WHO WAS CHARLES DARWIN?

Charles Darwin was one of the famous scientist who set out to discover the origin of life. He set off on a 40,000 mile journey over the course of five (5) years aboard the HMS Beagle to many continents. He observed the patterns of geology and of life both extant and extinct. His discovery led to the writing of his famous book, 'On the Origin of Species'. His study led to the concept of Natural Selection and the ' Survival of the Fittest.

 He was a lover of horses and a keen pigeon fancier. He was sensitive to the power for selective change of careful domestic breeding. Extrapolating from the efficacy of domestication, he stated that, "Why, if man can by patience select variations most useful to himself, should nature fail in selecting variations useful, under changing conditions of life, to her living products..........I can see no limit to this power, in slowly and beautifully adapting each form to the most complex relations of life."

What does survival of the fittest mean? If a trait in a population, such as a dark coat color, confers a survival advantage through more effective camouflage, then those individuals with the darkest coats will have an improved chance of surviving and, therefore, an improved chance of passing their genes to subsequent generations. As time passes, the dark coats will predominate. So over a long time, he claimed that given sufficient change through adaptation, new species will emerge and new forms of life will arise.

He concluded from his study and wrote that "We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his godlike intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system - with all these exalted powers - man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin."