Social and political influences on the historical development of theories of evolution

1. Explain why it took Darwin so long to reveal his evolutionary thoughts to the wider community. Charles Darwin knew that his findings would cause outrage within the Church since he was once a member of the Christian community and had heard the religious views of how life was created. His wife was far more religious than he was; he didn't want to upset her either. He was forced to reveal his thoughts and theory when he realised that Alfred Wallace was about to publish a broadly similar theory. < http://www.darwinhq.com.au/why-did-it-take-charles-darwin-so-long-to-sharehis-evolutionary-thoughts.html> 2. In the Origin of Species Darwin wrote I see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of any one , yet he undoubtedly knew they would. Describe one way in which Victorian sensibilities were tested in Darwin s writings. All across the English speaking world his ideas shocked the Establishment especially in the universities where most of the senior posts were occupied by Christian believers. His book "On the Origin of Species" quickly ran into several editions and gave rise to enormous controversy as it quickly became clear to the more intelligent readers that this kind of radical thinking ultimately did away with the need for God as a creator. One of the ways in which Victorian sensibilities were tested by Darwin s theories could be how he related us human beings having apes as ancestors; we evolved from them. This created much dispute since the Church said that Darwin was making us beings seem like we were not made in the image of God, but rather that we were being referred to as animals. Victorians were not ready to be moral relativists and give other ways of life equal moral standing with their own. < http://www.darwinhq.com.au/why-did-it-take-charles-darwin-so-long-to-sharehis-evolutionary-thoughts.html> < http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Richerson/Speed_PhilLife.pdf> 3. Describe the social and political climate at the time. They did not live in a world where knowledge about the world was so neatly divided into disciplinary components and they moved easily between religion, philosophy, politics, and natural science because they saw these as all inextricably interconnected. Many of them, in fact, took up natural science or encouraged it in order to further their religious or political beliefs. Darwin was an ideal social and political strategist, he had to wait decades for the right intellectual and religious atmosphere and political climate to develop which would assure his victory when his infamous book, The Origin of Species, was published in November, 1859.

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< http://www.parentcompany.com/csrc/cdagenda.htm> 4. Explain Darwin s concept of evolution by natural selection. Darwin s process of natural selection has four components. 1. Variation. Organisms (within populations) exhibit individual variation in appearance and behavior. These variations may involve body size, hair color, facial markings, voice properties, or number of offspring. On the other hand, some traits show little to no variation among individuals for example, number of eyes in vertebrates. 2. Inheritance. Some traits are consistently passed on from parent to offspring. Such traits are heritable, whereas other traits are strongly influenced by environmental conditions and show weak heritability. 3. High rate of population growth. Most populations have more offspring each year than local resources can support leading to a struggle for resources. Each generation experiences substantial mortality. 4. Differential survival and reproduction. Individuals possessing traits well suited for the struggle for local resources will contribute more offspring to the next generation. y From one generation to the next, the struggle for resources will favor individuals with some variations over others and thereby change the frequency of traits within the population. This process is natural selection. The traits that confer an advantage to those individuals who leave more offspring are called adaptations. y In order for natural selection to operate on a trait, the trait must possess heritable variation and must confer an advantage in the competition for resources. If one of these requirements does not occur, then the trait does not experience natural selection. <http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/sel ection.html> 5. Describe how Darwin s views on evolution conflicted with those of the Church. Many religious people of the Church believed and argued that God created the universe approximately 6000 years ago in the space of 6 days, and that humans lived concurrently with dinosaurs, and that God created each 'kind' of life individually. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation evolution_controversy> Darwin s theory of evolution: y Species (populations of interbreeding organisms) change over time and space. The representatives of species living today differ from those that lived in the recent past, and populations in different geographic regions today differ slightly in form or behavior. These differences extend into the fossil record, which provides ample support for this claim. All organisms share common ancestors with other organisms. Over time, populations may divide into different species, which share a common ancestral population. Far enough back in time, any pair of organisms shares a common ancestor. For example, humans shared a common ancestor with chimpanzees

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about eight million years ago, with whales about 60 million years ago, and with kangaroos over 100 million years ago. Shared ancestry explains the similarities of organisms that are classified together: their similarities reflect the inheritance of traits from a common ancestor. y Evolutionary change is gradual and slow in Darwin s view. This claim was supported by the long episodes of gradual change in organisms in the fossil record and the fact that no naturalist had observed the sudden appearance of a new species in Darwin s time. Since then, biologists and paleontologists have documented a broad spectrum of slow to rapid rates of evolutionary change within lineages. <http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/sel ection.html>

Cassie Wood