Darwin was an American biologist and the founder of the theory of evolution? Is it?

Charles robert darwin (charles robert darwin,1809.2.12—1882.4.19).

brief introduction

British naturalist and founder of evolution. From 1809 to 1882, he participated in the voyage around the world sent by Britain as a naturalist and made a five-year scientific investigation. A lot of observation and collection have been made in animals, plants and geology, and after comprehensive discussion, the concept of biological evolution has been formed. 1859 published the Origin of Species, which shocked the academic circles at that time. It is proved by a large number of data in the book that all kinds of creatures are not created by God, but constantly develop and change in heredity, variation, survival competition and natural selection. From simple to complex, from low to high, the theory of biological evolution is put forward, thus destroying all kinds of idealistic creationism and species invariance. Engels listed "evolution theory" as one of the three major discoveries of natural science in19th century (the other two are cell theory, energy conservation and transformation law).

Natural selection and sexual selection put forward by him are consistent and universal theories in current life sciences. Besides biology, his theory is also important to anthropology, psychology and philosophy.

all one's life

First of all, before Darwin

The theory of biological evolution, even the whole biological science, began on1859165438+1October 24th. On that day, after twenty years of careful preparation, Darwin published The Origin of Species. The first edition printed 1250 copies and sold out in one day. A brand-new discipline was born.

However, a new subject will not fall from the sky. 1859, the scientific community had a lot of evidence of evolution, which made preparations for the birth of evolution. The evolutionary evidence at this time can be summarized as animal and plant culture, fossil record, anatomical comparison, degenerated organs, embryonic development and biogeographic distribution.

Animal domestication and plant cultivation have a history of thousands of years, from which people have known that the same species often has very different forms. These forms can be changed, and new varieties can be obtained through careful selection. The varieties obtained by Darwin's so-called "artificial selection" are sometimes more different from each other than wild species. If we see German shepherd dogs and pugs in the wild, it is entirely possible to regard them as two completely different species like wolves and foxes. Animal and plant culture provides perceptual and intuitive materials for "biology is changeable"

At that time, the scientific community had long known that fossils were the remains of living things, and many previous species no longer existed and were extinct, which means that the composition of the biological world has not been static since ancient times. Many species show a trend of gradual change with the passage of geographical time in fossil records, and sometimes transitional fossils can be found between the two groups. The main biological groups do not appear at the same time in the fossil record, but have a first order, and this order is consistent with the order obtained by comparing the existing organisms. For example, from the comparison of morphological structure (such as heart structure) and physiological characteristics (such as respiratory system), we can infer that the order of vertebrates from "low level" to "high level" is fish, amphibian, reptile and mammal, and in the fossil record, we also find that fish fossils really began to appear in earlier strata, followed by amphibians and reptiles, and mammal fossils appeared last. The sequence from "low level" to "high level" shown in fossil records is strong evidence of biological evolution.

As early as the sixteenth century, scientists found that although people and birds are very different in appearance, their bone composition and arrangement are very similar. In the19th century, the comparative anatomy of morphological structures of different biological species has been developed, and the homology of internal structures of various biological species has become more and more obvious. As Darwin pointed out, human hands for grasping, mole forelimbs for digging, horse legs for running, flippers of dolphins for swimming and winged hands of bats for flying are so different in appearance and function, but after removing fur and muscles, the bones presented to us are so similar! The most reasonable explanation for this is that they all evolved from the same ancestor, because they have different functions and different shapes to adapt to the environment, but they have not changed much in their bones. If created separately, it is not necessary for organs with different functions and shapes to have similar structures, because such structural design is sometimes not so reasonable in terms of function and shape. If an engineer is asked to design these forelimbs, he can completely remove some species that are necessary for other species, but they are cumbersome and degenerate to only a trace.

Moreover, comparative anatomy makes us realize that many creatures have some degenerated organs, which is convincing evidence of biological evolution. For example, the whale's hind legs have disappeared, but its hind leg bones have not disappeared. We can also find the pelvis and femur whose tail is no longer working. Even on some snakes, we can find the remains of pelvis and femur. This leads us to believe that whales evolved from land quadrupeds and snakes evolved from lizards. We humans, quite a few organs have completely degenerated, such as coccyx, rotator cuff, appendix, blink membrane (third eyelid) and so on, which have completely degenerated and failed. Besides reminding us that our ancestors once had a monkey-like tail, rabbit-like ears, a herbivore-like cecum and a frog-like blink, can there be any other reasonable explanation?

