DARWIN'S ORIGIN OF SPECIES PUBLISHED:

Now here is a very important event that relates to the current discussion over "intelligent design". My take on "intelligent design" is that evolution and the "survival of the fittest" is intelligent design. How arrogant of anyone to think that this entire system that we are aware of just happened along. At some point a thought had to ocur in order to start this whole process. Once again, how arrogant of anyone to think that the origin of that thought has any concern whatsoever for the daily occurances in our lives. We have been given everything that we need to control every aspect of our existance. It is up to us to discover the means and have the maturity as a species to use it correctly for the benefit of all. Now that's "INTELLIGENT DESIGN".......................PEACE.....................Scott



DARWIN'S ORIGIN OF SPECIES PUBLISHED:
November 24, 1859

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking
scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England.
Darwin's theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he
called "natural selection." In natural selection, organisms with genetic
variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than
organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the
overall genetic makeup of the species.Darwin, who was influenced by the work of
French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas
Mathus, acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a five-year
surveying expedition aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse
places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate
knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information,
along with his studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to
England, proved invaluable in the development of his theory of organic
evolution.The idea of organic evolution was not new. It had been suggested
earlier by, among others, Darwin's grandfather Erasmus Darwin, a distinguished
English scientist, and Lamarck, who in the early 19th century drew the first
evolutionary diagram--a ladder leading from one-celled organisms to man.
However, it was not until Darwin that science presented a practical explanation
for the phenomenon of evolution.Darwin had formulated his theory of natural
selection by 1844, but he was wary to reveal his thesis to the public because it
so obviously contradicted the biblical account of creation. In 1858, with Darwin
still remaining silent about his findings, the British naturalist Alfred Russel
Wallace independently published a paper that essentially summarized his theory.
Darwin and Wallace gave a joint lecture on evolution before the Linnean Society
of London in July 1858, and Darwin prepared On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection for publication.Published on November 24, 1859, Origin of
Species sold out immediately. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that
solved so many puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned
the work as heresy. Controversy over Darwin's ideas deepened with the
publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), in
which he presented evidence of man's evolution from apes.By the time of Darwin's
death in 1882, his theory of evolution was generally accepted. In honor of his
scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and
other illustrious figures from British history. Subsequent developments in
genetics and molecular biology led to modifications in accepted evolutionary
theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field.