .
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II. Introduction

Darwin was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution and transformed the way we think about the natural world.

Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury,Shropshire into a wealthy and well-connected family. His maternal grandfather was china manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, while his paternal grandfather wasErasmus Darwin, one of the leading intellectuals of 18th century England.

Darwin himself initially planned to follow a medical career, and studiedat Edinburgh University but later switched to divinity at Cambridge. In 1831,he joined a five year scientific expedition on the survey ship HMS Beagle.

At this time, most Europeans believed that the world was created by Godin seven days as described in the bible. On the voyage, Darwin read Lyell's

'Principles of Geology' which suggested that the fossils found in rocks wereactually evidence of animals that had lived many thousands or millions of yearsago. Lyell's argument was reinforced in Darwin's own mind by the rich varietyof animal life and the geological features he saw during his voyage. The

breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, 500 miles west of South America. Darwin noticed that each island supported its own form of finch which were closely related but differed in important ways.

On his return to England in 1836, Darwin tried to solve the riddles of these observations and the puzzle of how species evolve. Influenced by the

ideas of Malthus, he proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection. The animals (or plants) best suited to their environment aremore likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the characteristics whichhelped them survive to their offspring. Gradually, the species changes over time.

Darwin worked on his theory for 20 years. After learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, the two made a

joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859 Darwin published 'Onthe Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'.

The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension of Darwin's theory was that homo sapiens was simply another form of animal. Itmade it seem possible that even people might just have evolved - quite possiblyfrom apes - and destroyed the prevailing orthodoxy on how the world wascreated. Darwin was vehemently attacked, particularly by the Church.However, his ideas soon gained currency and have become the new orthodoxy.

Darwin died on 19 April 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.


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III. Charles Darwin childhood

Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Englandon 12 February 1809 at his family home, The Mount. He was the fifth of sixchildren of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin, and Susannah Darwin (ne Wedgwood). He was the grandson of ErasmusDarwin on his father's side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's side.

Both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwoods wereadopting Anglicanism. Robert Darwin, himself quietly a freethinker, had

baby Charles baptised in November 1809 in the Anglican St Chad's Church,Shrewsbury, but Charles and his siblings attended the Unitarian chapel withtheir mother. The eight-year-old Charles already had a taste for naturalhistory and collecting when he joined the day school run by its preacher in1817. That July, his mother died. From September 1818 he joined his older

brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School asa boarder.

Darwin spent the summer of 1825 as an apprentice doctor, helping hisfather treat the poor of Shropshire, before going to the University of Edinburgh Medical School with his brother Erasmus in October 1825. Hefound lectures dull and surgery distressing, so neglected his studies. Helearned taxidermy from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave who hadaccompanied Charles Waterton in the South American rainforest, and oftensat with this "very pleasant and intelligent man".

In Darwin's second year he joined the Plinian Society, astudent natural history group whose debates strayed into radical materialism. He assisted Robert Edmond Grant' s investigations of the anatomy and lifecycle of marine invertebrates in the Firth of Forth, and on 27 March 1827

presented at the Plinian his own discovery that black spores foundin oyster shells were the eggs of a skate leech. One day, Grant

praised Lamarck's evolutionary ideas. Darwin was astonished by Grant'saudacity, but had recently read similar ideas in his grandfather Erasmus'

journals. Darwin was rather bored by Robert Jameson' s natural historycourse which covered geology including the debate

between Neptunism and Plutonism. He learned classification of plants, andassisted with work on the collections of the University Museum, one of thelargest museums in Europe at the time.
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This neglect of medical studies annoyed his father, who shrewdly senthim to Christ's College, Cambridge, for a Bachelor of Arts degree as the firststep towards becoming an Anglican parson. As Darwin was unqualified for the Tripos , he joined the ordinary degree course in January 1828.

He preferred riding and shooting to studying. His cousin WilliamDarwin Fox introduced him to the popular craze for beetle collecting; Darwin

pursued this zealously, getting some of his finds publishedin Stevens' Illustrations of British entomology . He became a close friend andfollower of botany professor John Stevens Henslow and met other leadingnaturalists who saw scientific work as religious natural theology, becomingknown to these dons as "the man who walks with Henslow". When his ownexams drew near, Darwin focused on his studies and was delighted by thelanguage and logic of William Paley' s Evidences of Christianity . In his finalexamination in January 1831 Darwin did well, coming tenth out of 178candidates for the ordinary degree.

