Scientific evidence for Darwin’s theory mounted and became overwhelming. Marie Curie’s discovery of radioactivity in the 1890s led to carbon dating, which confirmed that the earth was much older than those before Darwin had believed. Biblical scholars had established the Creation at 4004 B.C. Today the latest estimate of our planet’s age is about 4.5 billion years old.
Transitional fossils—the “intermediate forms” he predicted—continue to be found. One of the major finds was Lucy, the fossilized skeleton of a creature less than four feet tall, with some ape traits and some humanlike traits, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. Lucy (named after the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”) is estimated to be 3.2 million years old.
In 2006 University of Chicago researchers discovered the tiktaalik, a transitional species of fish. Estimated to be 375 million years old, with fins that functioned like legs, it was a transition between fish and four-legged animals.
The most hardened resistance to Darwin’s theory is in the United States, where scientific literacy lags behind that of other industrialized nations. A significant percentage of Americans do not accept the theory of evolution and think that all the supporting evidence for it has been somehow faked or staged.
In the United States the Constitution provides a separation of church and state, meaning the government does not support any particular religion. Public schools, funded by the government, therefore, do not teach religion. Yet, through court cases, religious groups have long tried to keep Darwin out of the classroom on the basis that his theory contradicts the Bible’s story of Creation.
The most famous court case involving evolution was the “Monkey Trial” of 1925.
John Scopes, who taught biology in Tennessee, discussed evolution with his students, in violation of the new state law that made it illegal to teach anything that contradicted the biblical story of Creation.
Scopes was arrested, and at his trial, lawyers on both sides argued passionately for ten days. The entire nation was spellbound. Scopes was found guilty, which led other states to ban the teaching of evolution.
Later on, Scopes’s conviction was overturned on a technicality, and every subsequent court case since then involving the teaching of evolution has resulted in a verdict supporting the separation of church and state.
Yet in the last fifty years, in the United States creationism (a word coined in 1868 to describe opposition to Darwin) has become more popular than ever, its proponents claiming scientific evidence in support of the biblical version of Creation. Intelligent Design, a concept introduced in 1989, is a variation on creationism stating that an intelligent being—never specifically called God—is the controlling force behind life on Earth. Creationists argue that their theory of the beginning of life should be included in textbooks alongside evolution.
It is important to note that many scientists with strong religious beliefs see no conflict between science and their faith in God. These are just two different ways of understanding the world and don’t have to cancel each other out. In September 2008, the Church of England, in advance of the two hundredth anniversary of Darwin’s birth, issued a belated apology to Darwin “for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still.”
So much of cutting-edge science is based on Darwin. Since evolution is ongoing and unpredictable, we need to learn about it to find ways to solve problems—what we can do to prevent animals from becoming extinct and bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, and to help us to identify and treat new viruses like the one that causes swine flu.
Today, to some extent, we can control things in nature that would have killed us in the past—we have vaccines for smallpox, for example. We no longer have to be the fastest or strongest in order to survive, as long as we have access to proper medicine. But will advances in health lead to even more severe overpopulation? What climate changes are in store for us and how will we adapt? In the future, will we genetically engineer ourselves?
So many questions, so many intriguing topics to explore and debate. Were he still here, Darwin would be astonished, but he’d adapt—and he’d be furiously taking notes.
SOURCES
(*especially for young readers)
BOOKS
Berra, Tim M. Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.
Browne, Janet. Charles Darwin, Volume 1: Voyaging. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Browne, Janet. Charles Darwin, Volume 2: The Power of Place. New York: Knopf, 2002.
Browne, Janet. Darwin’s Origin of Species: A Biography. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006.
Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition, edited by David Quammen. New York: Sterling, 2008.
*Heiligman, Deborah. Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith. New York: Holt, 2009.
*Jenkins, Steve. Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Keynes, Randal. Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution. New York: Riverhead Books, 2002.
*Lasky, Kathryn. One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick, 2009.
*Lawson, Kristan. Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003.
Milner, Richard. Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
*Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. Charles Darwin: The Life of a Revolutionary Thinker. New York: Holiday House, 2001.
Quammen, David. The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution. New York: Norton, 2006.
*Sis, Peter, The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin, Naturalist, Geologist, and Thinker. New York: Farrar Straus, 2003.
*Strathern, Paul. Darwin and Evolution. London: Arrow Books, 1998.
WEB SITES
American Museum of Natural History, Darwin: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/
CARTA, The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny: http://carta.anthropogeny.org/
The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online: http://darwin-online.org.uk
International Darwin Day Foundation, Celebrating Darwin, Science and Humanity: http://www.darwinday.org/darwin
Linnean Society of London: http://www.linnean.org/
National Center for Science Education: Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools: http://ncse.com
National Science Teachers Association, Evolution Resources: http://www.nsta.org/publications/evolution.aspx?lid=tnav
The Natural History Museum, London, Darwin 200: www.darwin200.org
PBS, Evolution, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/index.html
INDEX
Note: Page numbers in italics indicate illustrations.