As early as the18th century, zoologists have discovered that during the development of animal embryos, they will go through a series of periods similar to those of lower animals. For example, people have branchial cleft in the early embryonic development, which is not only like fish in appearance, but also like fish in internal organs: there are arterial arches, and the heart has only two cavities, and so on. The only reasonable explanation for this phenomenon is that people evolved from fish, and the characteristics of ancestors are constantly repeated during embryonic development. In fact, reptiles, birds and mammals are all similar to fish in the early embryonic development, and some periods are almost indistinguishable. This is evidence that all vertebrates have the same ancestor.

Since16th century, with the development of western navigation, especially the discovery of America and Australia, naturalists have seen countless novel species. Many species, even whole genera, families and orders, are found only in a certain geographical area. When naturalists see such unheard-of animals as kangaroos, wombats, marsupials, ferrets and Tasmanian devils in Australia and South America, they can't help wondering why God only created marsupials here. This is not because the environment there is designed for marsupials, because when immigrants bring higher mammals to these places, many marsupials are drastically reduced or even extinct because they cannot compete with higher mammals. Obviously, a more reasonable explanation is that these areas have a unique evolutionary path because they are isolated from other continents. Even an archipelago often has endemic species that cannot be found anywhere else. Darwin, a graduate of a seminary, initially became suspicious of creationism. It is precisely because he saw giant tortoises of different species in the Galapagos Islands and thirteen species of "Darwin finches" that could not be found anywhere else that he couldn't help wondering: Why did God show off his creativity in this small corner and create so many unique species of "only one branch, no branch" here? The reasonable explanation is that the ancestors of these species all came from other places, and after tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of years of changes, various endemic species have emerged.

In short, before Darwin, biological evolution was irrefutable evidence, and some scientists who dared to break through the shackles of religious beliefs began to face up to this fact. As early as the middle of18th century, French naturalist Buffon thought that biological species were changeable and boldly speculated that all animals came from the same ancestor. He also believes that the age of the earth is much older than thousands of years recorded in the Bible, and links the changes of biological species with the changes of the earth's environment. However, under the pressure of society, Buffon was forced to give up these deviant views, so it failed to have any impact.

Lamarck, another French naturalist later than Buffon, was much more stubborn and influential. He was the first person to systematically study biological evolution. His understanding of biological evolution is different from that of today. In his view, the biological world is a ladder from the simplest and most primitive microorganisms to the most complex and advanced human beings in sequence, and the so-called biological evolution is the process of naturally producing microorganisms from abiotic organisms, and microorganisms evolve into lower organisms, and lower organisms evolve into higher organisms until they evolve into adults. He believes that this evolutionary process is repeated and continues to this day. In other words, to this day, intelligent orangutans are still trying to evolve into adults. Lamarck was also the first person who tried to explain the phenomenon of evolution. He gave the first theory of evolution. There are two main points in this theory: first, the organism itself has an inherent desire to become more and more complex and evolve to a higher form; Second, the living environment can change the morphological structure of organisms, and acquired traits can be inherited. In short, "use it and then discard it". In the famous giraffe example, Lamarck explained the origin of giraffe's long neck like this: giraffe's ancestors often craned their necks to eat tall leaves on trees, and their necks were lengthened by exercise, which is hereditary, so their offspring will be longer than their parents' necks, and their necks will be longer from generation to generation.

Lamarck's theory could not convince scientists at that time to accept the theory of evolution. There are religious reasons, but there are also scientific doubts. For example, Lamarck's theory of evolution holds that abiotic organisms can naturally produce microorganisms, but at that time, although Pasteur had not made a famous experiment to deny the theory of spontaneous production, the scientific community generally believed that there was enough evidence to show that the theory of spontaneous production was incorrect. Therefore, although Lamarck has a great influence, it is often ridiculed and refuted as a negative textbook. There is an urgent need for a scientific giant like Newton in the field of biology. He can undoubtedly prove the fact of biological evolution and give a reasonable explanation. This giant is Darwin.