I
believe that Charles Lyell had the most influence over Darwin's development of
his theory of natural selection. Lyell was not only a mentor of Darwin's, but
also a friend. The academic influence lies within Lyell's Principles of Geology which Darwin took with him on his 5 year trip
aboard the Beagle. This book talks about the concept of the world being so much
older than previously thought which led to a different concept of possibilities
about the change of animals in nature. One of the core concepts that Lyell
helped with Darwin's thought process was the change in the time line. Darwin's
theory of natural selection would prove to take many populations to die and
eventually see a manifestation of change in a population through natural
selection. The enveloping of a new possible time line for animals to change
gave Darwin a possibility of animals changing over millions of years instead of
thousands of years which far better fit his concept of a population change over
time due to the natural selection process.
Charles Darwin could have
conceptually established his theory of natural selection without the presence
of Lyell, but because the concept of a longer time line was not yet introduced,
Darwin seems unlikely to have presented his ideas to the scientific community. I
think that because Darwin's extremely shy demeanor in which he was very afraid
of tarnishing the image of his and his father's name that Darwin would not have
presented the ideas that he had found. Those ideas would have been found either
when that concept had been introduced or when he had died and someone had read
through his scientific journals.
The attitude of the Church mostly
indirectly affected Darwin. This affect being that the scientific community had
held similar thoughts as the Church during his time. This made Darwin unsure of
publishing his concepts due to the possibility of tarnishing his name. Once
published On the Origin of Species
received a completely negative opinion of the public, but the scientific
community eventually came to Darwin's support.
Sources:
Introduction
to Physical Anthropology
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_12
http://www.merke.ch/biografien/biologen_en/darwin.php
Hi Jonathon, I agree that Lyell's ideas regarding time made the theory of natural selection plausible and allowed Darwin to shape his ideas within a new, more realistic timeline. I disagree that he was the most influential, but I think beyond doubt that without Lyell's ideas, the theory of natural selection may not have been possible.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Hello Jonathon! I want this to sound as "non-creepy" as possible, but I specifically chose to read your blog, and I want to give the reasons behind it. I come from a religious background and with that being said, I have not learned about anything to do with evolution. After reading your post to The Valgus Angle I understood that you do believe in evolution, and you seem to know a lot about it. With that being said, I love learning about new religions, new concepts and now: evolution. I find it extremely fascinating. Now that does not mean I am throwing away my religion! But I am very interested in learning more about evolution and how others perceive it, case in point, you. So Again, I hope this isn't creepy and please correct me if I'm wrong and you do not believe in evolution, but if you do, I'm just going to follow your blog a little more closely.
ReplyDeleteNow! Based off what you posted here, you argued that Charles Lyell was had the most influence. I argued that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck had the most influence, in the sense I think Darwin based some of his concepts off what Lamarck talked about; inherited traits, species coming into perfection. It's what Lamarck is mostly known for, so I find it funny that he died in poverty and Darwin is held up on this podium for his great ideas... which I find were Lamarck's ideas.
I do agree with you completely that the attitude of the Church affected Darwin indirectly. I believe Darwin was afraid (as you mentioned) to tarnish his name, to offend the church and others. I can't imagine ever being in a position that would challenge practically everyone's views in the church; so of course I would hesitate to publish or even mention my work!
I wrote my post on Lamarck but it was hard to decide because Lyell had such a strong influence as well. I feel that the basis of Darwin's ideas lies more strongly with Lamarck while more of the detail may lie with Lyell.
ReplyDeleteYou bring good points to saying that Charles Lyell had the most influence over Darwin’s development of his theory of natural selection. You brought up good evidence on how not only way Lyell was a mentor, but a friend. The fact that one of the core concepts that helped Darwin’s thought process was the change in the time line. I completely agree that the church had affected Darwin, due to the fact that no one wanted to hear about the theories about evolution and how they wanted to believe in God the creator.
ReplyDelete"a new possible time line for animals to change gave Darwin a possibility of animals changing over millions of years instead of thousands of years"
ReplyDeleteExcellent. That right there is indeed the key to Lyell's influence on Darwin.
Very good post. I was interested in reading your analysis on whether Darwin would have presented his work without Lyell. You may indeed be correct and you are spot on in your recognition of Darwin's reserved nature. Lyell not only gave him time for natural selection to work, he gave him the support and confidence he desperately needed to finally publish his work in spite of his fears of how it might affect his family.