Interior photography used: Ian Campbell / Istockphoto / Thinkstock / Getty Images
Charles Darwin (photo 1854)
Brief outline of Darwin's life
K. A. Timiryazev
“My name is Charles Darwin. I was born in 1809, studied, pro-circumnavigation - and studied again. This is how the great scientist answered the importunate publisher, who sought to obtain biographical information from him. Fortunately, the life of this man, who amazed and charmed everyone with his almost incredible modesty, has been preserved in more abundant documentary information in the Autobiography printed after his death (intended exclusively for the family) and five volumes of correspondence, carefully collected and published by his son Francis and Professor Seward. On the basis of these sources, if possible, in the words of the author himself, on the occasion of the Cambridge commemoration of his memory, a brief, beautifully illustrated biographical sketch was compiled, which was distributed to all visitors and, it seems, did not go to print. This short biography, supplemented in some places, formed the basis of the proposed essay.
Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, in a house that has survived to this day and is picturesquely located on the banks of the Severn. His grandfather was known as a scientist, physician, poet and one of the early evolutionists. Darwin spoke of his father as "the very smart person what he knew”, from his qualities he was distinguished by a surprisingly sophisticated ability to observe and an ardent sympathy for people, “which I have never met in anyone.”
At school, Charles, according to his own opinion, learned absolutely nothing, but he himself amused himself with reading and chemical experiments, for which he received the nickname "Gas". In later years, to the polls of his cousin, the famous statistician Galton, he gave the following answer to the question: “Did the school develop the ability of observation in you or hindered its development?” - "I interfered because it was classical." To the question: “Did the school represent any merit”? - the answer was even more concise: "None." And in the general conclusion: "I believe that everything valuable that I have acquired, I learned by self-taught."
At the age of sixteen, he was already with his older brother at the University of Edinburgh, where he listened to lectures at the medical faculty. Two years later he moved to the University of Cambridge, where, at the request of his father, he moved to the theological faculty. He was seriously interested only in the "Natural Theology" of the famous Paley (which went through nineteen editions) 1
What was the content of this theology, and why it made such a strong impression on Darwin, can be judged by the following fact: about the same time, when compiling the zoological museum at Oxford, they were guided by the idea that it could serve as a visual aid in the study of the book of Paley.
Three people had an undoubted influence on him: they were Henslow, Sedgwick and Joel. The first as a botanist and, apparently, as a highly moral person; Darwin was also indebted to him for the fact that, by his own admission, "made possible everything else in my life", that is, the round-the-world trip on the Beagle. If with Henslow he made excursions to the neighboring marshes, which Cambridge is proud of, then with Sedgwick he climbed the uninhabited mountains of Wales and learned the ability to make geological surveys of unexplored places, which was especially useful to him on the journey. Finally, about Yuel (an astronomer and author of the well-known "History of the Inductive Sciences"), he spoke that he was one of those two people he met in his life who struck him with the fascination of their conversation on scientific topics. Nevertheless, he considered the time he spent in Cambridge to be almost lost, although “on the whole, the most cheerful in his happy life". With enthusiasm, he was engaged only in collecting beetles.
His real school was a five-year (from 1831 to 1836) circumnavigation. When he left, he took with him the newly published first volume of Lyell's Fundamentals of Geology. In supplying Darwin with this book, Henslow advised him to use its rich content, but not dwell on the too bold ideas of a geological reformer. Darwin followed the advice, carried it out only in reverse - he did not stop, but went ahead much further than his teacher, as Lyell always acknowledged with gratitude.
Most struck him and at the same time rendered greatest influence for all his further activities four facts. First, the gradual change of organic forms as one moves from north to south along the eastern coast and from south to north along the western coast of South America. Secondly, the similarity between the fossil and modern fauna of the same country. And thirdly, the similarities and differences between the inhabitants of individual islands of the Galapagos archipelago, both among themselves and with the inhabitants of the neighboring continent. The fourth, undoubtedly deep impression, taken from this journey, which was reflected much later on his attitude to the question of the origin of man, was the first impression made on him by the natives of Tierra del Fuego; the recollection of him was expressed in the well-known words that it is easier for him to come to terms with the idea of a distant relationship with an ape than with the idea of a close origin from people like those whom he saw when he first landed on Tierra del Fuego.
