The myth that Charles Darwin discovered the theory of evolution

[Midnight FM]

We now know that evolutionary thought is ancient, dating as far back as the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, such as Anaximander of Miletus, as one example.

They need to stop giving Charles Darwin credit for rediscovering something which has been around since ancient history. For that matter, if it took thousands of years merely to rediscover something which even ancient people were aware of, that isn't very impressive.

History of evolutionary thought - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Proposals that one type of animal, even humans, could descend from other types of animals, are known to go back to the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers. Anaximander of Miletus proposed that the first animals lived in water, during a wet phase of the Earth's past, and that the first land-dwelling ancestors of mankind must have been born in water, and only spent part of their life on land. He also argued that the first human of the form known today must have been the child of a different type of animal (probably a fish), because man needs prolonged nursing to live.

 

[alang1216]

We now know that evolutionary thought is ancient, dating as far back as the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, such as Anaximander of Miletus, as one example.

They need to stop giving Charles Darwin credit for rediscovering something which has been around since ancient history. For that matter, if it took thousands of years merely to rediscover something which even ancient people were aware of, that isn't very impressive.

History of evolutionary thought - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Proposals that one type of animal, even humans, could descend from other types of animals, are known to go back to the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers. Anaximander of Miletus proposed that the first animals lived in water, during a wet phase of the Earth's past, and that the first land-dwelling ancestors of mankind must have been born in water, and only spent part of their life on land. He also argued that the first human of the form known today must have been the child of a different type of animal (probably a fish), because man needs prolonged nursing to live.

Darwin didn't invent evolution, that was obvious to many educated ancients. What he did was to develop a mechanism for that evolution, natural selection.

AI Overview

Your statement accurately captures the essence of Darwin's contribution to evolutionary theory. While the idea that species change over time (evolution) had been suggested by various thinkers before Darwin, his seminal contribution was to propose
natural selection as the primary mechanism driving that change.
Here's a breakdown of the key points:

• Early Evolutionary Ideas: As early as ancient Greece, some philosophers had ideas suggesting a form of evolution or transmutation of species. However, these ideas lacked a convincing mechanism to explain how these changes occurred. For instance, Empedocles proposed that creatures with less suitable combinations of parts perished, while the better-suited survived.
• Lamarck's Theory: In the early 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed that evolution happened through the inheritance of acquired characteristics, suggesting that traits acquired during an organism's lifetime could be passed to its offspring. However, this mechanism proved incorrect.
• Darwin and Natural Selection: Darwin, during his voyage on the HMS Beagle and subsequent research, developed the concept of natural selection. He proposed that:
  • Individuals within a species exhibit variation in their traits.
  • These variations are inheritable.
  • Organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support, leading to a struggle for existence.
  • Individuals with traits that make them better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on those advantageous traits to their offspring.
• Impact of "On the Origin of Species": Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, laid out a robust argument for evolution by natural selection and provided extensive evidence to support it. His work solidified the concept of common descent, the idea that all living things share a common ancestor. While the general concept of evolution was debated, Darwin's theory provided a scientifically plausible and testable mechanism that propelled it into the mainstream of scientific thought. It's worth noting that Alfred Russel Wallace independently arrived at similar conclusions about natural selection, which spurred Darwin to publish his work.

In essence, Darwin's groundbreaking contribution was not simply observing that evolution happens, but providing a well-researched and coherent explanation for how it occurs, a mechanism that remains central to modern evolutionary theory.

 

[toobfreak]

The myth that Charles Darwin discovered the theory of evolution​

Darwin was liked, Darwin was rich, Darwin had a degree, and Darwin had a theory, but it took a man called Alfred Russell Wallace to actually go out into the field and PROVE IT.

Trying to be helpful, he stayed in contact with Darwin mailing him his progress.

Darwin published his book giving Wallace credit, but in subsequent years, Wallace's name was removed, dropped and forgotten.