Darwin stands as the greatest transformative hero of modern biological history. His "Origin of Species," of course, is what he is best known for. This volume, colossal in scope yet minutely detailed, laid the foundations of modern biology. Here, Darwin presented extensive and compelling evidence that all living beings — including humans — have evolved from a common ancestor, and that natural selection is the chief force driving evolutionary change. Sexual selection, he argued, was an additional force, responsible for spectacular features like the tail feathers of peacocks that are useless for (or even detrimental to) survival but essential for seduction." Darwin, more than any other figure in human history has lead humanity's understanding of the fundamental processes of life on the Earth. In addition, to possessing such a sharp and prodigious mind that uncovered many of the planet's secrets, Darwin was also "a humane, gentle, decent man, a loving husband and father, and a loyal friend." Darwin was one of those most uncommonest of individuals who was both very friendly and approachable and intellectual having "corresponded with lofty men of learning, but also with farmers and pigeon breeders." And despite accounts to the contrary, Darwin was often viewed as a recluse but served as a local magistrate who presided over cases in his dinning room.
Darwin was against slavery and identified with the abolitionist movement. Once, when describing his strong opposition to slavery Darwin commented: "Near Rio de Janeiro I lived opposite to an old lady, who kept screws to crush the fingers of her female slaves. I have stayed in a house where a young household mulatto, daily and hourly, was reviled, beaten and persecuted enough to break the spirit of the lowest animal .... It makes one's blood boil, yet heart tremble, to think that we Englishmen and our American descendants, with their boastful cry of liberty, have been and are so guilty."
Darwin engaged in a very idealistic, passionate approach to science that was able to fit together many far-reaching grand themes of science with "the minutiae of nature — shells of barnacles, pistils of flowers." He developed the field of inquiry known as biogeography (the study of the distribution of life forms over geographical areas as a methodological approach to investigating evidence that supports evolution.
Darwin " published important work on subjects as diverse as the biology of carnivorous plants, barnacles, earthworms and the formation of coral reefs. He wrote a travelogue, "The Voyage of the Beagle," that was an immediate best seller and remains a classic of its kind. And as if that was not enough, he discovered two major forces in evolution — natural selection and sexual selection — and wrote three radical scientific masterpieces, "On the Origin of Species" (1859), "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex" (1871) and "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals" (1872). "
Before Darwin's monumental work "Origin of Species" "similarities and differences between species were mere curiosities; questions as to why a certain plant is succulent like a cactus or deciduous like a maple could be answered only, "Because." Biology itself was nothing more than a vast exercise in catalog and description. After the "Origin," all organisms became connected, part of the same, profoundly ancient, family tree. Similarities and differences became comprehensible and explicable. In short, Darwin gave us a framework for asking questions about the natural world, and about ourselves."
Darwin "was not right about everything. How could he have been? Famously, he didn't know how genetics works; as for DNA — well, the structure of the molecule wasn't discovered until 1953. So today's view of evolution is much more nuanced than his. We have incorporated genetics, and expanded and refined our understanding of natural selection, and of the other forces in evolution.
"But what is astonishing is how much Darwin did know, and how far he saw. His imagination told him, for example, that many female animals have a sense of beauty — that they like to mate with the most beautiful males. For this he was ridiculed. But we know that he was right. Still more impressive: he was not afraid to apply his ideas to humans. He thought that natural selection had operated on us, just as it had on fruit flies and centipedes.
"As we delve into DNA sequences, we can see natural selection acting at the level of genes. Our genes hold evidence of our intimate associations with other beings, from cows to malaria parasites and grains. The latest research allows us to trace the genetic changes that differentiate us from our primate cousins, and shows that large parts of the human genome bear the stamp of evolution by means of natural selection."
A finding that might not have surprised Darwin, but would have left him quite unsurprised.
*Special Thanks to Patricia Wroblewski, my Muse, for her remarks on the intuitive nature of Darwin's imaginative insights into his explanation of what he knew and his foresight.
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