The Necessity of Darwin

Stanley Sessions,Herbert Macgregor

doi:10.1038/npre.2009.2887.1

Stanley Sessions, Herbert Macgregor

Open Access

PDF Available

https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.2887.1

Copy DOI

Export

Save

Cite

Journal: Nature Precedings	Publication Date: Feb 23, 2009
License type: CC BY 3.0

Affiliation: Hartwick College

Abstract
Highlights/Summary
Full-Text PDF
Similar Papers

Abstract

Listen

AbstractFebruary 12th, 2009 was Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and November 2009 represents the 150th anniversary of the publication of his transformative book, The Origin of Species. It seems a good time to look back and assess Darwin's legacy within the perspective of current knowledge of genetics, cytogenetics, and molecular biology in general. Although a comprehensive understanding of evolution would no doubt have emerged eventually, it is difficult to imagine how anyone could have matched Darwin’s prodigious and sustained efforts, as well as his talent for explaining things in simple terms.

Highlights

February 12th, 2009 was Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and November 2009 represents the 150th anniversary of the publication of his transformative book, The Origin of Species (Darwin 1859)
As respectable as Darwin and his family undoubtedly were, it is easy to see how the idea of evolution via natural selection would have been seen as a shocking theory in late 19th Century England, essentially a creationist society dominated by a powerful church
The idea of evolution via natural selection was probably not as startling to Darwin as it was to many of his contemporaries, including Thomas Huxley, given that Darwin’s grandfather Dr Erasmus Darwin explicitly proposed a theory of evolution in one of this poetic works, and Charles must have known about that (Quammen 2006)

Summary

Introduction

February 12th, 2009 was Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and November 2009 represents the 150th anniversary of the publication of his transformative book, The Origin of Species (Darwin 1859). The idea of evolution via natural selection was probably not as startling to Darwin as it was to many of his contemporaries, including Thomas Huxley, given that Darwin’s grandfather Dr Erasmus Darwin explicitly proposed a theory of evolution in one of this poetic works, and Charles must have known about that (Quammen 2006).

Results

Conclusion