Charles Darwin Man with all his noble qualities

Charles Darwin “Man, with all his noble qualities, still bears the incredible stamp of his lowly origin. ” Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College

Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College

Chronology Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 16

The Beagle Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 17

Chronology n 1831 – 36 ¨ Takes the job of unpaid naturalist aboard HMS Beagle n 1859 ¨ Publishes The Origin of Species n 1871 ¨ Publishes The Descent of Man n 1881 ¨ Dies and is buried in Westminster Abby Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 18

The Spark Ignited with the 1831 HMS Beagle expedition n Was to chart coastlines of South America and other areas of the Pacific n At that time was supposedly studying religion but abandoned university studies n Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 19

The Galapagos Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College

The Galapagos n n Made many geological and biological observations, but time spent around the Galapagos had most significant impact Ten islands relatively isolated, even from each other Acted as a series of distinct observatories through which Darwin could draw comparisons Noted islands shared many species of flora and fauna in common, but each land mass often displayed distinct variations within the same group of organisms. Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 21

Finch § § Famously noted fourteen different types of finch, notably with different beaks In each instance particular beak seemed to best suite the capture of the bird’s prevalent food source, whether it be seeds, insects or fish Surmised that the birds had descended from a single parent species, rather than each springing up independently Thus acknowledge idea of evolution Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 22

Finches Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 23

Finches Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 24

Evolution n n In animal world, only those best adapted to food collection in their environments would survive Those who could not compete would die out As environments changed animals moved about, success criteria would change, gradually resulting in variations within species Ultimately new species would be created Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 25

Evolution Puzzle Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 26

Challenging Notion of God n n n Challenged commonly held view of man as lord of the earth, specifically created and placed upon planet in God’s image, as described in the Bible Darwin anticipated resistance to his ideas Consequently kept his theories in the dark for twenty years while he gathered additional evidence to back up his case Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 27

Darwin and Wallace Jointly published with Alfred Russell Wallace in 1858 n Joint public declaration of their hypotheses by submission of a paper to the Linnean Society n Darwin followed up with more detailed account in 1859 – On The Origin of Species by Mans of Natural Selection n Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 28

Legacy Darwin’s ideas took long time to come accepted n Even today not embraced by everyone n Encountered particularly fierce opposition from the Church n Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College 29

Dr. J. Mior - Fleming College