Origin of Species by Charles Darwin - Essay Example

ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY CHARLES DARWIN Introduction Charles Darwin was one of the scientists who made a lot of contribution to the modern understand ofspecies and their evolution. He carried out extensive work on the origin of species and in 1859 he published a book on The Origin of Species. In the book he expressed the systematic way in which he viewed to the source or the path that has been followed by species in their path to evolution. The theory tend to give an insight on how species have been evolving in the world and tried to explain why some of the species become extinct in the course of their life and why species keep on changing in adaptation to the changing environment. Immediately and after the theory was proposed, there were many supporters and many detractors who questioned the validity of the theory and its applicability in the word. The book was controversial and it still remain controversial apparently due to the contradiction that it made to the religious belief of the people at that time and the fact that the contribution that it continued to express between the scientific and religious world. There were also many scientists who supported and many who refuted the theory as not applicable and a mere protrusion of Darwin’s mind. Since then there have been an evolution of the theory but some of the principles of the postulation of the theory are still acceptable to the world of science. But the subject of creation and evolution still attracts ranging controversy in the world. (Jenkins, 2002) Analysis of the theory The theory can be summarized into some key postulations which showed how species survived in their natural environment. The theory of survival for the fittest and eliminating by natural means showed that the current species that we have been a product of the genetic material that makes up the species and the natural environment under which they live. The theory postulated that species are likely to survive in the environment when there are favorable conditions that can allow for the evolution to take place. As such species changes as the environment changes and therefore it is the way a species adapts to the environment that determines how the species will survive in the environment. In the course of his adoption, they undergoes different structural changes which are all meant to give them adaptive feature that the will help them to survive in the environment. (Ronald, 1994) Therefore we can say that it is the nature which selects the right individuals who will survives in the environment. The theory was hence called natural selection theory showing that the natural environment dictates the condition favorable for the survival of the environment. In summary they had the following postulations: It showed that species are fertile which means they can produce offspring which can grow to adulthood. This means that species have a genetic reproduction nature and at a constant environment condition, the number of species in the environment are likely to increase as they can reproduce found once who growth to adulthoods and continue the cycle of reproduction. The theory showed that population remains roughly the same size thought there are small changes that takes place in the size of the population. These postulations showed the ability of the environment to support a given number of species through there will be same changes taking place in this number with the changing conditions of the environment. In this regard Darwin postulated that food sources remain relatively the same although there they are limited. Therefore this was one of the environment ways that dictates the number of species that can survive in the same environment. Under the postulations it he meant that species are supported the amount of food resources in the environment which remains stable over a long time but their limited nature also limits the number of species which can feed on that particular environment. (Janet, 1995) Due to the limited number of food resource, there is usually a struggle for survival by the species especially those which rely on one food resources. As a result, there is usually a bitter struggle for food resources as species try to get an amount that can sustain their survival in the environment. As the struggling continues it will be the ones which will have the ability to access food resource or that adapt to the changing conditions in the environment which will at the end remain in that particular environment. Darwin also shows that in sexually reproducing species, there are no two individuals that are identical. This showed the genetically variability of species in the environment. Though individuals may be from one parent, there are not genetically identical and therefore they will not have a guaranteed survival in the environment. He showed that some the variations that exist between individuals in the environment affect their ability to survive in the environment. The genetic make up of an animal was what Darwin was trying to show here though the gene structure had not been discovered at that time. The most favored species in the make up is the one which is likely to survive in the environment. Darwin also showed that much of this variation in the species in inheritable which means it does not depend on the preceding generation but it depends on the individual species. Another position of the Darwin theory was that individuals who are less suited to a given environment are less likely to survive and to reproduce. Therefore those individuals who are not well adapted to the environment cannot survive since they will not be able to reproduce. At the same time he showed that individual who are well suited to the environment have a high probability to survive and reproduce in the same environment. Therefore it is these individuals who can adapt to the changing environment who can survive and reproduce. Darwin showed that those individuals who survive are more likely to pass their inherit traits to the next generation and therefore that particular species may be well positioned to survive in the changing environment. Darwin therefore postulated that it is this slowly process of adaptation to the environment that resulted in population that adapted to the change environment over the period. This at the end gave interminable generation which accumulated variation overtime to give new varieties and at the end gave new species. Reaction to the theory Since the book was published, there have been varying reactions which have been advanced in relation to the theory of creation. The main controversy has however been between those who believe in creation theory and those who believe in modern science otherwise referred to as atheist by the opponent to the theory. The struggle has been between the earlier religious believes on the evolution of human beings and now the position that man really came from apes. There are those who believed that they are not apes but who failed to give a description of how man came to the world and who fail to account of the disappearance of many species like dinosaurs and many other species like Dodo. Supporters for the theory Darwin had most of the supports of his theory from the scientists who believed that he had presented a modern way for looking at the emergence of man and other species in the world and also a theory which tried to explain the reason why there have been disappearances of animal species from earth. There has also been a case in court where the high court banned the teaching of creation theory in school in favor of the Darwin theory arguing that the modern academic world was driven by sciences and creation theory is just humanly and not scientists. The theory is supported on the fact that it can given an account of what happened rather than who did it as it supported by the creation theory. Since then Darwin’s has been a guide for most science working in the field an in the elaboration. The theory has been extensively taught in schools and has been supported by the modern gene theory which follows the earlier position of the Darwin theory. It has been able to explain the biological complexity that arose by the mechanism of Darwinism and heritage variation or random mutation. Immediately after Darwin wrote his book others were author scientists who worked on the same work of natural selection which has come to be accepted as the modern days means of explained the survival of species in the environment. Critics of Darwin theory Darwin theory has most criticism by the religious leaders although it was criticized by some scientists to. Religious leaders argued that the theory was aesthetic and did not respect the religious belief of the people. Scientists also criticized the theory on the fact that it had some weakness on the ways he recognized and described the evolution while he rallied so much on variation but at the same time did not give mechanism of the variation. There were other scientists who refuted the theory on many technical grounds. But Darwin theory was important as it explained to the world the origin of species and how they have been evolving over time. It has convinced the young generation of scientists about the theory and how it is applicable and has formed a base for the study since then. References Janet, E. (1995). Charles Darwin: Vol. 1. London: Jonathan Cape Jenkins, F. (2002). Review of the origin of species. The North British Review, Vol. 46(2) Ronald, C. (1994). The survival of Charles Darwin. New York: Avon Books Read More