The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
Review by Karl Abellanosa
Charles Darwin's book, The Origin of Species is one of the greatest book written in the 19th century. The book provided the foundation for modern biology. It also affected some areas like religion, ethics and literature. The book has also been proven to be useful to the scientists and philosophers that followed Darwin.
Darwin's book focused on the his argument that there are three components or mechanisms for evolution which are; variation, inheritance of traits, and differential reproductive success. Variation occurs when there is a mutation or recombination of genes in the individuals. This is more of a biological factor. Second is the inheritance of traits. Parents can pass some of their traits to their offsprings. Then, the offsprings carry these traits and pass them to the next generation, this allows preservation of some traits. Last is the differential reproduvtive success. Couples can produce a wide range of offsprings in their lifetime. A mother can concieve on child while the other can concieve three. This results to a more differentiated population. These three factors, as Darwin stated in his book are the factors that explain how natural selection happens. These are called non-chance factors. And together with time, which he defined as a chance factor, will lead to evolution.
His theory was proven to be true because of logical and emperical claims. Science also agreed to Darwin's theory because his book showed a lot of examples and evidences that can prove his theory. He cited some animals that showed a different way of acting or have grown special or additional organs. The finches that Darwin observed have different forms of organs, especially their beak. Their beaks differ from each other based on where they are found. The finches that lives near the shore developed long pointed beaks to be able to find food in the rocks. These amazed Darwin and made his theory on evolution stronger.
The biblical account that living creatures are created individually with their traits different from the start by a Divine Designer was countered by Darwin on his book. The book erased the idea of this Designer stating that design arose from the continous evolution of some simple beings, with the three factors present. This makes the Desinger useless because the living things themselves can evolve and produce variations. The effect was that peole started questioning things and staarted to question God, the Divine Designer, and His exsistence.
The book also discussed domestication. Why people domesticate animals and how did they come up with this idea. He related domestication as the main source of variation among animals. When animals are taken care of, humans can decide what traits these animals must have in order to satisfy their needs and wants. These is one reason how animals vary from each other. Darwin also discussed that variation can also occur in nature without human intervention. Factors like weather, predetors and the like can affect the evolution of animals.
Therefore, Darwin's theory of evolution is a rock-solid foundation for the modern science we have today. Even it was proven by many examples and evidences and studies conducted by other researchers, many still question it. The major opponent it faces is the church. Darwin's theory on evolution and what the Bible says about the beginning of human life, especially in the book of Genesis contradicts. Some philosophers say that it is just a myth. To conclude, it is in ourselves, the readers to believe or not in what he says.
Darwin's book focused on the his argument that there are three components or mechanisms for evolution which are; variation, inheritance of traits, and differential reproductive success. Variation occurs when there is a mutation or recombination of genes in the individuals. This is more of a biological factor. Second is the inheritance of traits. Parents can pass some of their traits to their offsprings. Then, the offsprings carry these traits and pass them to the next generation, this allows preservation of some traits. Last is the differential reproduvtive success. Couples can produce a wide range of offsprings in their lifetime. A mother can concieve on child while the other can concieve three. This results to a more differentiated population. These three factors, as Darwin stated in his book are the factors that explain how natural selection happens. These are called non-chance factors. And together with time, which he defined as a chance factor, will lead to evolution.
His theory was proven to be true because of logical and emperical claims. Science also agreed to Darwin's theory because his book showed a lot of examples and evidences that can prove his theory. He cited some animals that showed a different way of acting or have grown special or additional organs. The finches that Darwin observed have different forms of organs, especially their beak. Their beaks differ from each other based on where they are found. The finches that lives near the shore developed long pointed beaks to be able to find food in the rocks. These amazed Darwin and made his theory on evolution stronger.
The biblical account that living creatures are created individually with their traits different from the start by a Divine Designer was countered by Darwin on his book. The book erased the idea of this Designer stating that design arose from the continous evolution of some simple beings, with the three factors present. This makes the Desinger useless because the living things themselves can evolve and produce variations. The effect was that peole started questioning things and staarted to question God, the Divine Designer, and His exsistence.
The book also discussed domestication. Why people domesticate animals and how did they come up with this idea. He related domestication as the main source of variation among animals. When animals are taken care of, humans can decide what traits these animals must have in order to satisfy their needs and wants. These is one reason how animals vary from each other. Darwin also discussed that variation can also occur in nature without human intervention. Factors like weather, predetors and the like can affect the evolution of animals.
Therefore, Darwin's theory of evolution is a rock-solid foundation for the modern science we have today. Even it was proven by many examples and evidences and studies conducted by other researchers, many still question it. The major opponent it faces is the church. Darwin's theory on evolution and what the Bible says about the beginning of human life, especially in the book of Genesis contradicts. Some philosophers say that it is just a myth. To conclude, it is in ourselves, the readers to believe or not in what he says.