DARWIN’S DANGEROUS IDEA THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE AND BEYOND…

What Cavemen Thought

What Victorians Thought

What We Think

Aristotle Aristotle ( B.C.E.) Observed the structure of both plants and animals. Classified animals into genera and species. Aristotle’s teachings were rediscovered in the middle ages and were fused with Christian doctrine. Though some of Aristotle’s ideas were incorrect, many of his observations concerning plants and animals were quite accurate.

Carolus Linnaeus 1700’s Linnaeus is best know as the creator of Binomial Nomenclature: The genus and species system of classification As a naturalist, Linnaeus was concerned with descriptive biology only. No thought to speciation of evolution was ever implied. Structure and function were his only concern.

Charles Darwin at age 51 ( ) Born Feb. 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Most decorated scientist Published “Origin of Species” in 1859 His writings concerning speciation, revolutionized the study of biology Proposed natural selection as the mechanism for speciation Wrote books on many biological topics, from earthworms to snails A superstar of his day Never Knighted because of the controversy surrounding his ideas

Georges Cuvier ( ) – French Paleontologist Catastrophism – Opposed Evolution "Why has not anyone seen that fossils alone gave birth to a theory about the formation of the earth, that without them, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe." Perhaps Cuvier's most crucial and longest-lasting contribution to biology was establishing extinction as a fact. Periodic "revolutions", or catastrophes, had befallen the Earth; each one wiped out a number of species. Cuvier did not believe in organic evolution. Georges CuvierGeorges Cuvier

Jean Baptiste Lamarck – Lamarck was born on August 1, 1744, in the village of Bazentin-le-Petit in the north of France. Lamarck published a series of books on invertebrate zoology and paleontology. Of these, Philosophie zoologique, published in 1809, most clearly states Lamarck's theories of evolution. Lamarck called the "First Law" that use or disuse causes structures to enlarge or shrink. The “Second Law” stated that all such changes were heritable. USE IT OR LOSE IT Jean-Baptiste Lamarck ( ) Jean-Baptiste Lamarck ( )

Lamarck’s Acquired Traits

James Hutton Considered the father of modern geology Scottish geologist, naturalist, chemist Trained as both a lawyer and doctor Founded the Theory of Gradualism which proposed that profound change is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes Thought the Earth to be extremely old

Sir Charles Lyell - Uniformitarionism Sir Charles Lyell was born in Scotland on November 14, 1797 and died in London on February 22, He attended Oxford University at age 19 Oxford University The kinds of causes which affected the earth in the past must be assumed to have been exactly those we see in operation today (such as erosion, sediment deposition, volcanic action, earthquakes etc.) Furthermore, these causes must be assumed to have been of the same intensity in the past as we observe them today. GRADUALISM OR UNIFORMITARIANISM Charles Lyell ( ) geologist. tml

Alfred Wallace Wallace researched speciation, in Micronesia, and confided his ideas to Darwin in a letter in the 1850’s. Darwin, in a panic over someone else publishing before him, gathered his friends together to ask their advice as to what to do. Darwin, subsequently published his “Origin of Species,” in Darwin, a true scientists, gave credit to Wallace, and collaborated with him. The two became close friends for the remainder of Darwin’s life.

John Stevens Henslow ( ) Botanist and geologist at St. Johns College, Cambridge, England Mentor and close friend of Darwin Defended Darwin’s ideas on speciation Country clergyman

Adam Sedgwick Sedgwick, a famous English geologist, became Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge, in 1818, and President of the Geological Soc. Of London. Primarily a catastrophist, but came around to Lyell’s gradualism. Published, “Principles of Geology,” which greatly influenced Darwin. Darwin and Sedgwick became close friends, though he never accepted Darwin’s ideas. Upon Darwin’s return to England, Sedgwick promoted him and had him admitted into the Geological Society.

The HMS Beagle An 8-gun Bark

The Route: A 5-Year Voyage

The Galapagos Islands

Darwin In Context

Evidence of Change Over Time

The Future

The Continents In Motion