Darwin Beagles
Below is a short sample of the essay Darwin Beagles. If you sign up you could be reading the rest of this essay in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view the essay.
Darwin Beagles
Biology came of age on November 24, 1859, the day Charles Darwin published On The Origin
of Species by Means of Natural Selection. His book presented the first convincing case for
evolution and led the way in the emergence of biology from a bewildering chaos of facts into a
cohesive science. In biology, evolution refers to all the changes that have transformed life on
Earth from its earliest beginnings to the seeningly infinite diversity that characterizes it today.
Darwin addressed the sweeping issues of biology: the great diversity of organisms, their origins
and relationships, their similarities and differences, their geographical distribution, and their
adaptations to the surrounding environment.
Darwin made two points in The Origin of Species. First, he argued from the evidence that
species were not specifically created in their present forms, but had evolved from ancestral
species. Second, Darwin described a mechanism for evolution, which he termed natural selection.
Evolutionary change is based mainly on the interactions between populations of organisms and
their environments. The Origin of Species was truly radical, for not only did it challenge
prevailing scientific views, but it also shook the deepest roots of Western culture. Darwin’s view
of life contrasted sharply with the conventional paradigm of an Earth only a few thousand years
old, populated by immutable (unchanging) forms of life that had been individually made by the
Creator during the single week in which he formed the entire universe. Darwin’s ideas subverted a
world view that had been taught for centuries.
THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE --- Darwin was 22 years old when he sailed from England
with the Beagle in December 1831. The primary mission of the voyage was to chart poorly
known stretches of the South American coastline. While the crew of the ship surveyed the coast,
Darwin spent most of his time on shore, collecting thousands of specimens of the exotic and
exceedingly diverse fauna and flora of South America.
As the ship worked its way around the continent, Darwin was able to observe the various
adaptations of plants and animals that inhabited such diverse environments as the Brazilian
jungles, the expansive grasslands of the Argentine pampas, the desolate lands of Tierra del Fuego
near Antartica, and the towering heights of the Andes Mountains. He realized that the fauna and
flora were very distinct from the life forms of Europe. The plants ...
The complete article is about 879 words and 3.52 pages long.
To continue reading the complete article, subscribe below and get free instant unlimited access.
Once you have registered for an Account, No refunds can be issued.
Please make sure you look over the site before you purchase an account!!!
|
