HPSC20002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Second Voyage Of Hms Beagle, Erasmus Darwin, Special Creation
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
DAY 7: DARWIN AND EVOLUTION
Evolution
• Evolution in the context of life on Earth is the idea that one kind of organism can change into another kind over time
o Includes, but is not identical to, changes caused by natural selection
• Natural selection causes change, and also things to remain the same - not always evolution!!!!!
• Darwin was subject to much opposition about On the Origin of Species
Classical Period
• Anaximander (610-546 BCE): Greek philosopher before Aristotle, wrote On Nature, oldest known support of
something like biological evolution
o Believed humans came from fish
• Empedocles (490-30bce): Greek philosopher before Aristotle, wrote On Nature, oldest known supporter of something
like natural selection
o Originator of the theory of four elements: wind, earth, water, fire
Medieval Period
• According to Genesis: God created everything in 6 days
o Special creation: all species arrived fully formed and do not change
• Augustine (354-430CE): held that god created the soil and sea with the potential to generate new forms of life
o Spontaneous generation of life forming out of raw material - Genesis allowed for this
o A kind of evolution
• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274): mentioned Empedocles in a commentary of Aristotles Physics
o Accepted spontaneous generation
o Medievals' did not hold species immutable
• At this time, species was another word for 'kind' or 'sort'
• Increasing interest in facts and observations from the 9th C among educated theologians
o In the 16th C. scholars begin to challenge the authority of the Bible as the primary source of information
about life on Earth
o In the 17th C., this became the norm - rise of empiricism
Charlies Darwin (1809-82)
• English scientist, passionate about natural history - yet was sent to university to become a doctor or clergyman
• Spent time with his lecturers to learn about biology - wasn't taught then
• Accepts place on the voyage of the HMS Beagle
Beagle Voyage 1831-1836
• Read Lyell's Principles of Geology - didn’t agree with evolution, Uniformitarianism
• Open to evolution, but reject Lamarck
After the Beagle
• Proved biogeography - Finches and Tortoises
• Read An essay on the principle of population 1798 - Malthus
o Discovered the idea of struggle for existence in nature - adapted for Malthus' ideas on humans
• Many scientists had tools to uncover this - fossils, age of the earth etc.
• 1844, Robert Chambers wrote The Vestiges of the natural history of creation
o Life began as a simple form, that became more complex over time
Origins of Life
• Darwin's speculations on the origins of life are seen in letters, rather than published - proposed chemical evolution as
the origin of life of the universal common ancestor
• Erasmus Darwin: wrote about the origin of life, believed organic life began in the ocean, then moved to the land
• Miller-Urey experiment (1958) -experiment using hypothetical early-earth atmosphere, and created organic material
and amino acids
• Modern Research:
o Mineral surfaces act at catalysts for complex chemical reactions
o Connection between life and minerals is complex - deeply interconnected
o Ideas of scientists: Mineral evolution occurs according to the unique processes of various geological epochs,
and some 2/3 of minerals on Earth could not have existed without life and it's associated chemical processes
Document Summary
Evolution in the context of life on earth is the idea that one kind of organism can change into another kind over time. Includes, but is not identical to, changes caused by natural selection: natural selection causes change, and also things to remain the same - not always evolution!!!, darwin was subject to much opposition about on the origin of species. Classical period: anaximander (610-546 bce): greek philosopher before aristotle, wrote on nature, oldest known support of something like biological evolution. Empedocles (490-30bce): greek philosopher before aristotle, wrote on nature, oldest known supporter of something like natural selection: originator of the theory of four elements: wind, earth, water, fire. Medieval period: according to genesis: god created everything in 6 days. Special creation: all species arrived fully formed and do not change: augustine (354-430ce): held that god created the soil and sea with the potential to generate new forms of life.
