So now on to consider Charles Darwin. Darwin s starting point in a world of rapidly developing philosophical transitions.

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1 So now on to consider Charles Darwin. Darwin s starting point in a world of rapidly developing philosophical transitions.

2 There are many published analyses of Darwin s thought processes, and how they led to his formulation of a radically new paradigm for thinking about the origin and development of life on our planet. Countless scholars ever since 1859 have made entire careers out of dissecting and reassembling various components of Darwin s philosophical arguments. 22

It would be easy for me to hijack our discussions in this consideration of ocean exploration, and steer us completely into a biological discourse on the significance of Darwin s theories and his

3 It would be easy for me to hijack our discussions in this consideration of ocean exploration, and steer us completely into a biological discourse on the significance of Darwin s theories and his contributions strictly to a dozen specialties in life sciences. But, in a wider context, Darwin has to be a phenomenon of exceptionally pervasive interest, historically, philosophically, sociologically and even more widely. Earlier, we showed some of his early life experiences and contacts that led him to be accepted by FitzRoy as a Captain s companion on the second voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. Now we pick up Darwin s experiences after his return to England in We should note that Charles Darwin was promptly elected to fellowship in the Royal Society of London (FRS) within a couple of years of the end of the voyage. Note that this was long (20 years) before the first edition of his famous work, Origin of Species, was published (1859). For several pages of this biographical sketch of Darwin, both before and after 1859, note the enormous productivity of the 19 th century scholar! 23

We remember (slightly better than this long delay of a couple of decades) that Darwin was essentially rushed to get into print with his exposition of his theory of the mutability of species, and

4 We remember (slightly better than this long delay of a couple of decades) that Darwin was essentially rushed to get into print with his exposition of his theory of the mutability of species, and their proliferation by means of selection by natural forces. This was 22 years after his return from the second voyage, and the rusher was in a very real sense a protégé of Darwin himself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace had come breathtakingly close to Darwin s own explanations for the diversification of natural life by selection of the most favorably adapted individuals generation after generation in multicellular plants and animals. 24

So, it is true that after receiving a letter from Wallace, Darwin hurried to publish what he thought of as an abstract of his theoretical triumph, a new paradigm for thinking about the fixity or

5 So, it is true that after receiving a letter from Wallace, Darwin hurried to publish what he thought of as an abstract of his theoretical triumph, a new paradigm for thinking about the fixity or mutability of forms of life on Earth. But it is also true that he had been turning over in his mind the elements of his theories for years, while he worked on other phenomena in natural history. The story of the publication of the first edition of Origin of Species is loaded with interesting sidelights and contrasting perspectives. Next week, Marvin Falk will discuss the publishing house of Murray in England, which published some seven editions of Origin, among many other scholarly works. Not all of those many other books flew off the shelf with the speed of Origin, which sold out of 1,500 copies in one day! Another dimension of the fun of contemplating Darwin s accomplishments: what really held him back for so long, or what might have broken his imagined reluctance to advance his theories into print. Some people have suggested that his devout wife Emma retarded his progress, but serious scholars note that as Darwin wrote feverishly, he enlisted her help for proofreading and improving the sharpness of his arguments in print. Another suggestion is that the death of beloved Annie, his 10-year old daughter, in 1851 was crucial in destroying his faith in a beneficent Creator. But there are other indications that such faith had deserted Darwin years before

6 Darwin, like the late Dr. Stephen Hawking, had disabilities. But like Hawking, Darwin would probably have denied being handicapped by them. This last page of Darwin s Biographical Sketch shows that he remained remarkably productive, right up to the final year of is life (1882). 26

7 Darwin s disabilities were both physical and environmental in the sense that the rest of science had not yet elucidated tools and mechanisms for understanding things like statistics, inheritance and chemical/physical insight into the decay rates of unstable isotopes by which to determine the age of fossils. By contrast, Darwin brought to bear some key strengths of character and aptitude that all scholars and scientists could (should?) envy. 27

8 Whatever our backgrounds and special interests, we should admire the enormity of challenges that Darwin faced. Here is just one: the nature of what we mean by the word kind or type or species. Just this one hurdle among many is persistent, even to this day. (cite example of Tenrecs in Madagascar explored by Kathryn Everson, SCI-06, p. 24 in OLLI Spring 18 Catalog) 28

9 As this week s first slide might have indicated, The history, it turns out, of Darwinian theory or Darwinism, is not over. Far from it. 29

10 One of my undergraduate mentors, Ernst Mayr, has published half a dozen books on Darwin and Darwinian legacies. His analysis led him to identify no less than five separate theories underlying his over-arching intellectual legacy and paradigm for life on Earth. 30

Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Who Started A Scientific Revolution By Cyril Aydon READ ONLINE

Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Who Started A Scientific Revolution By Cyril Aydon READ ONLINE Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Naturalist of a new paradigm in natural history and biology that increasingly