Darwin and Darwinism

Charles Darwin Born February 12, 1809 (same day and year as Lincoln) Sailed on the HMS Beagle 1831-1836 Published On The Origin of the Species 1859 Published The Descent of man 1871 Died April 19 1882, aged 73

The Scientific Revolution Newton – The Planets move as the result of natural forces, not supernatural ones Lyle – Geology reveals a world millions, not thousands of years old Christian Theologians – But surely living organism, or at least result of direct divine intervention and not natural processes?! human beings are the

Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Organisms reproduce and their reproductions differ a little bit from them (mutation) Some mutations are advantageous in the environment an organism finds itself in, some are not The organisms with an advantage pass on their traits, the one’s without an advantage die off Eventually the changes are big enough that we have a brand new species Given Billions of years, this process can account for all the diversity of life we see today

Evidence for evolution Darwin’s Evidence The Fossil Record Geographic location of various species Comparative Anatomy Artificial Selection Post Darwin Evidence 5) Genes 6) DNA 7) Treating Viruses 8) Embryology

Arguments against Evolution? The Bible Argument – An Ancient book written by anonymous authors tells a story about a man named, “man,” his wife, magic trees, and at talking snake. Evolution cannot account for Complexity of the organs like the brain, or even the eye We don’t have intermediary species We have never “seen” evolution happen.

Some Implications Human beings are simply another type of animal and do not differ in kind for all the other animals Human beings are a part of nature Human beings have come to be as a result of perfectly natural processes that affect all life equally To understand human nature we must learn how and from what humans evolved.