A year after his return to England (in 1837), he begins his first notebook, in which he enters everything related to the question of the origin of species. The task is covered by him from all sides from the very first time, as can be seen even from one page of this notebook. But only two years later, in 1839, before him is revealed guiding thread to this labyrinth, although consonant, but continuing to be incomprehensible evidence in favor of the unity of the origin of all organic beings. Reading the book of Malthus and close acquaintance with practice lead him to the conclusion about the existence of "natural selection", that is, the process of eliminating everything that disagrees with it, pre-established, harmonious, expedient, as theologians and teleologists put it, useful, adapted, what will henceforth be called this fundamental feature of the organism. A brief outline of the whole theory, sketched in 1842 (on thirty-five pages) and first printed and distributed as a gift to all scientists who gathered to honor Darwin in Cambridge this year, leaves no doubt that twenty years before the appearance of the Origin species" the main idea of this work was already fully formed in the head of the author, and some of the provisions resulted in the same form in which they later became known to the whole world. 2
This finally eliminates any doubt about his priority over Wallace, who at that time was a twenty-year-old surveyor.
And yet it took these twenty years to bring into the system that colossal justifying material, without which he considered his theory insufficiently substantiated. However, two circumstances prevented him from fully concentrating on the main work of his life. Firstly, the processing of the huge material brought from the trip and special studies in geology and zoology. Among the first, the monograph “On the Coral Islands” brought him special fame, forcing Lyell to abandon his previous theories. Even more time was consumed by zoological research on barnacles, living and fossils. This work, in his own opinion and in the opinion of his competent friends, was a practical school for real acquaintance with what a species is. “More than once,” he writes himself, “I combined several forms into one form with its varieties, then I divided it into several types, repeating this operation until, with a curse, I was convinced of its complete futility.” This hard, harsh school brought on him the ridicule of Bulwer, who portrayed him in one of his novels as an eccentric, killing decades to study some kind of shells. More widely known than these special works, delivered to him the “Journal of Traveling on the Beagle”, which attracted the attention of Humboldt and, in its easy, accessible form, became one of the favorite works of the English public willing to read travel.
Another and still more important obstacle that prevented him from moving faster in his main work, the whole plan of which he had completely ready, was a constant incurable illness, which was the result of overwork from intensive studies in the first years after returning from travel. For the rest of his life, three hours of diligent study was enough to bring him to a state of complete exhaustion for the rest of the day. “No one but my mother,” Francis Darwin writes in his memoirs, “can imagine the extent of the suffering experienced and her amazing patience. She carefully protected him from everything that could cause him the slightest trouble, not missing anything that could save him from excessive fatigue and help him endure the burden of a constant painful state.
In the same 1842, he moved from London to a village in Kent, from where he wrote: "My life goes on like a wound clock, I am finally attached to the point where it is destined to end." These gloomy thoughts, inspired by a constant illness, reached the point that he left a will in which he asked his wife to take care of publishing the manuscript, which from thirty-five pages (1842) grew to two hundred and thirty pages, entrusting this care to his best friend - Hooker. Fortunately, his forebodings deceived him - there were still forty years of amazing active life ahead, crowned with unprecedented glory.
In 1856, at Lyell's urging, he set to work on his major work, conceived at a length three times the size of the final form of On the Origin of Species. In 1858 he received a famous letter from Wallace, which resulted in Hooker and Lyell presenting both of Darwin's and Wallace's notes to the Linnean Society.
A year later, on November 24, 1859, his book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Selected Breeds in the Struggle for Life, was published. The entire edition sold out on the same day.
The following year, 1860, the famous in history happened in Oxford at a meeting of the British Association. evolutionary doctrine a clash between opponents and defenders of Darwin, which ended, thanks to Huxley, with a brilliant victory for the latter. But nevertheless, according to the same writer, "an ecumenical council of scientists would undoubtedly condemn us by an overwhelming majority."
In 1870, he wrote that there was no branch of natural science that would not be affected by the influence of The Origin of Species, and less than twenty years later he could declare that “if it were not for documentary evidence, he would have thought that his memory betrays him—so abrupt is the change in public opinion” in favor of Darwin’s views.
The edition followed the edition, and in 1868 the two-volume "Change in Domesticated Animals and Cultivated Plants" appeared, this is the most complete and deeply thought-out body of knowledge on the issue of the phenomena of variability and heredity, these two foundations of natural selection. It can be said that the noise generated by some of the later theories (mutation, heterogenesis and Mendelism) is mainly due to the ignorance of the new generation of naturalists in relation to the content of that amazing work, which probably absorbed most the time that elapsed between the first outline of the theory and the publication of On the Origin of Species and the decade that followed.
In 1871, his "Descent of Man" appeared, which served as a signal for a new outburst of indignation of hypocrites and reactionaries of all shades against the author, although, as he rightly notes, already in "The Origin of Species" he expressed quite definitely his view on this burning question "for so that none fair man I could not reproach him for hiding his real views.
Here is a review of this book by the German professor Schwalbe in the book “Darwin and Modern Science” published on the occasion of honoring the memory of Darwin in Cambridge: “Darwin's work on the origin of man has not yet been surpassed by anyone; the more we plunge into the study of the similarities in the structure of man and apes, the more our path is illuminated by the clear light emitted by his calm, judicious research, based on such a mass of material collected by him that no one has accumulated before or after him. The glory of Darwin will forever be connected with the study, free from any prejudice, of this question from questions - the origin of the human race.