Darwin had to stay at Cambridge until June. He studied

Paley's Natural Theology , which made an argument for divine design innature, explaining adaptation as God acting through laws of nature. Heread John Herschel' s new book, which described the highest aim of natural

philosophy as understanding such laws through inductive reasoning based onobservation, and Alexander von Humboldt' s Personal Narrative of scientifictravels. Inspired with "a burning zeal" to contribute, Darwin planned tovisit Tenerife with some classmates after graduation to study natural historyin the tropics. In preparation, he joined Adam Sedgwick' s geology course,then travelled with him in the summer for a fortnight, in order tomap strata in Wales.
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IV. Beagle voyage

The Voyage of the Beagle is as much travelogue as it is a record of

scientific study. And, though the HMS Beagles voyage was that of a shipmaking a hydrographic survey, Charles Darwin spent considerably moretime on land than he did at sea. Once the ship reached South America, for example, Darwin would often leave the ship and ride overland by horseback,to meet the ship at another point. Consequently, much of the account isabout the land the geology, the people, and the animals it contained andcomparatively little is about the sea, though of course Darwin also collectedmarine samples.

The HMS Beagle departed from Plymouth, England, on the 27th of December, 1831, but Darwins journal the published version, at least-doesnt begin until the 6th of January, when they reached Teneriffe, near thecoast of Africa. They were not allowed to make landing but were placedunder quarantine due to a cholera epidemic in England which the localsfeared might be spread to the island by the crew. The real descriptive partsof the journal, then, dont begin until six days later when they reached theCape Verde Islands. There, Darwin was at first struck by the seemingly

barren volcanic nature of the island of St. Jago. That is, until he came upon a

deep valley full of lush tropical vegetation.

The Beagle then set out for South America in order to begin its primary mission of a hydrographic survey of the continents coastline. Whilethe Beagle was so engaged, Darwin would ride out on collecting journeys,and then meet up with the ship at prearranged points. These were usuallytowns where the ship could pick up the mail from home and Darwin couldsend off his notes and collections. It was essential for Darwins work they he

be able to ship his finds home, because Royal Navy ships were very tight on

space and Darwin only had what room he did have due to the captainsharing his own space. Therefore, after enough preparation to preserve thespecimens, they were packed up and shipped off, often to be studied by other experts once they reached England.

It was in South America that Darwin and Fitz Roy has a falling-outover the topic of slavery. Darwin saw many slaves and was disturbed by thesight, but Fitz Roy insisted that slaves did not wish to be freed. The
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argument led to Fitz Roy banishing Darwin from the ship, though he soonrelented and invited him back.

During a ride inland to Patagonia, Darwin collected many importantfossil finds, including those of a Megatherium, or giant ground sloth. He

continued to find, collect, and even purchase fossils the whole time the shipwas occupied along the coast of South America. Darwins investigations of the geology of Patagonia, backed up by the careful measurements of thesurveying crew, led him to write a paper on the gradual raising of theelevation of the land. Parts of his hypothesis challenged Charles Lyell'stheory of uniformitarianism, while parts also supported it.

When it reached the southern tip of South America,the Beagle turned north to continue the survey up the west coast of the

continent. Darwin continued his inland forays and collecting as he had onthe east coast, until they reached the Galapagos Islands on the 15th of September, 1835. Though it was only a small part of the journey, theGalapagos Islands became famous to scientific historians because it was onthese small volcanic outcrops that Darwin discovered what would becomesome of the best evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection,though Darwin didnt realize that until after his return to England.

From the Galapagos, the Beagle headed west, crossing the Pacific

Ocean to New Zealand, and Australia. The ship departed Australia in astorm and ran aground, but was not too damaged. The ships next stop wasthe Indian Ocean, where they headed for the Keeling Islands to study theformation of coral reefs a mandate specified in the ships orders.Afterwards, they headed for Cape Town and then, though the crew waslonging for home after a long journey, Captain Fitz Roy had them sail back across the Atlantic Ocean to South America for a brief stop to double-check some longitude measurements.

