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Was there a debate when Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
There was indeed a big debate. Scientists, for the most part, became quickly persuaded by his views, such that most today accept the theory as essentially correct. Initially, however, it was thought the earth had not existed long enough for evolution to occur. Darwin recognized his theory would require hundreds of millions of years. While geologists of the late 19th century came to accept the notion (based on evidence) the world was hundreds of millions of years old, astronomers and physicists did not see how the sun could have been shining so long.
In particular Lord Kelvin declared that, barring some new, unknown source of energy, the sun could not possibly shine for more than 20 million years. (Even that figure was a substantial stretch). Ernest Rutherford, however, discovered that new energy source--atomic energy. He and other physicists discovered methods for confirming the ages of geologic strata estimated by the geologists through the decay of long lived isotopes found in volcanic rock.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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How did Charles Darwin spread the idea of evolution?
He didn't. Charles Darwin did not like the rough and tumble of public debate about his idea, though scientific debate was another thing altogether. The debate had spilled over into the public arena and needed on the spot debaters, which Charles Darwin was not. So, Darwin's friends that he first convinced of the rightness of his theory went to bat for him. Thomas Huxley, Darwin's bulldog, was foremost among them, but there were also others. Hooker, Lyell, and Wallace were the other main defenders of the theory in Darwin's stead.
When and how did the debate over theories of evolution begin?
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace were the first to formulate a scientific argument for the theory of evolution. In 1859 Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species. Until this was published there were other ideas.There is a competing idea, not a theory, that is creationism. This is based on theological thinking.
What makes known or popular by Charles Darwin?
Charles Darwin is best known for his work on the theory of evolution through natural selection. His book, "On the Origin of Species," published in 1859, outlines this theory and had a significant impact on the scientific community, sparking widespread debate and discussion. Darwin's theory challenged traditional religious and scientific beliefs about the origins of species and laid the foundation for modern evolutionary biology.
How would newton react to Darwin's theory?
I am doing a roundtable project where we have to pretend newton and darwin live in the same time. How would newton react to darwin's theory of evolution and what type of things would they argue/debate over?
If Charles Darwin were to sit down to debate Jean-Baptiste Lamarck which one what arguments would Darwin be most likely to accept as sound?
it's likely that organisms, including bacteria are always changing
If Charles Darwin were to sit down to debate Jean Bapiste Lamarck which one what arguments would Darwin be most likely to accept as sound?
C. It's likely that organisms, including bacteria, are always changing
What kind of debate does the senate have?
The Senate usually allows unlimited debate on proposed legislation!
What was not a responsibility of the speaker of the house?
to debate proposed legislation
If Charles Darwin were to sit down to debate Jean-Baptiste Lamarck what would they agree on?
C. It's likely that organisms, including bacteria, are always changing 8/22/08
What are the six scientific advances since Darwins death that have provided support for the theory of evolution?
There is nothing newly or old that support Darwin's evolution theory.Some of scientists reject Darwin's Theory of evolution and some of them don't. t I personally support it fairly due to my own beliefs and other scientist reject it for their on. Don't think that what you read in the Internet is always correct. The edge of science will always be on debate. Let me note that Darwin lived in another era and the ability of explaining natural laws was not even close than the way we can explain it today. So for me he earned my respected.
How did Charles Darwin discovery change science?
Next year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It is also the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The life and work of a great scientist and a seminal figure in intellectual history will, therefore, be the subject of intense interest and debate in the coming year. Such events as an outstanding Darwin exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, a Darwin Anniversary Festival at Cambridge, and the reopening to public view of Darwin's home, Down House in Kent, merit enthusiastic interest and support.But one aspect of these educational ventures is especially worth noting. Darwin is not merely a man of his time. The extent of his achievement gives him a plausible claim to be counted the greatest figure in this nation's history. And his ideas, while confirmed by mountains of evidence, remain startling in their implications for prescientific modes of thinking. They are consequently an enduring target for movements that disdain critical inquiry and the life of the mind. In 2009 the celebration of Darwin has a value beyond a 19th-century scientist's findings about the natural world. The communication of Darwin's ideas is integral to a culture that values learning over superstition and dogmatism.The publication of On the Origin of Species on November 24, 1859, represented - in the words of Ernst Mayr, the biologist - "perhaps the greatest intellectual revolution experienced by mankind". The book's importance lay in Darwin's not only adducing the fact of evolution but also in discovering its main mechanism. This was natural selection, the process by which small variations operating over millions of generations produce new varieties and new species.The ideas formulated in Darwin's writings are not merely a branch of science. They are the keystone of numerous areas of inquiry. Theodosius Dobzhansky, the geneticist, encapsulated Darwin's importance when he observed: "Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of evolution." When, in 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson unravelled the structure of DNA - among the most important scientific discoveries of the last century - they demonstrated the power of Darwin's insights. Here were the units of inheritance that cause evolution, and that provide the link between all living organisms.Despite the overwhelming evidence for evolution, Darwin's ideas remain unsettling to some, because they demonstrate that natural processes are a sufficient explanation for the development of life on Earth. Mainstream religious denominations have no difficulty accepting Darwin's discoveries. But a minority, across faiths, aim to present sacred creation myths (sometimes ineffectually disguised under the label "Intelligent Design") as if they were scientific truth. Extraordinarily, Sarah Palin, the defeated US Republican vice-presidential nominee, is on record as believing that biblical Creationism should be taught in science education alongside evolution.- times online
Is Darwin's Theory of Evolution true?
There is plenty of fossil records and observable speciation to provide evidence for Evolution. Within the scientific community there is little to no debate on whether evolution is wrong. No concrete evidence has been provided by anyone to dispute the claims of evolution since its formulation by Darwin, otherwise it would have been discarded through the scientific method.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------While the above is right, observation and scientific studies provide evidence and arguments to the theory.
