The Discovery of the Theory of Natural Selection by Darwin - Research Paper Example

 The Discovery of the Theory of Natural Selection by Darwin Introduction Charles Darwin was the first man to propose theories about the evolution of life. Considered to be the founder of the evolutionary biology, Darwin proposed to the world that a process called as the “natural selection” is the true reason for the life to evolve the way it is. Although criticized heavily, his work is considered to be the first and the most determined step ever taken towards identifying the evolution of mankind. The report aims at presenting a set of theories that were proposed before Darwin’s and at the same time, provide a detailed analysis about the theory of natural selection. (Campbell, Reece & Simon, 2007) Scientific theories about evolution before Darwin's discovery There were many theories about evolution both from religious and scientific perspectives. Although religious theories were proposed in the 17th century itself, the first scientific approach to evolution of mankind was made by Carolus Linnaeus in the 1750’s. (Maynard, 1993) Considered to be the father of Taxonomy, Linnaeus presented descriptions about each and every organism in nature but failed to present a detailed interpretation of them. Although it was insufficient towards providing any conclusion, it was the first step taken to reason evolution scientifically. (Bowler, 2003) Comte de Buffon, a French mathematician was the next to follow Linneaus to suggest that men and apes were somehow related to each other and that each and every living thing changes over time. Following Buffon was Erasmus Darwin, who, in the year 1794 proposed that there has been consistent evolution in the universe even before the presence of human beings but he failed to provide evidence to support his theory. (Maynard, 1993) It was only Lamarck who first publicly proposed his theory of evolution, although it proved to be wrong in due course. His theory was that humans were evolved into as what they are from very microscopic life less things, which evolved gradually as time progressed. To support his theory, he reasoned that the motive behind the evolution of those microorganisms was to adapt to the changing and evolving environment However, the examples he had given to prove his theory were proven completely wrong and as a result, his theory too. (Maynard, 1993) Background to the Discovery Darwin’s first interest in the natural environment came to him when he met John S. Henslow, who introduced him to the extremities of the natural world. With his recommendation, Darwin was chosen for the HMS Beagle Voyage where he would encounter his inception for his discovery. (Beddall, 1968) During this trip, he found at a place that seashells were present on the top of the cliffs. He was perplexed by that because such sea shells can only be found at the bottom of the sea and that was his first step towards discovering his theory. During this five year trip, he went on more than100 miles trek trips several times and that allowed him to understand the variegated nature of the land. Another reason for him to go on such trek trips was because he was completely sick of sea and always wanted to be offshore during the voyage. (Beddall, 1968) Once Darwin returned to England, his friend Henslow had informed many of the research people about Darwin’s geographical ventures and thus allowed him to start off with his discovery right away. He had ample support from his father who had arranged for investments for his research. After 20 years of research and unyielding support from his colleagues, Darwin finally proposed his theory of evolution - The theory of natural selection. (Beddall, 1968) Natural selection in terms of "modern evolutionary synthesis" According to Darwin, natural selection is a process through which organisms gather and achieve advantageous behavior or development that they feed on to their successive generation so that they can better sustain in the wild whilst the current generation of species eventually dying out. Such a development happens consistently over time and as a result, any inferior organism would eventually get extinguished. The theory of natural selection has been engulfed into all kinds of future scientific discoveries. In the current “modern evolutionary synthesis” too, natural selection remains at the center of it. With the discovery of genetics, natural selection has been looked in a whole new aspect. Extrapolating on the natural selection, the modern synthesis states that every kind of development acquired by the next generation of species is done through the modification of the genes of the current species. That is, as the current species evolves, its genes get modified according to the environment it lives and is gradually passed on to its next generation. (Huxley, 2010) Application of the principles of natural selection to explain why we have the current problem of bacteria that become resistant to antibiotics The usage of antibiotics to kill the bacteria was started in the 1940’s. At the beginning, the usage was minimal but once the usage became prevalent, the antibiotics failed to prevent the spread of bacteria as new ones became resistant to them. Later, as every time the scientists developed new antibiotics to kill those bacteria, new varieties of bacteria continued to involve with the capability to resist such antibiotics. There has been no permanent solution found for this issue and the research is still going on in these areas to prevent the spread of bacteria. But, what needs to be noted here is that the bacteria evolution acts as a true example for Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Once the bacteria get used to the antibiotics, their genes are modified accordingly such that the future generation of bacteria become completely resistant to the antibiotics. This clearly proves the principles of natural selection. (Kerry, 2006) Bibliography Kerry, B. (2006). Evolution of antibiotic resistance. Retrieved from: http://www.evoled.org/lessons/applied.htm The theory of evolution is practically applied to the evolution of bacteria and a clear idea about the principles of Darwin’s theory is elucidated. Campbell, N.A.,Reece, J.B. & Simon, E.J. (2007). Essential biology. Campbell Biology Websites Series. UK:Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. Provides a detailed analysis about the theory of evolution and gives a vivid description of how those principles are applied to our day to day life. Bowler, P. J. (2003). Evolution: The History of an Idea. California: University of California Press. Provides an account of the history behind the idea of evolution. The idea of evolution encountered from all perspectives has been clearly explained in this book. Huxley, J. S. (2010). Evolution: the modern synthesis. Pennsylvania: The MIT Press. pp. 784. The theory of modern synthesis and how it has evolved through the introduction of genetics and how it bridges the relationship between people who study genetics and naturalists is clearly explained Maynard, S. J. (1993). The Theory of Evolution: Canto Edition. UK: Cambridge University Press. The history of evolution and the scientific theories proposed by different scientists are explained vividly. Beddall, B. G. (1968). Wallace, Darwin, and the Theory of Natural Selection. Journal of the History of Biology, 1 (2), 261–323 The life history of Darwin, the influences that he had while developing his theory are all well explained in this article. Read More