On the 2nd of October, 1836, the Beagle landed at Falmouth, inCornwall, England. Due to the collections he had sent home and some of hisletters published by his friends, Charles Darwin was already something of ascientific celebrity, before he even published his journals of the voyage.


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V. Inception of Darwin's evolutionary theory

When the Beagle reached Falmouth, Cornwall, on 2 October 1836,Darwin was already a celebrity in scientific circles as in December 1835 Henslow had fostered his former pupil's reputation by giving selectednaturalists a pamphlet of Darwin's geological letters. Darwin visited hishome in Shrewsbury and saw relatives, then hurried to Cambridge to seeHenslow, who advised on finding naturalists available to catalogue thecollections and agreed to take on the botanical specimens. Darwin's father organised investments, enabling his son to be a self-funded gentlemanscientist, and an excited Darwin went round the London institutions beingfted and seeking experts to describe the collections. Zoologists had a huge

backlog of work, and there was a danger of specimens just being left instorage.

Charles Lyell eagerly met Darwin for the first time on 29 October andsoon introduced him to the up-and-coming anatomist Richard Owen, whohad the facilities of the Royal College of Surgeons to work on the fossil

bones collected by Darwin. Owen's surprising results included other giganticextinct ground sloths as well as the Megatherium , a near complete skeletonof the unknown Scelidotherium and a hippopotamus- sized rodent- like skullnamed Toxodon resembling a giant capybara. The armour fragments were

actually from Glyptodon , a huge armadillo-like creature as Darwin hadinitially thought. These extinct creatures were related to living species inSouth America.

In mid-December Darwin took lodgings in Cambridge to organisework on his collections and rewrite his Journal . He wrote his first paper,showing that the South American landmass was slowly rising, and withLyell's enthusiastic backing read it to the Geological Society of London on 4January 1837. On the same day, he presented his mammal and birdspecimens to the Zoological Society. The ornithologist John Gould soon

announced that the Galapagos birds that Darwin had thought a mixtureof blackbirds, "gros-beaks" and finches, were, in fact, twelve separatespecies of finches. On 17 February Darwin was elected to the Council of theGeological Society, and Lyell's presidential address presented Owen'sfindings on Darwin's fossils, stressing geographical continuity of species assupporting his uniformitarian ideas.

Early in March, Darwin moved to London to be near this work, joining Lyell's social circle of scientists and experts such as Charles
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Babbage, who described God as a programmer of laws. Darwin stayed withhis freethinking brother Erasmus, part of this Whig circle and close friend of writer Harriet Martineau who promoted Malthusianism underlying thecontroversial Whig Poor Law reforms to stop welfare from causingoverpopulation and more poverty. As a Unitarian she welcomedthe radical implications of transmutation of species, promoted by Grant andyounger surgeons influenced by Geoffroy. Transmutation was anathema toAnglicans defending social order, but reputable scientists openly discussedthe subject and there was wide interest in John Herschel' s letter praisingLyell's approach as a way to find a natural cause of the origin of newspecies.

Gould met Darwin and told him that theGalpagos mockingbirds from different islands were separate species, not

just varieties, and what Darwin had thought was a "wren " was also in thefinch group. Darwin had not labelled the finches by island, but from the

notes of others on the Beagle , including FitzRoy, he allocated species toislands. The two rheas were also distinct species, and on 14 March Darwinannounced how their distribution changed going southwards.

By mid-March, Darwin was speculating in his Red Notebook on the possibility that "one species does change into another" to explain thegeographical distribution of living species such as the rheas, and extinct onessuch as the strange Macrauchenia which resembled a giant guanaco. Histhoughts on lifespan , asexual reproduction and sexualreproduction developed in his "B" notebook around mid-July on to variation

in offspring "to adapt & alter the race to changing world" explainingthe Galpagos tortoises, mockingbirds and rheas. He sketched branchingdescent, then a genealogical branching of a single evolutionary tree, in which"It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another",discarding Lamarck's independent lineages progressing to higher forms.
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5.1. Preparing and publishing the theory of natural selection

Darwin now had the framework of his theory of natural selection "bywhich to work", as his "prime hobby". His research included extensive

experimental selective breeding of plants and animals, finding evidence thatspecies were not fixed and investigating many detailed ideas to refine andsubstantiate his theory. For fifteen years this work was in the background tohis main occupation of writing on geology and publishing expert reports onthe Beagle collections.

