"shhh..." |
This naturalist and geologist is named by his theory of evolution. People says that this theory might be the most helpful one for the 20th century science.
He was born in 1809 in England. He was born in well known wealthy family of doctors and his father wanted him to be a doctor too. As his father said, he started going to a college to study medicine, but he was a really bad student so he left it.
Almost by accident, his friends invited him to a voyage all around the world in one of the Queen's ship. While he was traveling, he realized that in different places of the world, there were very similar animals. Like the monkeys, tortoises or the African ostriches and South American Rhea.
When he arrived to the Galapagos Islands he observed the finches, a type of bird, and he realized that every finch had an specific pick to eat what they had in their islands. So when the first finches came from the continent they spread into the different islands and through the time their picks had accommodated to what they eat, becoming different species. When he finished the voyage, after 5 years, and with all the evidences he developed his theory. He named it "the selection of species by natural selection" and he explained it using four steps: 1.Variation: first there are different type of of the same specie. Like long necked and short necked giraffes 2.Environmental change: there is a change in the environment like a drought, tsunami, earthquake... 3.Adaptation: Only the ones who adapted to the change survive and the others die. The giraffes with the long neck will reach the leafs of the high trees and the ones with the short neck won't and they will die. 4.Selection: The ones who survived will be the ones creating the new generation and the new descendants will have the same characteristics as the ones the survived. This little changes thought the time will change the species gradually. So the new giraffes will only long necked. The one in the bottom is Darwin's theory.He did not published his theory in 20 years because he was too afraid of the repercussion his revolutionary theory would have in the society, but he finally did it and not everybody liked what his theory said. In the newspapers they laughed at him and at his theory and they made fun of him caricaturing him.
Change the title!
ErantzunEzabatuWhat about Lamarck's theory?