abolitionism
adaptation
age of the earth
agnosticism
agriculture. See also botany
American scientific community
Andes Mountains
Anglican church
anthropology
archaeological evidence
archipelagoes
arsenic poisoning
Athenaeum Club
Austen, Jane
Babbage, Charles
Bahia Blanca Bay
barnacles
Bates, Henry Walter
Beagle. See HMS Beagle
beak shapes
beetle collecting
Bible. See also Christianity
and age of the earth
and Catastrophism
and creation story
and Emma Darwin
and fixed species concept
literal and metaphorical interpretations
and natural selection
and opposition to Darwin’s work
“A Biographical Sketch of an Infant”
(Darwin)
biology
biotechnology
birds
and adaptation theory
and beak shapes
of Cape Verde
and Darwin’s collections
Darwin’s Rhea
of Galápagos Islands
and the Glutton Club
and hunting
pigeon breeding
botany
Boyle, Robert
Brazil
breeding practices
British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Empire
British Museum Library
Buenos Aires, Argentina
burial place of Darwin
Cambridge University
Canary Islands
Cape Verde Islands
carbon dating
A Catalog of British Plants (Henslow)
Catastrophism
Chambers, Robert
chemistry
childhood of Darwin
childhood development
children of Darwin
children’s books
Chile
chimpanzees
Chopin, Frédéric
Christianity
and agnosticism
and Catastrophism
Church of England
and the clergy
and creationism
and Darwin’s marriage
Darwin’s religious beliefs
Darwin’s theology education
and English education
and evolutionary theory
and FitzRoy
and fixation of species concept
and naturalism
and natural selection
and opposition to Darwin’s work
and population theory
and the X Club
chronometers
Church of England
classification systems
cleanliness of Darwin
clergy
Cocos Islands
common descent
competition
Concepción, Chile
Copernicus, Nicolaus
coral reefs
creationism
crossbreeding
Curie, Marie
cuttlefish
Cuvier, Georges
Darwin, Anne Elizabeth (daughter)
Darwin, Bernard (grandson)
Darwin, Caroline (sister)
Darwin, Charles (son)
Darwin, Emma (wife)
and children’s health
and Darwin’s death
and Darwin’s health
and Darwin’s worm collections
and daughter’s death
and publication of Darwin’s works
and religion issues
and selection of home
and Victorian society
Darwin, Erasmus (grandfather)
Darwin, Erasmus “Ras” (brother)
and Darwin’s education
and Darwin’s family life
and Darwin’s social life
death
and education
health issues
home in London
and medical education
and publication of Darwin’s works
Darwin, Francis (son)
Darwin, Robert (father)
Darwin, Susannah (mother)
Darwin, William Erasmus (son)
“Darwin’s Delay,”
Darwin Sound
Darwin’s Rhea
Davy, Humphry
death of Darwin
debate on Darwin’s work
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (Darwin)
descent with modification. See also common descent
Dickens, Charles
diet
dinosaurs
diseases
domestication
Down House
earthquakes
Edinburgh University
Edmonstone, John
education of Darwin
electricity
elements
Elements of Experimental Chemistry (Henry)
Eliot, George
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Encyclopedia Britannica
enthusiasm of Darwin
Essay on the Principle of Population (Malthus)
evidence supporting Darwin
evolution
The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (Darwin)
extinction
family of Darwin. See also specic individuals
fertilization
finches
FitzRoy, Robert
and the Beagle trip
and Darwin’s personality
and journey publications
opposition to Darwin’s work
and publication of Darwin’s work
and slavery
surveying work
fixation of species concept
flatworms
Flustra
The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms (Darwin)
fossils
Fox, William Darwin
Freud, Sigmund
funeral of Darwin
Galápagos Islands
Galileo
gauchos
genetics
geology
and age of the earth
and Darwin’s education
and Darwin’s notebooks
and Darwin’s writings
and earthquakes
and Galápagos Islands
influence on Darwin’s work
and Lyell
and the Plinian Society
and Transmutation Notebooks
germ theory
Glutton Club
Gould, John
Grant, Robert
Graves, George
Gray, Asa
health of Darwin
digestion problems
illnesses during voyage
possible causes of illness
and presentation of his work
and publication of book
and seasickness
and water cures
Henry, William
Henslow, John
heredity. See also genetics
hermaphroditism
Herschel, John
HMS Beagle
Hooker, Joseph
Hope, Thomas Charles
Humboldt, Alexander von
hunting
Huxley, Thomas
iguanas
Illustrations of British Entomology
improvement of species
industrial society
inherited traits
Insectivorous Plants (Darwin)
Intelligent Design
intermediate forms
Jameson, Robert
journals. See also notebooks; The Voyage of the Beagle (Darwin)
Kew Gardens
Kingsley, Charles
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste
Lamarckism
laws of nature
Leonardo da Vinci
Lincoln, Abraham
Linnaeus, Carl
Linnean Society
London Zoo
Lucy
Lunar Society
Lyell, Charles
Darwin’s introduction to
geology texts
gifts to Darwin
influence on Darwin’s work
support for Darwin’s work
and Wallace
mail service
Malthus, Thomas
“Man book.” See The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (Darwin)
marine iguanas
marine zoology
marriage
Martineau, Harriet
mass media
Matthew, Arnold
medicine. See also health of Darwin
and botany
and Darwin’s father
education for
and germ
theory
influence of Darwin’s work
and the Plinian Society
Megatherium
Mendel, Gregor
missing links
modern synthesis
“Monkey Trial,”
Mount Darwin
The Mount (Darwin family estate)
native peoples
“The Natural History of Babies” (Darwin)
natural selection
Natural Theology (Paley)
naturalism and natural philosophy
and the Beagle trip
and Darwin’s collections
and Darwin’s education
and observation
and religion
and Victorian society
A Naturalist’s Companion (Graves)
nature vs. nurture
Newton, Isaac
nickname of Darwin
Nightingale, Florence
notebooks. See also journals
observation
Oliver Twist (Dickens)
On the Origin of Species (Darwin)
On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilized by Insects and on the Good Effects of Intercrossing (Darwin)
opposition to Darwin’s work
orangutans
orchids
overpopulation
Owen, Fanny
Oxford University
Paley, William
Paradise Lost (Milton)
Patagonia
peas
perfectionism of Darwin
perseverance of Darwin
Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent (Humboldt)
photographs
phrenology
pigeons
Plinian Natural History Society