PRINT VERS The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection

 

The Development of the Theory of Natural Selection by Darwin and Wallace

Charles Robert Darwin was born on the 12^th of February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. After pursuing a career in medicine at Edinburgh University he went to Christ’s College Cambridge. This decision was made by his father, thinking that his son’s interests were better suited for a church environment. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831 from Cambridge. At around the September of 1837, he was already suffering from heart and stomach problems. After suffering from Angina, he had a seizure and then passed away due to a heart attack on the 19^th of April 1882 in Downe, England.

From 1831 to 1836, he surveyed the coast of South America and parts of the Pacific. He spent only 18 months of the voyage aboard the ship as he was a naturalist. Many observations that would later shape his thought were made, and fossils were collected around Bahía Blanca and farther south at Port St. Julian. He noticed the change of the land at the Andes mountains. He saw Mount Osorno erupt on January 15, 1835. In Chile, he experienced an earthquake and saw the tsunami; the difference of the height of the land astounded him. Darwin did not study all the birds or collect tortoises on the Galapagos Islands, but only noted some differences.

He developed the theory in London and other places using his observations. He queried people about useful mutations being used in breeding animals and plants (pigeon breeding). He believed that there was a struggle for existence in which some with favourable characteristics would survive and reproduce, in other words, pass on varied characteristics to later generations, causing variation. His fossils showed logical proof of common ancestors evolving. He reasoned that the different environments caused the slight differences of tortoises and finches.

Alfred Russel Wallace was born on the 8^th of January 1823 in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales. His family became less financially better off as he grew up, but there were many books in his house and there were many outdoor activities he could engage in. He completed 6 years of formal education at Hertford Grammar School. His older brother had a surveying business, which was his first employment and allowed him to work outdoors. Experiencing teaching and taking over his brother’s business and setting up a mechanic’s institute was also some of his work. He is best known for his work before Darwin’s published findings.

He initially travelled abroad as a specimen collector to Brazil in 1848, and spent four years at the Amazon River basin, searching for the answer to the origin of species. Almost all of his entire collection was lost when his ship sank. He was only able to publish two books from his notes which he had salvaged. These writings allowed him to receive funding for his next expedition to the Malay Archipelago. He spent eight years there (1854 to 1862) to write and collect specimens. His main proposal was that ‘varieties outliving parent species progress and diverge to form new species in the struggle for existence’.  He sent a letter to Darwin from the Archipelago in 1858 which outlined his ideas. Darwin published these writings with two other people through the Linnean Society without informing Wallace. Wallace’s findings of the geographic distribution of animals among the islands of the Malay Archipelago supported their theories of evolution. He died at 91 years old in November 7, 1913.

The main theory is that organisms have many offspring and cause variation (mutations), with those most adapted to the environment living and breeding, and as a result, the build-up of changes leads to evolution. Darwin used breeding, fossil layers and comparative anatomy as evidence that organisms are related, change to adapt to their environments but are descended from a few common ancestors. The fossils Darwin saw were also ranging from the lower to the higher (deeper to shallower) with less to higher complexity. They also become more similar to current organisms higher up. This proved the existence of new species and extinction. Lastly, the reason why Wallace is not as widely known is because he failed to promote his role in the development of the theory. In short, Wallace never attempted to popularize himself.

Bibliography

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016 Alred Russel Wallacehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace (4 November 2016).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016 Charles Darwinhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin (4 November 2016).

Miller J, 2004, Introducing Darwin: A Graphic Guide Icon Books Ltd. London

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