Charles Darwin Research Paper

Charles Darwin and the Implications Beyond Science

The publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin turned the world of biology upside down with its controversial evolutionary ideas about the design of human beings and animals. In his book, he introduced his grand idea of natural selection explaining that populations evolved in a way to become better suited to their environments and organisms could inherit traits from their parents but there is variation in their traits. It has been commonly assumed that the theory of evolution was all Darwin’s idea and that he was not aided by the works of scientists before him. In fact, Darwin challenged or built upon theories that included: the transmutation of species problem, sexual attraction,

In the late 1600s, John Ray introduced the concept of species being fixed and permanent. Even if it did have different traits, Ray remained firm that if a seed comes from the same plant then it is the same species. Charles Lyell, who wrote Principles of Geology, greatly influenced the way Darwin interpreted his own theory on natural selection. Darwin built upon his arguments by using Lyell’s book in relation to why natural selection is not supported by fossil findings. If his theory were true, then those who study fossils over time would naturally find a link between a species and its parent form throughout all of time. He knows critics will attack him on this so he states, “species have changed in a manner in which my theory requires, for they have changed slowly and in a gradual manner”(383). Darwin argues that the Earth’s surface is constantly changing. If Earth has been around for a really long time, we could assume that some species have gone extinct and there has been changes to the rivers and oceans and rock. Darwin is trying to drive home the point that the geological fossil record is what is uncertain and he builds upon natural selection by stating things happen slowly over

He explains there is so much intricate design and detail to a watch that there must be a higher creator to every creation because it’s not possible it could happen by chance. One could ask, “and who created God?” For Darwin, there is design without a designer and he challenges that with natural selection and his theory that the diversity of organisms at the result of variations gradually accumulating. Darwin’s important discovery was mutation and selection being the reasons for producing humans and animals and realizing that it really is chance that determines what characteristics are selected. Darwin remarks, “we see these beautiful co-adaptations most plainly in the woodpecker and missletoe and only a little less plainly in the humblest parasite which clings to the hairs of a quadruped or feather of a bird”(132). Darwin explains how variation produced different species and their structures have helped them adapt to their environments to survive. Darwin also has strong evidence when he provides the proof of common descent by stating, “what could be more curious than the hand of a man formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of a horse…” (364). He argues that different species have similar bone structure and descended from a common species. Even though different species have similar structures, they are used for different purposes and are suited to fit them individually. A