Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life

Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species became his main work, telling the world about the evolutionary theory of the development of life on Earth. Its impact on the whole of science has been enormous. With his publication the British scientist laid the foundation for a new era in biology.

The history of the book

The scientific work "Origin of Species" was published by Darwin in 1859. The appearance of the book was preceded by the long-term work of the researcher. The work is based on records that Darwin has been leading since 1837. As a naturalist, he visited the round-the-world trip on the ship "Beagle". Observations of the fauna of South America and the tropical islands during this voyage made the British think about whether the church theory is correct about the divine origin of life.

The predecessor of Darwin was Charles Lyell. His ideas also inspired the traveler. Finally, after two decades of hard work, the book "The Origin of Species" appeared. The main message of the author was this: all kinds of plants and animals change over time. The main incentive for these metamorphoses is the struggle for life. From generation to generation, the species receives useful signs and gets rid of unnecessary ones, in order to adapt to existence in a volatile environment.

Selection and Evolution

The publication of Darwin produced the effect of a bomb exploding. "The origin of species" bought up with great speed, and the more rumors spread about this book, the more there was demand. Within two or three years there were translations into major European languages.

What is it that surprised the advanced public? In the introduction to the book, Darwin briefly outlined his main ideas. Further, the author gradually carefully argued each his thesis. At first he considered the experience of horse breeding and breeding pigeons. The experience of breeders was another source of inspiration for the scientist. He posed to the readers the question: "Why do domesticated breeds of animals change and differ from their wild relatives?" In this example, Darwin briefly explained the origin of species on a larger, worldwide scale. Like home populations, all of them gradually transformed because of environmental changes. But if in cattle breeding there is an artificial selection undertaken by a person, then natural selection operates .

Genus and species

In the era of Darwin, there was still no single and generally accepted species system. Scientists have proposed various theories and hypotheses of grouping living beings. The same attempt was made in the book The Origin of Species. Charles Darwin proposed classification by birth. Each such unit includes several types. This principle is universal. For example, there are many kinds of horses. Some of them are larger, some are faster, some are found only in a certain region. Thus, species are only varieties of one common genus.

The palette of individual differences arose from nature. The order in it is a constant struggle for existence. In the course of it, the species change and are divided into subspecies, which in the course of time increasingly differ from each other. The most insignificant unique feature (for example, the shape of the beak in birds) can be a significant advantage in survival. The individual, who will succeed, in contrast to unlike neighbors, survive, will pass on his features to the offspring. And in a few generations, a unique feature will become a characteristic feature of many individuals.

Controversy with opponents

In the 6th and 7th chapters of his book Charles Darwin answers criticism of opponents of his theory. In the first publication, he rather intuitively guessed the claims of creationists, church ministers and other scientists. In subsequent intravital reprints, the author responded to the objections of specific opponents, calling them by their names.

It is known that Charles Darwin was not an eloquent speaker in public. In the stands, his theory was best defended by Thomas Huxley. But in the silence of the office Darwin formulated everything in a capacious and accurate way. He razed his opponents one by one, than only more attracted attention to the book.

Paleontological notes

The British scientist for a long time wrote "The Origin of Species" for so long. Charles Darwin not only explained his theory in terms of biology, but also argued through geographic distribution and paleontology. The scientist drew attention to numerous finds of fossils that recorded traces of extinct forms of life. Thanks to paleontology, it became possible to study in detail the disappeared and intermediate species.

It was precisely the works of Darwin that made this science extremely popular, why in the second half of the XIX century it experienced a real flowering. The scientist was one of the first to describe the mechanism of preserving the remains. He noted that under normal environmental conditions, organic tissues die and leave no traces. However, when they enter the water, permafrost or amber, they persist for a long time.

Distribution of species

Arguing about the migration and migration of species, Darwin was able from the chaos of notes and facts to build an organic system full of rules and regularities. The results of natural selection can cover whole climatic zones. The biologist, however, noted that there are natural barriers to the spread of animals and plants. Land species have such an irresistible boundary - huge water spaces between the New and Old World.

Interestingly, in his arguments, Darwin dismissed theories about disappeared continents (for example, about Atlantis). His arguments about how plants spread from the mainland to the mainland are curious. The scientist put forward a hypothesis, which can be explained by the following example. Seeds can be swallowed by birds, which, when flying to the other end of the world, leave them there in excrement. Such a conclusion was not the only one. The seedlings, together with dirt, could stick to the paws of birds and, together with them, fall onto a new continent. Further spread of the plant became a matter of time.

Features of embryos

In Chapter 14, Darwin drew attention to the similarity of organs-rudiments and embryonic development in plants and animals. From this observation, he concluded about the common origin of all species. On the other hand, the similarity of certain features was explained by the scientist with the same habitat. For example, fish and whales actually have little in common, although outwardly they look approximately the same.

Also, Darwin stressed that larvae of one species when they fall into different conditions will behave completely differently. All instincts of embryos are associated with only one factor - the desire to survive in a changing environment. Speaking about the larvae, the scientist called them a kind of chronicle of the whole species to which they belong.

End of the book

In concluding his work, Darwin summarized his own discoveries. His book was a typical work of Victorian England with all the usual diplomacy and roundness of formulations. For example, although the author became the founder of the scientific explanation of the formation of life, he made several conciliatory gestures in relation to religion.

The results of natural selection and the theory of evolution immediately became a serious problem for the church. In the epilogue, Darwin recalled: Leibniz once criticized Newton's physical laws, but time showed that these attacks were erroneous. The author of the sensational work expressed the hope that his own book will also find recognition, despite the serious pressure of creationists and other skeptics. Today we can say with confidence that this is what happened.