-
Voyage of the Beagle (1/2)
The journey that led Darwin to expanding his knowledge in the field of natural sciences would be the 5-year voyage that he embarked on and improved upon his observation skills as a scientist. According to Darwin, “The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career… I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the first real training or education of my mind. I was led to attend closely to several branches of natural history, and (1/2) -
Voyage of the Beagle (2/2)
thus my powers of observation were improved” (39). Most notably, Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands and found the islands teeming with “volcanic prison islands, crawling with marine iguanas and giant tortoises” (Desmond). (2/2) -
The Theory of Natural Selection (2/2)
This preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection” (Ruse). This can be interpreted as survival of the fittest and if one species is not going to adapt to change, they could face detrimental change to their population. (2/2) -
The Theory of Natural Selection (1/2)
Charles Darwin is famously known for The Theory of Natural selection and stated, “If such do occur, can we doubt (remembering that many more individuals are born than can possibly survive) that individuals having any advantage, however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their kind? On the other hand, we may feel sure that any variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. (1/2) -
Evolution of Plants (1/2)
Charles Darwin had already established himself as a scientist with his published work on The Theory of Natural Science and used his credibility to publish Orchids, which was his botanical work on plant evolution. According to Zimmerman, “Darwin spent more years working on plants than any other type of organism. He used botany to build support for his theory of evolution and founded the field of plant reproductive biology in the process.” (1/2) -
Evolution of Plants (2/2)
This is significant because this was a basis for his work on his theories of evolution and natural selection. (2/2) -
Morality (1/2)
Charles Darwin tackled the complexity of morality and sought to be objective as a scientist himself, he saw more through the lens of utilitarianism and tried to expand upon that field into evolution. According to Ruse, “The moral sense (as we might call it) is a product of evolution, primarily evolution through natural selection. Darwin devoted much time to showing how this social sense is something possessed by the animals and so might have been expected to evolve. (1/2) -
Morality (2/2)
But Darwin did not think that humans are just animals. We are fully moral – uniquely moral – because we can think about our actions, to judge them, to try to influence ourselves with respect to future behavior.” (2/2) -
Theory of Evolution Video (BBC News)
-
Works Cited (1/2)
Darwin, Charles.The Autobiography of Charles Darwin,Open Road Integrated Media, Inc., 2020. ProQuest eBook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=6119994.
Desmond, Adrian J. "Charles Darwin". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin.
Ruse, Michael, and Michael Ruse. Charles Darwin, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest eBook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=428154. -
Works Cited (2/2)
Zimmerman, Errin. “How a Love of FLOWERS Helped Charles Darwin Validate Natural Selection.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 12 Feb. 2019, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/charles-darwin-botanist-orchid-flowers-validate-natural-selection-180971472/.