When Fitz Roy's Narrative was published in May 1839,Darwin's Journal and Remarks was such a success as the third volume thatlater that year it was published on its own. Early in 1842, Darwin wrote

about his ideas to Charles Lyell, who noted that his ally "denies seeing a beginning to each crop of species".

Darwin's book The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs on histheory of atoll formation was published in May 1842 after more than threeyears of work, and he then wrote his first "pencil sketch" of his theory of natural selection. To escape the pressures of London, the family moved torural Down House in September. On 11 January 1844 Darwin mentioned histheorising to the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, writing with melodramatichumor "it is like confessing a murder". Hooker replied "There may in myopinion have been a series of productions on different spots, & also agradual change of species. I shall be delighted to hear how you think thatthis change may have taken place, as no presently conceived opinions satisfyme on the subject."

By July, Darwin had expanded his "sketch" into a 230-page "Essay",to be expanded with his research results if he died prematurely. In November the anonymously published sensational best-seller Vestiges of the Natural

History of Creation brought wide interest in transmutation. Darwin scornedits amateurish geology and zoology, but carefully reviewed his ownarguments. Controversy erupted, and it continued to sell well despitecontemptuous dismissal by scientists.

Darwin completed his third geological book in 1846. He now reneweda fascination and expertise in marine invertebrates, dating back to his studentdays with Grant, by dissecting and classifying the barnacles he had collectedon the voyage, enjoying observing beautiful structures and thinking aboutcomparisons with allied structures. In 1847, Hooker read the "Essay" andsent notes that provided Darwin with the calm critical feedback that he
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needed, but would not commit himself and questioned Darwin's oppositionto continuing acts of creation.

In an attempt to improve his chronic ill health, Darwin went in 1849 toDr. James Gully' s Malvern spa and was surprised to find some benefitfrom hydrotherapy. Then in 1851 his treasured daughter Annie fell ill,reawakening his fears that his illness might be hereditary, and after a longseries of crises she died.

In eight years of work on barnacles (Cirripedia), Darwin's theoryhelped him to find " homologies " showing that slightly changed body partsserved different functions to meet new conditions, and in some genera hefound minute males parasitic on hermaphrodites, showing an intermediatestage in evolution of distinct sexes. In 1853 it earned him the Royal Society' sRoyal Medal, and it made his reputation as a biologist. He resumed work onhis theory of species in 1854, and in November realised that divergence inthe character of descendants could be explained by them becoming adaptedto "diversified places in the economy of nature".

By the start of 1856, Darwin was investigating whether eggsand seeds could survive travel across seawater to spread species acrossoceans. Hooker increasingly doubted the traditional view that species werefixed, but their young friend Thomas Henry Huxley was firmly againstevolution. Lyell was intrigued by Darwin's speculations without realisingtheir extent. When he read a paper by Alfred Russel Wallace, "On the Lawwhich has Regulated the Introduction of New Species", he saw similaritieswith Darwin's thoughts and urged him to publish to establish precedence.Though Darwin saw no threat, he began work on a short paper. Findinganswers to difficult questions held him up repeatedly, and he expanded his

plans to a "big book on species" titled Natural Selection . He continued hisresearches, obtaining information and specimens from naturalists worldwideincluding Wallace who was working in Borneo. The American botanist AsaGray showed similar interests, and on 5 September 1857 Darwin sent Gray adetailed outline of his ideas including an abstract of Natural Selection . InDecember, Darwin received a letter from Wallace asking if the book wouldexamine human origins. He responded that he would avoid that subject, "so

surrounded with prejudices", while encouraging Wallace's theorising andadding that "I go much further than you."

Darwin's book was only partly written when, on 18 June 1858, hereceived a paper from Wallace describing natural selection. Shocked that hehad been "forestalled", Darwin sent it on that day to Lyell, as requested byWallace, and although Wallace had not asked for publication, Darwinsuggested he would send it to any journal that Wallace chose. His familywas in crisis with children in the village dying of scarlet fever, and he put
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matters in the hands of Lyell and Hooker. After some discussion, theydecided on a joint presentation at the Linnean Society on 1 July of On theTendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varietiesand Species by Natural Means of Selection ; however, Darwin's baby sondied of the scarlet fever and he was too distraught to attend.