These three main works comprise the foundations of the whole theory. The first contains the doctrine of natural selection and the evidence of its agreement with everything that we know about the organic world; the second gives the latest for his time exhaustive analysis of our knowledge about the two main properties of all organisms, on which the possibility of natural selection is based; the third represents the verification of the doctrine on the basis of its application to the most complex limiting case - to a person with his aesthetic, mental and moral development.
One chapter of the book about man has grown into a whole separate volume - "The Expression of Feelings in Man and Animals", one of the most ingenious developments of his general teaching on the unity of all living things on such seemingly insignificant facts as facial expressions, etc. with various mental movements.
A small essay on the psyche of the newborn gave impetus to a whole series of imitations, and German authors often quite unfairly attribute the first step in this area to the researcher Preyer.
After that, Darwin's attention turned to the other pole of the organic world - to the plant - in order to show the applicability of his teachings to creatures lacking that conscious volitional activity to which Lamarck attributed (in animals) leading role. His botanical works, where for the first time he had to cross from the field of descriptive science into the field of experimental science. Their main idea is to prove the existence of the most complex devices and explain their origin by their usefulness.
This basic idea, which makes them one coherent system, is usually overlooked by biographers in their bare enumeration.
V "Insectivorous Plants" he showed in a number of plants organs for trapping and digesting animals and proved that this is really beneficial process for the plants that have them. V "The movements and habits of climbing plants", having shown the wide distribution of this form of plants, he wondered how it could arise so often and independently in the most diverse groups of plants, and answered this with another study - "Ability of plants to move", in which he proved that the phenomenon that strikes the eye in climbing plants is widespread in an imperceptible form throughout the entire vegetable kingdom, appearing sharply not only in climbing plants, but also in other phenomena of plant life, always beneficial to the organism that possesses them.
Even more remarkable is the group of monographs concerning the form and other features of the flower, which are in connection with cross pollination flowers by insects ("Oh various devices with which orchids are fertilized by insects", "Different forms of flowers in plants", "The action of self-fertilization and cross-fertilization"). The first two reveal the most amazing adaptations of organisms belonging to two different kingdoms of nature, and since such harmony, on the basis of the doctrine of natural selection, is conceivable only on the condition of mutual benefit (the benefit for insects is obvious, they feed at the same time), the third volume is a detailed pilot study, proving the benefits of cross-fertilization, since as a result of it there is always a more powerful generation.
Thus, those who, unwilling to accept theoretical basis Darwin's teachings, try to divert attention, pointing to his talent special works, one has to constantly remind that these were not fragmentary facts scattered throughout the entire field of biology from plants to humans, but facts strictly interconnected by this particular theory and, therefore, verifying and confirming it with an extensive system of research. These biological works gave impetus to incredible activity in this field, and now the literature they have called forth is expressed in more than one thousand volumes.
Having devoted almost twenty years to preparing himself for his main life task, to developing it, and almost as much to teaching how to use his theory as an instrument for the study of nature, a powerful mind, which for most of his life struggled with a weak body, already began to see new broad horizons in the sense of a deeper experimental study of the main factor that formed the basis of his teaching - the factor of variability. But his powers changed, and he could only work on a witty little research on "The formation of humus soil with the assistance of worms", success which, judging by its sales volatility, surpassed even the success of The Origin of Species.
He died on 19 April 1882 and is buried next to Newton in Westminster Abbey. His last words were: "I'm not at all afraid to die." And in the final lines of his autobiography, he summed up his life as follows: “As for myself, I am convinced that I did the right thing by devoting my whole life to the stubborn service of science. I do not feel any great sin behind me, but I have often regretted that I did not bring more immediate benefit to my brethren. 3
"my fellow creatures" - obviously, Darwin extends the principle of brotherhood not only to one person.
With regard to the material world, we can at least admit the following: we can See that phenomena are not caused by individual interventions of the divine power, exerting its influence in each individual case, but by the establishment of general laws.
William Whewell "The Bridgester Treatise"
“The only definite meaning of the word 'natural' is 'established', 'fixed' or 'ordered' for is not natural that which requires or presupposes a rational agent who makes it so, i.e. is carried out by him constantly or in a fixed time, just like the supernatural or miraculous - that which is realized by it only once "
Joseph Butler "The Revealed Religion Analogy"
“We conclude, therefore, that not a single person, mistakenly overestimating common sense or misunderstanding moderation, should not think or claim that a person can go too deep in his research or study of the book of the word of God or the book of God's creations, theology or philosophy; but let people strive more for endless improvement or success in both.
