1. Charles Lyell had the most positive influence over Darwin's development of his theory of natural selection.
2. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/02/4/l_024_01.html
http://www.famousscientists.org/charles-lyell/
Charles Lyell wrote Principles of Geology in 1830, including the main idea in the text "that evidence of forces of geological change that have been shaping Earth for millennia is observable today," according to pbs.org. Principles of Geology was known as "a landmark work in geology that explores James Hutton’s doctrine of uniformitarian," as said by famousscientists.com. Lyell was one of the most famous British geologist and lawyer. Lyell stated that the formation of the Earth's crust was located through countless tiny changes happening of may time periods.
3. Lyell had many views on how the Earth was created which probably sparked Darwin's imagination and formed his beliefs. Charles Lyell gone against any common idea said by any Christians or geologists. According to Lyell, he believed that any "forces molding the planet today have operated continuously throughout its history," as stated in pbs.org. Lyell thought that every single living creature was born in a niche in which it was formed. Lyell greatly influenced Darwin with the idea that species become born and eventually die, like Lyell's beliefs, there is a "shifting and rising and falling of land," and that's how Darwin came up with "reproduction, inheritance and competition" on our diverse home, Earth (pbs.org).
4. Darwin could not have developed his theory without Charles Lyell. Lyell had many opinions in his work that must have had something strike out to Darwin. They both share a common theme that all species must be born and must die, including survival of the fittest, something we do as a whole. We adapt to our surroundings that we were born in. This is how we can go back in time to learn and evolve from that experience, coming from generation to generation. Darwin more so added to Lyell's main point which backed up Lyell's main objective.
5. The attitude of the church made Darwin doubt himself and his work. Religion and evolution do not go together and cannot be mixed according to the church, they believed Darwin's work had nothing to do with religion and that simply did not please them. They seem to fight over which one is true. Ideally, no one really knows unless you experience something of that nature.
"Lyell stated that the formation of the Earth's crust was located through countless tiny changes happening of may time periods."
ReplyDeleteGood. How did this contrast with the other views on the age of the earth common at that time in history?
Finding a bullet point for Lyell is difficult because, as a geologist, he really didn't make a biological contribution and he also didn't support the idea that organisms evolved. Very ironic, given how important he was to the development of Darwin's theory, but as such, I don't see the connection between Lyell's insistence that evolution doesn't occur with Darwin's theory of how evolution occurs. There is a disconnect there. Ultimately, the greatest contribution Lyell may have made to Darwin was simply the gift of time. Prior to Lyell, it was generally accepted that the earth was only approximately 6000 years old (according to the bible). Well, this doesn't give natural selection, a very slow process, the time it needs to work. But Lyell demonstrated that the earth was at least millions (and we know it to be billions) of years old. This is just what Darwin needed to allow natural selection to produce not only all extant organisms but also all the extinct ones as well.
I agree with your conclusion on the importance of Lyell to Darwin's work. I rarely like to give too much credit to any one scientist for his influence and importance over the success of another, but I am willing to make an exception in Lyell's case (Malthus is another I would consider an exception). Without that gift of "time", Darwin's theory wouldn't have worked. Without Lyell, Darwin had no theory.
The church was unaware of Darwin's work until after he published. The question asks about a time before he published. Darwin delayed publishing his paper for more than 20 years. Why? What were his concerns? Some of the points you raise apply here, in terms of the conflicts Darwin felt. Darwin himself felt no conflict between his science and his faith, so be careful about that generalization. It isn't true for all, just for some. Darwin was aware that it was true for some tied closely with the church and he was concerned with how their response would impact his life and the life of his family.
I shared most of your views in my post about Sir Lyell, and what our professor said is correct. Charles Lyell was first and foremost a geologist, even if he was a very active critic in the development of Darwin's theory of evolution. He also was a huge influence on Darwin because Lyell disliked Jean Baptiste Lamark's theory of soft evolution, which he attempted to refute in a series of papers called the "Principles". He developed this passion for discrediting Lamarck's theory of evolution, because it relied on the biblical idea that the Earth was only 6,000 years old, and Sir Lyell knew it was in fact much older. Darwin developed his theory of evolution in conjunction with this older age of Earth to develop the theory of Natural Selection. Darwin and Lyell's theories supported each other across fields of science,and established our modern understanding of evolution.
ReplyDelete