Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
This year, 2009, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin (he was born on February 12th, 1809). Today he is recognized as one of the most important figures in the history of science, arguably the most important biologist of all time, and his theory of evolution by natural selection, forms the foundation of modern understanding of the biological sciences.
Despite the fact that many people have heard of Darwin, many people do not really know what his theory is about. One common misunderstanding is that Darwin's theory deals with the origin of life. Another common misunderstanding is that Darwin created the theory of evolution (that species change over time). Neither of these misunderstandings is correct. Darwin's theory does not deal with life's origin, and by his time, the idea of evolution was already in widespread circulation and widely discussed among many in scientific circles, instead Darwin's unique insight was to identify the mechanism or process (which he called "Natural Selection") by which evolution occurs. He provided a detailed explanation of this process, in his 1859 book, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".
During Darwin's life, his ideas were vehemently opposed by many religious people. Although, today many Christians have been able to reconcile natural selection with their religious beliefs, there are of course others who do not accept the theory of natural selection. Among the scientific community, although Darwin was recognized as an important figure, and the fact of evolution was very widely accepted, it was not until the 1930s, when Darwin's ideas were combined with Mendelian genetics ("the modern synthesis"), that Darwin's proposed mechanism for evolution, Natural Selection, was generally accepted.
By S. Tanna. Discover more about Charles Darwin at http://www.dinosaurjungle.com/dinosaur_scientist_charlesdarwin.php
About the Author
Evolution Primer #2: Who Was Charles Darwin?
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