Evolution

Term Paper Title	Evolution
# of Words	1372
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.49

Evolution

Introduction:

     Charles Darwin�s brethren could easily include Karl Marx, Da Vinci and Jesus Christ..  What he wrote in the Origin of the Species shook human belief to the core.  He took the commonly accepted idea of where we came from, and smashed it to bits.  In exploring two of his most famous theories, Evolution and Natural Selection, we can see why they have effected and changed human thought and belief to such a degree.

Definitions:

Natural Selection: a process occurring in nature which results in the survival of the fittest or elimination of groups or individuals, depending on adaptation to environment.

Evolution: the theory that all living things have changed by natural selection of randomly occurring mutations, developing from the simplest forms to complex forms which are more prolific and stronger, due to their better adaptation to the environment.

Big Bang Theory: hypothetical account for the creation of the universe an explosion 10-15 billion years ago.

Who was Charles Darwin?

-he was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on Feb., 12 1809.
- he was the 5th child of a wealthy and sophisticated family.
- he graduated from �elite� school at Shrewsbury in 1825.
- he then went to the University of Oxford to study medicine but dropped out in 1827
- After this he entered the University of Cambridge to become a clergyman.
- he graduated in 1831 and then he met Adam Sedgwick a geologist and John Henslow a naturalist.  They interested him in going on an expedition on the H.M.S. Beagle.
- on the ship the H.M.S. Beagle Darwin toured the world in search of fossils and to study wildlife.

The Galapagos:

- The H.M.S. Beagle visited the Galapagos islands as part of a 5 year voyage; there Darwin was struck by the closely related species found on different islands.
- This discovery was crucial and lead him to theorize evolution.
- The Galapagos are located 1000 km from the South American coast, straddling the Equator.  There are 13 large islands, 6 smaller ones and 107 islets of rocks with a total land are of 8000 km squared.
- these islands are touted as being a �natural laboratory for evolution�.

Life After the Galapagos:

- after extensively researching the Galapagos Darwin printed his most important and powerful book  �The Origin of the Species�
- the book shook the scientific world with it�s revolutionary ideas, and forever changed the belief in where we came from.
- Darwin spent much of his life devoutly defending his theories.
- he published several more works that include: The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication and the Descent of Man.
- Darwin received most resistance from religious opponents and not scientists. The reason for this is simple �The thought that living things had evolved by natural process denied the special creation of humankind and seemed to place humanity on the same plane with animals; both were serious contradictions to orthodox theological opinion.�

The Theory of Evolution:

     �In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist, reflecting on the mutual affinities of organic beings, on their embryological relations, their geographical distribution, geological succession, and other such facts, might come to the conclusion that species had not been independently created, but had descend like varieties from other species.� Charles Darwin.

- In order to understand evolution we must know how, the earth and more importantly the universe were created.
- there are opposing theories as to how the universe was created, but the most commonly accepted is the �Big Bang Theory�
- without getting into astrophysics, the big Bang Theory states that a cloud of sub atomic particles  came together to from an unfathomable explosion.
- in a fury of light and creation of matter the universe was formed at an amazing rate.
let it be noted however that Darwin�s theory of evolution only starts just before the creation of life on earth.
- the earth was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago
- for about 3/4 o...

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