There was little immediate attention to this announcement of thetheory; the president of the Linnean Society remarked in May 1859 that theyear had not been marked by any revolutionary discoveries. Only one reviewrankled enough for Darwin to recall it later; Professor Samuel Haughton of Dublin claimed that "all that was new in them was false, and what was truewas old." Darwin struggled for thirteen months to produce an abstract of his"big book", suffering from ill health but getting constant encouragementfrom his scientific friends. Lyell arranged to have it published by JohnMurray.

On the Origin of Species proved unexpectedly popular, with the entirestock of 1,250 copies oversubscribed when it went on sale to booksellers on22 November 1859. In the book, Darwin set out "one long argument" of detailed observations, inferences and consideration of anticipatedobjections. His only allusion to human evolution was the understatement that"light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history". His theory issimply stated in the introduction:

As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for

existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected.

From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.

He put a strong case for common descent, but avoided the thencontroversial term " evolution ", and at the end of the book concluded that:

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having beenoriginally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple abeginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
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Descent of Man, sexual selection and botany

Despite repeated bouts of illness during the last twenty-two years of his life, Darwin's work continued. Having published On the Origin of Species as an abstract of his theory, he pressed on with experiments,

research, and writing of his "big book". He covered human descent fromearlier animals including evolution of society and of mental abilities, as wellas explaining decorative beauty in wildlife and diversifying into innovative

plant studies.

Enquiries about insect pollination led in 1861 to novel studies of wild orchids, showing adaptation of their flowers to attract specific moths toeach species and ensure cross fertilisation. In 1862 Fertilisation of Orchids gave his first detailed demonstration of the power of naturalselection to explain complex ecological relationships, making testable

predictions. As his health declined, he lay on his sickbed in a room filledwith inventive experiments to trace the movements of climbing

plants. Admiring visitors included Ernst Haeckel, a zealous proponentof Darwinismus incorporating Lamarckism and Goethe' s idealism. Wallaceremained supportive, though he increasingly turned to Spiritualism.

The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication of 1868was the first part of Darwin's planned "big book", and included hisunsuccessful hypothesis of pangenesis attempting to explain heredity. It sold

briskly at first, despite its size, and was translated into many languages. He

wrote most of a second part, on natural selection, but it remainedunpublished in his lifetime.

Lyell had already popularised human prehistory, and Huxley hadshown that anatomically humans are apes. With The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex published in 1871, Darwin set out evidence fromnumerous sources that humans are animals, showing continuity of physicaland mental attributes, and presented sexual selection to explain impracticalanimal features such as the peacock' s plumage as well as human evolution of culture, differences between sexes, and physical and cultural racial

characteristics, while emphasising that humans are all one species. Hisresearch using images was expanded in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals , one of the first books to feature printed photographs, which discussed the evolution of human psychology and itscontinuity with the behaviour of animals. Both books proved very popular,and Darwin was impressed by the general assent with which his views had

been received, remarking that "everybody is talking about it without beingshocked." His conclusion was "that man with all his noble qualities, with
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sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extendsnot only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-likeintellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of thesolar system with all these exalted powers Man still bears in his bodilyframe the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

His evolution-related experiments and investigations led to bookson Insectivorous Plants, The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in theVegetable Kingdom , different forms of flowers on plants of the samespecies, and The Power of Movement in Plants . In his last book he returnedto The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms .
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Charles Darwin works

o 1839 : Journal and Remarks (The Voyage of the Beagle) o 1842 : The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs o 1844 : Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands visited during

the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle

o 1846 : Geological Observations on South America o 1849 : Geology from A Manual of scientific enquiry o 1851 : A Monograph of the Sub-class Cirripedia, with Figures of all

the Species. The Lepadidae; or, Pedunculated Cirripedes o 1851 : A Monograph on the Fossil Lepadidae, or, Pedunculated

