It’s the 197th birthday of Charles Darwin today. No one in history has had a greater impact on the natural sciences than him, and he remains to this day an icon, a true great in the world of Science.
Reading On the Origin of Species was an epiphany for me. Darwin became my hero, and cemented my burgeoning interests in Natural History. I longed to one day travel to the Galapagos, and realized that dream several years ago.
The Galapagos Islands are also iconic in the myth that surrounds Darwin, and although what he saw there furthered the questions he began asking about the mechanics of Evolution, in truth his entire experience on the Voyage of the Beagle contributed to his understanding of Natural Selection. He ruminated for a long time on publishing what he came to understand, knowing that it was revolutionary, and knowing that revolutions frequently met resistance. He suffered ill health, perhaps in part because of the stress he felt (and perhaps he may have had Chagas Disease contacted in South America), and was finally spurred to publish when news of Wallace’s impending publication reached him.
Many people misunderstand just what he contributed. That life evolved was already known, Darwin’s grandfather himself had been a proponent of a theory of Evolution later proved wrong. What he had discovered was the mechanics behind the changes, Natural Selection. Simply put mutation occurs all of the time, if mutation proves beneficial to an organism it will make it more "fit" for its niche and that it will retain that characteristic. Slowly over time these changes will accumulate and new species will arise. It is not directed but random and nature can be a harsh selector of what works and what doesn’t. Stephen Jay Gould put it this way… Take some pick-up sticks and let them fall, that represents the variation. Perhaps only one of those sticks will be a successful variance. After time you have another handful of pickup sticks where that one fell and you let them fall again. Again perhaps only one of those sticks is a successful variation. Keep repeating that and eventually your pile of sticks will be in another location, a new species. No hand of god, but random variation and reward for fitness. Not fitness in the idea of strength or stamina, but fitness in the sense of having the attributes that best fit the needs of the particular niche.
Darwin was a true generalist, which is hard to understand these days of specialization. He wrote on Coral Atolls, earthworms and Barnacles. His early interests in nature included collecting beetles. He was thorough and questioned everything, he tested his hypothesis over and over before he published it. He asked the questions that doubters would ask, such as "what good is half an eye?". That is what makes good science. Evolution and science are under attack these days. Intelligent Design masquerades as science but doesn’t test, doesn’t question itself and will never stand up to those questions.
The first bird I saw when we landed on the Galapagos was one of Darwin’s Finches, and at supper we had them picking crumbs off our table that night. To this starry eyed prairie boy it was a culmination of deep desires to somehow connect with Darwin. How I wish I could have somehow met the man. I was happy to settle for his finches.
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And by the way, go check out Olduvai George’s birthday card to Charles Darwin at
http://olduvaigeorge.com/2006/02/12/happy-birthday-charles/
The man continues to amaze!!
What a wonderful tribute to a great thinker. It is amazing to me that he is vilified and has become an anathema to so many people. I am grateful for his hard work and enormous contribution to science.
I would *so* love to visit the Gallapagos islands- I’m sure my own eyes would be filled with stars and wonder.
From what little I know of intelligent design it sounds like some kind of fad instead of facts.
Happy belated birthday Mr. Darwin.
(And I hope you catch up on sleep Mr. Clare) 🙂
Loved your thoughts on Darwin. He truly was a remarkable individual. I had a friend travel to the Gallapagos islands a few years back. The photos she took of the blue footed boobies (we’re talking birds here) were amazing. She went with a group from the Calgary Zoo. Nothing like travelling with experts to get the absolute most out of the trip. Looking forward to further posts. Congrats on the new addition to your family!!
Your inspiration by him is in itself inspiring… and what a wonderful thing to pass on to your newborn, Hilary!