Путешествие Ч.Дарвина на корабле

Introduction 3
1.1 Biography. 4
1.2 Travel aboard the "Beagle". The ideas underlying the theory of evolution. 6
1.3 Works of Charles Darwin 8
1.4 Evolutionary ideas before Darwin 10
1.5 State of Biology in the UK in the late 19th century 13
Conclusion 15
References 17

Many people believe that the concept of social Darwinism explains the philosophical rationalization behind racism, imperialism, and capitalism. The term has opposite implications for most people because they consider it a rejection of compassion and social obligation. [4]Darwin did not address human evolution in his most famous study, On the Origin of Species (1859), which convergented on the evolution of plants and animals. He applied his theories of natural survival specifically to people in The Descent of Man (1871), a work that critics interpreted as justifying cruel social policies at home and imperialism abroad. The English people most related with early social Darwinism, nevertheless, was sociologist Herbert Spencer. Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" to describe the outcome of competition between social groups. In Social Statics (1850) and other works, Spencer argued that through competition social evolution would automatically generate prosperity and personal liberty unparalleled in human history.Another big event in the sfear of biology in the 19 century in Britain was, that William Sharp Macleay developed the quinarian system of classification in his HoræEntomologicæ, published in two parts in 1819 and 1821. For two decades, the quinarian system was widely discussed in Britain and influenced such naturalists as Charles Darwin, Richard Owen, and Thomas Huxley. This paper offers the first detailed account of Macleay's development of the quinarian system. Macleay developed his system under the shaping influence of two pressures: (1) the insistence by followers of Linnaeus on developing artificial systems at the expense of the natural system and (2) the apparent tension between the continuity of organic nature and the failure of linear classification schemes (which continuity seemed to require). Against what he perceived as dogmatic indolence on the part of the Linnaeans, Macleay developed a philosophy of science in which hypotheses that exceeded the available evidence should be proposed and subjected to severe tests. He also developed a novel comparative anatomical methodology, the method of variation, to aid in his search for the natural system. Using this method, he developed an intricate system that showed how organic nature could be continuous without being linear. A failure to appreciate these facets of Macleay's thought has led to several misunderstandings of him and his work, most notably that he was an idealist. These misunderstandings are here rebutted.ConclusionWhy were Darwin's ideas so important?It's a mark of how extraordinary a step Darwin took on humanity's behalf that a principle that seems so straightforward and uncontroversial today – that random mutations would make some species better suited to their environments than others, and that those species would be more likely to breed – could have caused such extraordinary upheaval as recently as 1859. Still, that's what happened.The general idea of evolution preceded Darwin, and he shied away from making the explicit and incendiary claim that even humans were evolved from other creatures. But his explanation of natural selection as a mechanism that made evolution plausibly able to explain the origin of species without reference to a creator up-ended the contemporary orthodoxy. It set a new course that no subsequent scientific work could ignore. And according to the eminent late evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr, "Eliminating God from science made room for strictly scientific explanations of all natural phenomena; it gave rise to positivism; it produced a powerful intellectual and spiritual revolution, the effects of which have lasted to this day." [3]What was the public reaction at the time?The first public presentation of Darwin's ideas, alongside those of fellow pioneering evolutionary biologist Alfred Russell Wallace, drew little public reaction. But the publication of The Origin of Species sparked massive international interest, and the first print run of the book sold out before it appeared. While many hailed his findings as a huge step forward – including some within the clergy – the work also drew much opposition."Why not accept direct interference, rather than evolutions of law, and needlessly indirect or remote action?" one early review asked. "Having introduced the author and his work, we must leave them to the mercies of the Divinity Hall, the College, the Lecture Room and the Museum." And Darwin was denied a knighthood for his achievements by the influence of the church. Natural selection did not become a widely accepted principle until the 1930s. But in the end, one measure of how widely accepted Darwin's significance was, came in his death, when he became one of only five people outside of the royal family to be buried in Westminster Abbey in the nineteenth century.Their importance in science is inescapable: the whole field of evolutionary biology is founded on his work. More generally, his influence can be felt in how the Christian orthodoxy that underpinned most science has fallen away, and even in our understanding of human interactions, summed up by the phrase "social Darwinism".Even the church recently recanted its initial opposition to The Origin of Species, issuing a public apology in September. It read: "Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still." Still, many people remain sceptical. The continued influence of creationism and intelligent design in the US is well-documented, and here, a 2006 poll said that only 48 per cent of the general public accepted the theory of evolution.Humanists today tend to think that moral values must have evolved because they are useful to our species.Darwin was an independent thinker, a great scientist and the most influential biologist in history. The Darwinian theory of evolution caused massive controversy, and is still condemned by some religious people as it contradicts the biblical creation story and undermines claims about the literal truth of the Bible. His friend T H Huxley defended the theory in a famous debate with Archbishop Wilberforce. In many subsequent books and papers Darwin, and biologists after him, developed his ideas and uncovered more evidence from the fossil record, establishing evolution by natural selection as a central explanatory force, a linchpin of modern science.ReferencesCharles Darwin “On the Origin of Species”Charles Darwin. The Autobiography of Charles DarwinPeter Bowler “Evolution: The History of an Idea”Richard Owen. Biology without Darwin, a Revised EditionThe Harvard Classics edited by Charles W. Eliot, LL.D. The Voyage of the Beagle.