Charles Darwin's book "The Origin of Species" became his main work, telling the world about the evolutionary theory of the development of life on Earth. Its influence on all science was colossal. With his publication, the British scientist marked the beginning of a new era in biology.
History of the appearance of the book
The Origin of Species was published by Darwin in 1859. The appearance of the book was preceded by many years of work of the researcher. The work was based on the notes that Darwin had kept since 1837. As a naturalist, he traveled around the world on the Beagle. Observations of the fauna of South America and tropical islands during this voyage made the British think about whether the church theory about the divine origin of life is correct.
Darwin's predecessor was Charles Lyell. His ideas also inspired the traveler. Finally, after two decades of hard work, On the Origin of Species was born. The main message of the author was this: all types of plants and animals change over time. Mainthe stimulus for these metamorphoses is the struggle for life. From generation to generation, a species acquires useful traits and gets rid of unnecessary ones in order to adapt to existence in a changing environment.
Selection and evolution
Darwin's publication was a bombshell. On the Origin of Species sold out at a tremendous rate, and the more rumors spread about this book, the greater the demand. Within two to three years, translations into the main European languages appeared.
What surprised the progressive public so much? In the introduction to the book, Darwin summarized his main ideas. Further, the author gradually carefully argued each of his thesis. First, he considered the experience of horse breeding and breeding pigeons. The experience of breeders has become another source of inspiration for the scientist. He posed the question to readers: "Why do domestic animal breeds change and differ from their wild relatives?" With this example, Darwin briefly explained the origin of species on a larger, worldwide scale. Like domestic populations, they all gradually transformed due to environmental changes. But if in cattle breeding there is an artificial selection undertaken by man, then natural selection operates in nature.
Genus and species
In the era of Darwin, there was no single and generally accepted species system. Scientists have proposed various theories and hypotheses of the grouping of living beings. The same attempt was made in the book On the Origin of Species. Charles Darwin proposed a gender classification. Each such unit includes several types. This principle is universal. For example, there are many types of horses. Some of them are larger, some are faster, some are found only in a certain region. Thus species are only varieties of one common genus.
The palette of individual differences arose from nature. The order established in it is a constant struggle for existence. In the course of it, the species change and are divided into subspecies, which over time are more and more different from each other. The smallest unique feature (for example, the shape of a bird's beak) can become a significant advantage in survival. An individual that manages to survive, unlike dissimilar neighbors, will pass on its characteristics by inheritance to offspring. And after a few generations, a unique trait will become a characteristic feature of already many individuals.
Controversy with opponents
In the 6th and 7th chapters of his book, Charles Darwin responds to the criticism of opponents of his theory. In the first publication, he rather intuitively guessed the claims of creationists, church officials and other scientists. In subsequent lifetime reissues, the author answered the objections of specific opponents, calling them by name.
It is known that Charles Darwin was not an eloquent speaker in public. In the stands, his theory was best defended by Thomas Huxley. But in the silence of the office, Darwin formulated everything succinctly and accurately. He smashed his opponents one by one, which only drew more attention to the book.
Palaeontological Notes
The British scientist wrote "The Origin of Species" for so long for a reason. Charles Darwin not only explained his theory in terms of biology, but also argued with the help of geographical distribution and paleontology. The scientist drew attention to the numerous finds of fossils that recorded traces of extinct life forms. Thanks to paleontology, it became possible to study extinct and intermediate species in detail.
It was the works of Darwin that made this science extremely popular, which is why it experienced a real flowering in the second half of the 19th century. The scientist was one of the first to describe the mechanism for preserving the remains. He noted that under normal environmental conditions, organic tissues die off and leave no traces. However, when they get into water, permafrost or amber, they remain for a long time.
Spread Species
Thinking about the migration and relocation of species, Darwin was able to build an organic system from the chaos of notes and facts, full of rules and patterns. The results of natural selection can cover entire climatic zones. The biologist, however, noted that there are natural barriers to the spread of animals and plants. Terrestrial species have such an insurmountable frontier - huge expanses of water between the New and Old Worlds.
Interestingly, in his reasoning, Darwin dismissed theories about the disappeared continents (for example, about Atlantis). Curious are his arguments about how plants spread from mainland to mainland. scientist put forwardhypothesis, which can be explained by the following example. The seeds can be swallowed by birds, which, when flying to the other side of the world, leave them there in excrement. This conclusion was not the only one. Seedlings could stick to the paws of birds along with mud and get to the new mainland with them. Further spread of the plant became a matter of time.
Features of embryos
In the 14th chapter, Darwin drew attention to the similarity of rudimentary organs and embryonic development in plants and animals. From this observation, he concluded that the origin of all species is common. On the other hand, the scientist explained the similarity of some signs by the same habitat. For example, fish and whales don't actually have much in common, even though they look roughly the same.
Darwin also emphasized that larvae of the same species, when exposed to different conditions, will behave in completely different ways. All the instincts of the embryos are connected with only one factor - the desire to survive in a changing environment. Speaking about the larvae, the scientist called them a kind of chronicle of the entire species to which they belong.
End of book
In conclusion of his work, Darwin summarized his own discoveries. His book was a typical work of Victorian England, with all the diplomacy and roundness of the wording customary for that time. For example, although the author became the founder of the scientific explanation of the formation of life, he made several conciliatory gestures towardsto religion.
The results of natural selection and the theory of evolution immediately became a serious problem for the church. In the epilogue, Darwin recalled that Leibniz once criticized Newton's physical laws, but time showed that these attacks were erroneous. The author of the sensational work expressed the hope that his own book will also find recognition, despite the serious pressure of creationists and other skeptics. Today we can say with confidence that this happened.