Francis Bacon "The Progress of Science"
Historical sketch of the development of views on the origin of species before the appearance of the first edition of this work 4
The translation of The Origin of Species (from the 6th English edition) was made by K. A. Timiryazev. M. A. Menzbir, A. P. Pavlov and I. A. Petrovsky. - Note. ed.
I will give here a brief outline of the development of views on the origin of species. Until recently, the vast majority of naturalists were convinced that species represent something unchanging and were created independently of one another. This view has been skillfully supported by many authors. On the other hand, some naturalists believed that species are subject to change and that existing forms life came about by ordinary generation from pre-existing forms. Without dwelling on the vague allusions in this sense found in classical writers 5
Aristotle, in his Physicae Auscultatories (lib. 2, cap. 8, p. 2), remarking that it's raining not in order to contribute to the harvest of grain, just as not in order to spoil the bread that is threshed in the yard, applies the same argument to organisms; he adds (as Clare Grace, who first drew my attention to it, translates this passage): “What then in nature prevents the various parts of the body from being in the same random relationship with each other? For example, the front teeth grow out of necessity - sharp and adapted to tearing food, and the molars - flat, suitable for grinding food, but they were not created for this, and this was a matter of chance. The same applies to other parts that seem to us adapted to some purpose. Thus, wherever objects taken as a whole (for example, parts of one whole) appear to us as if made for the sake of something, they only survived, because, thanks to some internal spontaneous inclination, they turned out to be accordingly built; yet things that did not turn out to be thus constructed perished and continue to perish. We see here, as it were, a glimpse of the future principle of natural selection, but how little Aristotle understood the essence of this principle is evident from his remarks on the formation of teeth.
It must be admitted that the first writer of modern times to discuss this subject in a truly scientific spirit was Buffon. But since his opinions changed greatly in different time and as he did not deal with the causes or ways of transformation of species, I need not go into details here.
Lamarck was the first whose conclusions on this subject attracted much attention. This, in fairness, famous naturalist, first stated his views in 1801, he greatly expanded them in 1809, in his Philosophie Zoologique, and still later, in 1815, in the introduction to his Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans Vertebres. In these writings, he defends the view that all species, including humans, are descended from other species. The great merit belongs to him: he was the first to draw general attention to the likelihood of the assumption that all changes in the organic world, as in the inorganic, occurred on the basis of the laws of nature, and not as a result of miraculous intervention. Lamarck seems to have come to the conclusion of a gradual change of species, on the basis of the difficulties experienced in distinguishing between species and variety, on the basis of the almost insensible transitions between members of certain groups, and on the basis of analogy with domestic animals and cultivated plants. As for the causes of changes, he attributed them partly to the direct influence of the physical conditions of life, partly to crossing between already existing forms, but especially to the exercise or non-exercise of the organs, i.e., the results of habit. To this last factor he seems to have attributed all the beautiful adaptations found in nature, such as the long neck of the giraffe, which serves to devour the branches of trees. But he also believed in the existence of the law of progressive development, and since, by virtue of this law, all living beings strive for improvement, in order to explain the existence at the present time and the simplest forms, he admitted that they now appear by spontaneous generation. 6
I have borrowed the date of Lamarck's first work from Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who has presented in his book (Hist. Nat. Generale, t. II, p. 405, 1859) an excellent historical sketch of the views on this subject. In this work one can also find a complete outline of Buffon's views. Curious how wide my grandfather is, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, in his "Zoonomy" (vol. I, pp. 500-510), which appeared in 1794, anticipated the views and erroneous foundations of Lamarck's views. According to Isidore Geoffroy, there is no doubt that Goethe was an extreme supporter of similar views, as follows from the introduction to a work dating back to 1794 and 1795, but published much later: he quite definitely expresses the idea ("Goethe, als Naturforscher" d -ra Karl Meding, p. 34) that in the future the naturalist should be concerned with the question, for example, how cattle got their horns, and not what they need them for. A remarkable example of how similar ideas can occur simultaneously is the fact that Goethe in Germany, Dr. Darwin in England and Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (as we shall now see) in France came to the same conclusions about the origin of species during the years 1794-1795.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, as can be seen from his "Biography" written by his son, already in 1795 suspected that the so-called species are only different deviations from the same type. But it was only in 1828 that he expressed in print his conviction that forms had not remained unchanged from the very beginning of the world. Geoffroy seems to have seen the conditions of existence, or "monde ambiant" of the "surrounding world", as the main cause of change. He was careful in his conclusions not to assume that existing species continue to change even now, and, as his son adds: "C'est done un probleme a reserve entierement a l'avenir, suppose meme que l'avenir doive avoir prise sur lui" "So, this problem must be completely left to the future, if, of course, we assume that in the future they will want to deal with it."
