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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.

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Related Questions

In what ways was the Charles Darwin's remarkable?

Charles Darwin s life was remarkable because he changed many people lives and the way the think about religion life also shows that whatever you do you can always change or try to change the the world he was also remarkable because he added another way of thinking into science.


What was Charles Darwin most famous for?

There are many famous discoveries in Darwin's work, but I would say what Darwin is most famous for the discovery of evolution.


What did Charles Darwin do to change the world?

Discovered Natural Selection


When did the discovery of evolution take place?

The discovery of evolution began in the 19th century with scientists like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace proposing the theory of natural selection as a mechanism driving evolutionary change. Darwin's seminal work, "On the Origin of Species," was published in 1859 and is considered a foundational text in the field of evolution.


Did Charles Darwin change religious belief?

No. Charles Darwin was a scientist, what he had to say challenged religious certainties but nothing he said was in any way meant to be religious.


Who proposed the hypothesis that species change over time?

Charles Darwin


How can science change you?

Science is a method of discovery. It can't change anything. It can help you learn about your environment and the universe.


Why did Isaac Newton discovery change science?

becas


How has Charles Darwin changed the world?

becuse he told everyone about time change.


What did Charles Darwin call his mechanism of change?

Charles Darwin called his mechanism of change "natural selection." This process favors the survival and reproduction of organisms that are best adapted to their environment, leading to the gradual change of species over time.


How did Charles Darwin impact or change the world?

Well being a sophisticates naturalist myself i must say Charles Darwin was a dumb incombuent with no life ;) sincerly yours: Troll


Who wrote about evolution?

Charles Darwin is best known for his work on the theory of evolution, outlined in his book "On the Origin of Species" published in 1859. Darwin proposed the idea of natural selection as the mechanism for evolutionary change.