Cirripedes of Great Britain

o 1854 : A Monograph of the Sub-class Cirripedia, with Figures of all the Species. The Balanidae (or Sessile Cirripedes)

o 1854 : A Monograph on the Fossil Balanid and Verrucid of Great Britain

o 1858 : On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection ( Extract from an unpublished Work on Species )

o 1859 : On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

o 1862 : On the various contrivances by which British and foreignorchids are fertilised by insects

o 1865 : The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (Linnean

Society paper, published in book form in 1875)o 1868 : The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication o 1871 : The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex o 1872 : The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals o 1875 : Insectivorous Plants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_and_Distribution_of_Coral_Reefshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_and_Distribution_of_Coral_Reefshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_and_Distribution_of_Coral_Reefshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_South_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_South_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_South_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movements_and_Habits_of_Climbing_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movements_and_Habits_of_Climbing_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movements_and_Habits_of_Climbing_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnean_Society_of_Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnean_Society_of_Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_under_Domesticationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_under_Domesticationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_under_Domesticationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivorous_Plants_(book)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivorous_Plants_(book)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivorous_Plants_(book)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectivorous_Plants_(book)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expression_of_Emotions_in_Man_and_Animalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_under_Domesticationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnean_Society_of_Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnean_Society_of_Londonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movements_and_Habits_of_Climbing_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilisation_of_Orchidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_The_Origin_of_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Tendency_of_Species_to_form_Varieties;_and_on_the_Perpetuation_of_Varieties_and_Species_by_Natural_Means_of_Selectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_South_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Observations_on_the_Volcanic_Islands_visited_during_the_voyage_of_H.M.S._Beaglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_and_Distribution_of_Coral_Reefshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Beagle


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o 1876 : The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom

o 1877 : The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species o 1879 : "Preface and 'a preliminary notice'" in Ernst Krause' s Erasmus

Darwin

o 1880 : The Power of Movement in Plants o 1881 : The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of

Worms

1887 : Autobiography of Charles Darwin (Edited by his son FrancisDarwin)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Different_Forms_of_Flowers_on_Plants_of_the_Same_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Different_Forms_of_Flowers_on_Plants_of_the_Same_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Different_Forms_of_Flowers_on_Plants_of_the_Same_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Krausehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Movement_in_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Movement_in_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Movement_in_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Charles_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Charles_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Charles_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Charles_Darwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_through_the_Action_of_Wormshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Movement_in_Plantshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Krausehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Different_Forms_of_Flowers_on_Plants_of_the_Same_Specieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effects_of_Cross_and_Self_Fertilisation_in_the_Vegetable_Kingdom


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Conclusions

Darwin came to understand that any population consists of individuals that are all slightly different from one another. Thoseindividuals having a variation that gives them an advantage in stayingalive long enough to successfully reproduce are the ones that pass on their traits more frequently to the next generation. Subsequently, their traits

become more common and the population evolves. Darwin called this"descent with modification."

It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with variousinsects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth,

and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different fromeach other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, haveall been produced by laws acting around us.

These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth withReproduction; Inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction;Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life andfrom use and disuse: a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Strugglefor Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selection, entailing Divergenceof Character and the Extinction of less-improved forms.

Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the mostexalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the

production of the higher animals, directly follows.

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers,having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or intoone; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixedlaw of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautifuland most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.


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Notes

- Charles Darwin at age 7 (1816) - - Portrait of Charles Darwin (1830) -

- Charles Darwin first diagram of an evolution tree (1837)-
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Charles_Darwin_by_G._Richmond.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Charles_Darwin_by_G._Richmond.png


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- Darwin s vision about the evolution of human kind -

- Beagle voyage -


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Bibliography

o Darwin on the Fuegians and Patagonians , in Popular Science Monthly Volume 36, April 1890 ;

o The Autobiography of Charles Darwin , Francis Darwin ;o Originea speciilor , Charles Darwin , Edition Beladi , Bucharest

2007 ;o Din istoria biologiei generale , Botnariu N. , Editura tiinific ,

Bucharest 1961 ;o A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature , John

William Cousin, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1910 ;o Estimate of Darwin in Popular Science Monthly Volume 5, August

1874 ;o On the tendency of species to form varieties and on the Perpetuation

of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection , paper with Alfred Wallace, 1858 ;

o www.darwin-online.org.uk ;

o www.literature.org ;o www.wikipedia.org .

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