The history of the development and origin of the human species has been of concern to scientists and many ordinary people for centuries. At all times, all sorts of theories have been put forward on this score. These include, for example, creationism - the Christian philosophical and theistic concept of the origin of Everything from the creative act of God; the theory of external interference, according to which the Earth was inhabited by people due to the activities of extraterrestrial civilizations; the theory of spatial anomalies, where the fundamental creative force of the Universe is the humanoid triad "Matter - Energy - Aura"; and some others. However, the most popular and generally accepted theory of anthropogenesis, as well as the origin of species of living beings in general, is, of course, Charles Darwin's theory of the origin of species. Today we will look at the basic principles of this theory, as well as the history of its origin. But first, traditionally, a few words about Darwin himself.
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and traveler who became one of the founders of the idea of the evolution in time of all living organisms from common ancestors. Darwin considered natural selection to be the main mechanism of evolution. In addition, the scientist was engaged in the development of the theory of sexual selection. One of the main studies of the origin of man also belongs to Charles Darwin.
So how did Darwin come up with his theory of the origin of species?
How did the origin of species theory come about?
Born to a physician's family, Charles Darwin, while studying at Cambridge and Edinburgh, developed a deep knowledge of geology, botany, and zoology, as well as the fieldwork skills he craved.
A huge influence on the formation of Darwin's worldview as a scientist was exerted by the work "Principles of Geology" by Charles Lyell, an English geologist. According to him, modern look of our planet was gradually shaped by the same natural forces that continue to act today. Charles Darwin was naturally familiar with the ideas of Jean Baptiste Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin, and several other early evolutionists, but none of them affected him as much as Liley's theory.
However, a truly fateful role in the fate of Darwin was played by his journey on the Beagle ship, which took place from 1832 to 1837. Darwin himself said that the following discoveries made the greatest impression on him:
- The discovery of fossil animals of gigantic size and covered with a shell, which was similar to the shell of armadillos familiar to all of us;
- The evidence that species of animals close in genus replace each other as they move along the South American mainland;
- The evidence that the species of animals on the various islands of the Galapagos archipelago differ only slightly from each other.
Subsequently, the scientist concluded that the above facts, like many others, can only be explained if we assume that each of the species underwent constant changes.
After Darwin returned from his travels, he began to ponder the problem of the origin of species. Many ideas were considered, including the idea of Lamarck, but all of them were discarded for lack of explanation for the amazing ability of plants and animals to adapt to environmental conditions. This fact, considered by the early evolutionists to be self-evident, became Darwin's most important question. So he began to collect information on the variability of plants and animals in natural and domestic conditions.
Many years later, recalling the emergence of his theory, Darwin wrote that very soon he realized that the main importance in the successful creation of beneficial species plants and animals had precisely the selection. Although, for some time the scientist still could not understand how selection can be applied to those organisms that live in the natural environment.
It was during this period that the ideas of Thomas Malthus, an English scientist and demographer, were actively discussed in the scientific circles of England, who said that the population of the population was growing exponentially. After reading his work On Population, Darwin continued his previous thought by saying that long-term observations of the way of life of plants and animals prepared him to appreciate the significance of the ubiquitous struggle for existence. But he was struck by the thought that favorable changes in such conditions should remain and be preserved, and unfavorable should be subjected to destruction. The result of this whole process should be the appearance of new species.
As a result, in 1838 Darwin came up with the theory of the origin of species through natural selection. However, the publication of this theory did not take place until 1859. And the reason for the publication was rather dramatic circumstances.
In 1858 a man named Alfred Wallace, a young British biologist, naturalist and traveller, sent Darwin the manuscript of his paper On the Tendency of Varieties to Deviate Unlimitedly from the Original Type. This article presented a presentation of the theory of the origin of species through natural selection. Darwin decided not to publish his work, but his associates Charles Lyell and Joseph Dalton Hooker, who had long known about the ideas of their friend and were familiar with the outlines of his work, were able to convince Darwin that the publication of the work should take place simultaneously with the publication of Wallace's work.
So, in 1959, Charles Darwin's work "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life" was published, and its success was simply stunning. Darwin's theory was well received and supported by some scientists and severely criticized by others. But all subsequent works of Darwin, like this one, immediately acquired the status of bestsellers after publication and were published in many languages. The scientist himself in the blink of an eye gained world fame.
And one of the reasons for the popularity of Darwin's theory was its basic principles.
The main principles of the theory of the origin of species by Charles Darwin
The whole essence of Darwin's theory of the origin of species lies in a set of provisions that are logical, capable of being verified experimentally and confirmed by facts. These provisions are as follows:
- Any kind of living organisms includes a huge range of individual genetic variability, which can differ in morphological, physiological, behavioral and any other features. This variability can be continuous quantitative or discontinuous qualitative, but exists at any time. It is impossible to find two individuals that would be absolutely identical in terms of the totality of features.
