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Wallace being relatively unknown was not respected for having the same conclusion because the fact that people were so apt to listen to the theory’s of Charles Darwin. After time Darwin published a book On the Origin of Species, and it was a big success: it’s first printing sold out immediately and a second printing sold out a month later. Darwin’s Theories found their way out of the scientific world and into the business world, eventually ending up in everyday society. Darwin’s father kept the family tradition and became a doctor though he didn’t like his work, he expected his son Charles to take the same sacrifice and keep doctors in the family and complained about Charles’s lack of direction. Charles wanted to set sail and see the wonders of South America, before returning to England and to become as he planned a country gentleman and parson. Darwin considered the voyage the most important experience of his life and he was right, it provided him the evidence that would change Biology. However, it also ruined his health. A bite from a poisonous insect may have been the cause of Darwin’s chronic illness later on in his life. After returning to London, Darwin became an independent scholar like his older brother, though he proved to be a much more serious naturalist. People had said that Darwin happened upon one of science’s most important theories while on his visit to the Galapagos Islands. Darwin devised no great theory until after his return to England, he wasn’t the first to propose evolution. The reasoning for Charles Darwin is a known name is because he proposed a mechanism for evolution, called natural selection Natural Selection is known as the most unique part of any of Darwin’s theories. Competition or also can be known as the struggle for life, had been thought of for a reason that a given species might succeed in life of go extinct. Darwin's theory works like this: In any population there will be variations. Individuals bore with certain characteristics. I.e., strong legs, keen eyesight, good camouflage, will enjoy an advantage over their peers. If these individuals could pass on the same traits, their offspring will enjoy the same advantages. If the surrounding environment changes over time, it may come to change that new characteristics will take over and be better than the last ones. For instance, a new color that will make better camouflage. As environments change, the individuals with the new characteristic will do better, live longer, and produce more offspring until the population will look very different from its original version. If the population changes enough to satisfy some taxonomist, it will be classified as a new species. In other words, new species arise when the environment favors new characteristics over old ones. Another Example would be the example of giraffes: when a giraffe is born with a longer neck than its fellows it is able to reach more food from the tree. The longer neck Giraffe is therefore stronger, lives longer and most likely to have offspring. Theses offspring are born with the same long neck as the parent, though it could have a longer neck. The cycle then goes on and continues. This breaks it all back down to the five postulates, Individuals are variable, some variations are passed down, more offspring are produced that can survive, survival and reproduction are not random, and lastly the history of the earth is very long! Just as some people refused to accept Darwin's theories at all, others were all too happy to accept his teachings, and exploit them. Another thing said about Darwin is about one of his most popular phrases “Survival of the fittest”. It is said today that he did not coin that phrase and that Herbert Spencer did. Darwin invented his theory of Natural Selection to explain the differences between species, but many of his equals including Spencer uses his ideas to promote Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism maintains that certain peoples are poorer than others are and most likely to be used as a slave laborer because they are less involved and therefore inferior. Darwin’s theory consisted of two main points. The first being: diverse groups of animals evolve from one or fewer ancestors. The second being: The mechanism by which this evolution takes place is natural selection. Darwin’s theory on evolution or also known as his Darwinism’s can be broken down into five main parts: The first which is common descent is the belief that all present life evolved from a few common ancestors. With Common descent Darwin felt that all the diversity of life on earth emerged out of the evolution from one or a few common ancestors. This theory took a step beyond Lamarck’s observation that complex creatures evolved through similar ones. Next is Gradualism, this is where Darwin felt that evolution was a much more slower process than other people thought, taking place in a large amount of small steps. Ending up with Population speciation which is the portion of Darwin’s theory that states, within a population, change in a species occurs as the balance of characteristics shifts across that population. Which relates to the ideas and thoughts of the Giraffe and his long neck. During Darwin's trip to Europe aboard the Beagle from 1831-1836, Charles Darwin had the opportunity to study the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. On the islands Darwin was amazed by the great diversity of life. He took great interest into the islands various finches, whose beaks were highly adapted to their particular lifestyles. He hypothesized that there must be some process leading to such diversity and adaptation, and he spent much time trying to puzzle out just what that process might be. After returning from his voyage (with many dead, stuffed finches) Darwin put his thoughts into writing and composed a 490-page “abstract” that was later to be called On the Origin of Species. He went on and published this book in 1859. The public response of the Origin was incredible. Within 15 years, it was well accepted that evolution did occur was Darwin said it would happen, it happened slowly and in small steps. Although, the mechanism of Natural Selection remained difficult to accept at the time because there were many points Darwin himself openly could not explain to anyone. One example is he knew that people’s traits were passed from parents to offspring, but he did not know how this could happen. It was until the early 1900’s, when the field of genetics became the focus of a grueling study that Darwin’s mechanism of Natural Selection received more intense study and deeper scientific support. With the discovery of genetics, Darwin’s theories grew to gain a scientific basis beyond observation and were consequently accepted as a suitable mechanism for evolutionary change. Even before genetics arrived at this point in time, the idea “Survival of the Fittest” captured the imagination and strong attention of the public. This idea about survival of the fittest was applied to everything from the business world to the structure of society of a whole. Since the publication, On Origin of a Species has been closely studied by generation after generation of biologists. Many scientists have categorized and amplified theories. Making Darwin stand tall against scientists such as, Ernst Mayr, who divided his theory into the five parts. In conclusion to Darwin and his phylosophical ways i believe that he was one of the most inspirational philosophers with his ways and theories on people and the way the world is going to be throughout revolutionary change! Bibliography: Bibliography! 1) www.strangescience.net/darwin.htm 2) www.greatphilosphers.com/Darwin/history.htm 3) www.darwinfoundation.org Word Count: 1322
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