- Any living organism has the ability to rapidly increase its population. There can be no exception to the rule that organic beings multiply in such a progression that if they were not exterminated, then one pair could cover the entire planet with offspring.
- For any kind of animal, there are only limited resources for life. For this reason, a large production of individuals should serve as a catalyst for the struggle for existence either between members of the same species, or between members of different species, or with the conditions of existence. The struggle for existence, according to Darwin's theory, includes both the struggle of a representative of a species for life, and its struggle for the successful provision of its offspring.
- In the struggle for existence, only the most adapted individuals are able to survive and successfully produce offspring, which have special deviations that have turned out to be adaptive to specific environmental conditions. Moreover, such deviations occur precisely by chance, and not in response to the influence of the environment. And the usefulness of these deviations is also random. The deviance is passed on to the descendants of the individual that survives at the genetic level, causing them to become more adapted to their environment than other individuals of the same species.
- Natural selection is the process of survival and preferential reproduction of the fittest members of a population. Natural selection, according to Darwin, in the same way constantly fixes any changes, preserves the good and discards the bad, as does a breeder who studies many individuals and selects and breeds the best of them.
- With regard to individual isolated varieties in different living conditions, natural selection leads to a divergence of their characteristics and, as a result, to the formation of a new species.
These provisions, which are practically flawless in terms of
| The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life | |
|---|---|
| On the Origin of Species | |
| Title page of the 1859 edition On the Origin of Species |
|
| author | Charles Darwin |
| genre | science, biology |
| Original language | English |
| Original published | November 24 |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Release | November 24 |
| Pages | 502 |
| Carrier | Print (Hardback) |
| ISBN | |
| Previous | "On the Propensity of Species to Form Varieties and on the Preservation of Species and Varieties by Natural Selection" |
| Next | Pollination in orchids |
In this scientific work, Darwin presents a long chain of arguments in favor of his theory. According to it, groups of organisms (today called populations) gradually develop due to natural selection. It was in this work that this process was first introduced to the general public. Subsequently, the set of principles outlined by Darwin came to be called Darwinism. In particular, Darwin showed detailed scientific evidence collected during his voyage to South America, the Galapagos Islands, and Australia aboard the Beagle from 1831 to 1836. At the same time, he refuted the doctrine of "created species" (eng. created kinds), on which the entire biology of his era was based.
Various evolutionary ideas have already been proposed to explain new discoveries in biology. Thus, there was growing support for such ideas among dissident anatomists and the general public, but in the first half of the 19th century the English scientific establishment was closely associated with the English Church, while science was part of natural theology. The notions of species transmutation were controversial because they conflicted with the belief that species were unchanging parts of the design hierarchy and that humans were unique and not related to other animals.
The book was understandable to a wide readership and aroused great interest already upon publication. The first print run of 1,250 copies was sold out on the same day. The theses presented in it are still the basis of the scientific theory of evolution.
The history of the development of evolutionary doctrine
Prerequisites
At least in later editions, Darwin noted the presence of the rudiments of evolutionary doctrine in ancient thinkers, in particular in Aristotle. Georges Buffon already suggested in 1766 that similar animals such as the horse and donkey, or the tiger and leopard, are species that share a common ancestor.
The origin of evolutionary doctrine
In 1825 Darwin entered the medical faculty of the University of Edinburgh. Soon, in his second year, he became interested in natural history and gave up his medical studies to study marine invertebrates with Robert Grant. The latter was a proponent of Lamarck's theory of the rebirth of species. In 1828, at the urging of his father, Darwin entered Christ's College, Cambridge University, to be ordained a priest in the Church of England. While studying theology, philosophy, the classics of literature, mathematics and physics, he especially delved into botany and entomology.
In December 1831, after graduating and becoming 10th in a list of 178 who successfully passed the exam, Darwin set sail on the Beagle as a naturalist. By that time, he was familiar with the writings of Lyell and during the journey he became convinced of the validity of the theory of uniformitarianism. The first landing on Santiago Island reinforced his belief that uniformitarianism was the key to understanding the history of the landscape.
History of the writing and publication of The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life
Introduction
Traveling as a naturalist on HMS Beagle, I was struck by some of the facts about the distribution of organic beings in South America and geological relationships between former and modern inhabitants of this continent. These facts, as will be seen in later chapters of this book, seem to illuminate to some extent the origin of species—that mystery of mysteries, in the words of one of our greatest philosophers. On returning home, in 1837, I came to the idea that perhaps something could be done to settle this question by patiently collecting and pondering all sorts of facts that had anything to do with it. After five years of labour, I have allowed myself some general reflections on this subject, and have sketched them in the form of short notes; this sketch I expanded in 1844 into a general sketch of the conclusions which then seemed to me probable; from that time to the present day, I have stubbornly pursued this subject. I hope I will be forgiven for these purely personal details, as I cite them to show that I was not hasty in my conclusions.
My work is now (1858) almost finished; but as it will take me many more years to complete it, and my health is far from flourishing, I was persuaded to publish this summary. I was particularly moved to do this by the fact that Mr. Wallace, now a student of the natural history of the Malay Archipelago, came to almost exactly the same conclusions as I have reached on the origin of species. In 1858 he sent me an article on the subject with a request that it be forwarded to Sir Charles Lyell, who forwarded it to the Linnean Society; it is published in the third volume of the magazine of this Society. Sir C. Lyell and Dr. Hooker, who were aware of my work, the last to read my 1844 essay, did me the honor of advising me to publish, with Mr. Wallace's excellent paper, a brief excerpt from my manuscript.
The summary now published is necessarily imperfect. I cannot give here references or point to authorities in support of this or that proposition; I hope the reader will rely on my accuracy. No doubt errors have crept into my work, although I have constantly taken care to trust only good authorities. I can only state here the general conclusions I have arrived at, illustrating them with only a few facts; but I hope that in most cases they will be enough. No one more than I is aware of the need to present later in full detail the facts and references on which my conclusions are based, and I hope to do this in the future in my work. I am very well aware that there is almost not a single proposition in this book in relation to which it would not be possible to present facts leading, apparently, to conclusions directly opposite to mine. A satisfactory result can be obtained only after a full presentation and evaluation of the facts and arguments testifying for and against on each issue, and this, of course, is not possible here.
I am very sorry that lack of space deprives me of the pleasure of expressing my gratitude for the generous assistance rendered to me by many naturalists, partly even unknown to me personally. But I cannot, however, miss the opportunity to express how deeply I am indebted to Dr. Hooker, who over the past 15 years has helped me in every possible way with his vast knowledge and clear judgment.
Therefore, it is extremely important to have a clear understanding of the means of modification and co-adaptation. At the beginning of my research, it seemed likely to me that a careful study of domesticated animals and cultivated plants would provide the best opportunity to sort out this obscure problem. And I wasn't wrong; in this, as in all other perplexing cases, I have consistently found that our knowledge of variation in domestication, though incomplete, is always the best and surest clue. I may allow myself to express my conviction of the exceptional value of such studies, despite the fact that naturalists have usually neglected them.
On the basis of these considerations, I dedicate Chapter I of this brief Exposition of Variation in Domestication. We shall thus ascertain that hereditary modification on a large scale is at least possible, and we shall also learn, equally or more importantly, how great is man's capacity for cumulation by his Selection of successive slight variations. I will then move on to the variability of species in the state of nature; but, unfortunately, I shall be forced to deal with this question only in the most brief outline, since a proper presentation of it would require long lists of facts. We shall, however, be in a position to discuss what conditions are most favorable for variation. The next chapter will deal with the Struggle for Existence between all organic beings throughout the world, which inevitably results from the exponential growth of their numbers. This is the doctrine of Malthus, extended to both kingdoms - animals and plants. Since many more individuals of each species are born than can survive, and since, consequently, a struggle for existence often arises, it follows from this that any creature that, in the complex and often changing conditions of its life, although slightly varies in its advantageous direction, will be more likely to survive and thus be subject to natural selection. By virtue of the strict principle of heredity, the selected variety will tend to reproduce in its new and modified form.
This fundamental question of Natural Selection will be dealt with in detail in Chapter IV; and we shall see then how Natural Selection almost inevitably brings about the Extinction of many less perfect forms of life, and leads to what I have called the Divergence of Character. In the next chapter, I will discuss the complex and obscure laws of variation. In the next five chapters, the most obvious and most essential difficulties encountered by theory will be dealt with, namely: first, the difficulties of transitions, i.e., how a simple being or a simple organ can be transformed and improved into a highly developed being or into a complexly constructed organ; secondly, the question of Instinct, or the mental faculties of animals; thirdly, Hybridization, or sterility, when crossing species, and fertility when crossing varieties; fourthly, the incompleteness of the Geological Chronicle. In Chapter XI I shall consider the geological succession of organic beings in time; in XII and XIII - their geographical distribution in space; in XIV - their classification or mutual relationship both in the adult and in the embryonic state. In the last chapter I will present a brief recapitulation of what has been said throughout the work, and a few concluding remarks.
Charles Robert Darwin
The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life
Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882)
Original Edition:
Charles Robert Darwin
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life
Translation from the sixth edition (London, 1872)
academicians K.A. Timiryazev, M.A. Menzbir, A.P. Pavlov and I.A. Petrovsky
Introduction
Traveling as a naturalist on Her Majesty's ship, the Beagle, I was struck by some of the facts about the distribution of organic beings in South America and the geological relations between former and modern inhabitants of this continent. These facts, as will be seen in later chapters of this book, seem to illuminate to some extent the origin of species—that mystery of mysteries, in the words of one of our greatest philosophers. On returning home, in 1837, I came to the idea that perhaps something could be done to settle this question by patiently collecting and pondering all sorts of facts that had anything to do with it. After five years of labour, I have allowed myself some general reflections on this subject, and have sketched them in the form of short notes; this sketch I expanded in 1844 into a general sketch of the conclusions which then seemed to me probable; from that time to the present day, I have stubbornly pursued this subject. I hope I will be forgiven for these purely personal details, as I cite them to show that I was not hasty in my conclusions.
My work is now (1858) almost finished; but as it will take me many more years to complete it, and my health is far from flourishing, I was persuaded to publish this summary. I was particularly moved to do this by the fact that Mr. Wallace, now a student of the natural history of the Malay Archipelago, came to almost exactly the same conclusions as I have reached on the origin of species. In 1858 he sent me an article on the subject with a request that it be forwarded to Sir Charles Lyell, who forwarded it to the Linnean Society; it is published in the third volume of the magazine of this Society. Sir C. Lyell and Dr. Hooker, who knew of my work, the last to read my 1844 essay, did me the honor of advising me to publish, with Mr. Wallace's excellent article, a brief excerpt from my manuscript.
The summary now published is necessarily imperfect. I cannot give here references or point to authorities in support of this or that proposition; I hope the reader will rely on my accuracy. No doubt errors have crept into my work, although I have constantly taken care to trust only good authorities. I can only state here the general conclusions I have arrived at, illustrating them with only a few facts; but I hope that in most cases they will be enough. No one more than I is aware of the need to present later in full detail the facts and references on which my conclusions are based, and I hope to do this in the future in my work. I am very well aware that there is almost not a single proposition in this book in relation to which it would not be possible to present facts leading, apparently, to conclusions directly opposite to mine. A satisfactory result can be obtained only after a full presentation and evaluation of the facts and arguments testifying for and against on each issue, and this, of course, is not possible here.
I am very sorry that lack of space deprives me of the pleasure of expressing my gratitude for the generous assistance rendered to me by many naturalists, partly even unknown to me personally. But I cannot, however, miss the opportunity to express how deeply I am indebted to Dr. Hooker, who over the past 15 years has helped me in every possible way with his vast knowledge and clear judgment.
Therefore, it is extremely important to have a clear understanding of the means of modification and co-adaptation. At the beginning of my research, it seemed likely to me that a careful study of domesticated animals and cultivated plants would provide the best opportunity to sort out this obscure problem. And I wasn't wrong; in this, as in all other perplexing cases, I have consistently found that our knowledge of variation in domestication, though incomplete, is always the best and surest clue. I may allow myself to express my conviction of the exceptional value of such studies, despite the fact that naturalists have usually neglected them.
On the basis of these considerations, I dedicate Chapter I of this summary change under the influence of domestication. We shall thus ascertain that hereditary modification on a large scale is at least possible, and we shall also learn, equally or more importantly, how great is man's capacity for cumulation by his Selection of successive slight variations. I will then move on to the variability of species in the state of nature; but, unfortunately, I shall be forced to deal with this question only in the most brief outline, since a proper presentation of it would require long lists of facts. We shall, however, be in a position to discuss what conditions are most favorable for variation. The next chapter will deal with the struggle for existence between all organic beings throughout the world, which inevitably follows from the geometric progression of their growth in numbers. This is the doctrine of Malthus, extended to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Since many more individuals of each species are born than can survive, and since, consequently, a struggle for existence often arises, it follows from this that any creature that, in the complex and often changing conditions of its life, although slightly varies in its advantageous direction, will be more likely to survive and thus be subject to natural selection. By virtue of the strict principle of heredity, the selected variety will tend to reproduce in its new and modified form.
This fundamental question of Natural Selection will be dealt with in detail in Chapter IV; and we shall see then how Natural Selection almost inevitably brings about the Extinction of many less perfect forms of life, and leads to what I have called the Divergence of Character. In the next chapter, I will discuss the complex and obscure laws of variation. In the next five chapters, the most obvious and most essential difficulties encountered by theory will be dealt with, namely: first, the difficulties of transitions, i.e., how a simple being or a simple organ can be transformed and improved into a highly developed being or into a complexly constructed organ; secondly, the question of Instinct, or the mental faculties of animals; thirdly, Hybridization, or sterility, when crossing species, and fertility when crossing varieties; fourthly, the incompleteness of the geological record. In Chapter XI I shall consider the geological succession of organic beings in time; in XII and XIII - their geographical distribution in space; in XIV - their classification or mutual relationship both in the adult and in the embryonic state. In the last chapter I will present a brief recapitulation of what has been said throughout the work, and a few concluding remarks.
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