OntheOrigin of Species (English: OntheOrigin of Species) is Darwin's important work on biological evolution, published in 1859. The book is one of the most controversial works of the 19th century, and most of the ideas in it are generally accepted by the scientific community today.

In this book, Darwin first proposed the idea of evolution. Using data from his scientific expeditions around the world in the 1830s, he tried to prove that species evolved through natural selection (natural selection) and human selection.

At that time, people generally accepted creationism, believing that God created the world and created all living things at once, and at the same time, God also gave each creature its own role, and each species was designed to be perfect, so the species was eternal and unchanging.

The fossils found in the strata are evidence of the Great Flood of the ancient Earth, and those fossils are the animals that did not board Noah's Ark.

The history of the earth is only about 6,000 years, which is the time of human generation, starting with Adam and Eve.

Darwin himself believed that small and imperceptible changes can make a big difference, given enough time. Darwin estimated that the middle Cretacean period was about 300 million years old, and natural factors such as small earthquakes that lasted for a long time made it possible to find traces of life in the sea in the mountains.

During his expedition to the Galapagos Islands, Darwin found that the tortoises and birds on each island were not very different, but they were slightly different. He also discovered that the creatures of the Galapagos Islands were very similar to those of the South American mainland, and he began to suspect that the islands might have a common ancestor. The differences between them are the result of thousands of years of adaptation to the different environments of each island.

Every species is the result of subtle changes over the course of countless generations.

Biological evolution was not a new concept at the time. In 1809, the French zoologist Lamarck proposed that when the environment changes, species will adapt and develop their own organs to adapt to the environment, the commonly used organs will develop and become larger, the unused organs will gradually degenerate, and the changes acquired by this generation will be passed on to the next generation.

Later, Darwin was inspired by the British demographer Malthus's "Theory of Population", who believed that human food production could never keep up with the increase in population, resulting in a shortage of food, and then a famine or war would occur, resulting in the death of a part of the population.

In this way, Darwin related to the mechanism by which biological evolution occurs: evolution is the result of free elimination in the competition for survival, and resources such as food and space are limited, and only individuals who are most adapted to the environment can survive. Continuation of the community.

The concept of "natural selection" gradually developed during Darwin's five-year expedition around the world. After returning to England in 1836. Darwin slowly wrote his views into articles, but they were not published.

Most scientists believe that one of the reasons Darwin was late in publishing his work was the fear of a backlash from church power. Year 1858. Darwin received an article on speciation from Wallace, a naturalist who surveyed the Malay Archipelago, and Wallace's views on speciation had many similarities with him. Increased Darwin's confidence in his doctrine.

So the two were in the Linnaean Society of London in 1858. Presented in a co-signed manner by two people on speciation. Then Darwin published The Primitive Species in 1859.

Darwin's theory in the book

He believed that all plants and animals evolved from earlier, more primitive forms, and secondly, that biological evolution was through natural selection.

Species are not static. Rather, it will change with the environment. The evolution of living things is a slow change that is continuous over a long period of time, not a sudden upheaval.

The same group of organisms has a common ancestor, for example, mammals evolved from the same ancestor, which can be deduced that humans and apes have a common ancestor.

Populations of organisms will expand as they reproduce and exceed the limits of their living space and food supply, causing competition between individuals, and individuals who are not adapted to the environment will be eliminated so that the fittest can survive and reproduce.

Darwin's theory of evolution was widely controversial at the time, and was regarded as heresy by the Christian Church, and Darwin was also sneered at in the West.

According to the Catholic dogma of the time, human beings were the most unique and perfect masterpieces created by God in his own image.

Darwin's theory not only overturned the claim that God created all things, but also described human beings as the product of thousands of years of cruel competition for survival, and also pointed out that man and other mammals have a common ancestor, which is fundamentally a rebellion against God and Christian teachings, which was quite shocking in the conservative society of the time.

However, Darwin's theories were not perfect at the time, and there was no understanding of any genetic mechanism to explain how accidental differences between individuals occurred, until they were later combined with the Austrian geneticist Mendel's laws of heredity to form the modern synthesis theory that is now widely accepted by the general public.

The discovery of human genes after the 1950s has solved the mystery of the differences within species in evolutionary theory and how these traits are inherited through reproduction. Studying the DNA of different animals, the comparison confirms the common ancestor theory.

Note: The Theory of Population, published by the demographer Malthus in 1798, is a classic work of political economy.

The basic idea of the principles of demography is:

If there is no limit, the population grows exponentially (i.e., 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc.).

The food supply showed a linear (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc.) growth.

Food is the most important condition for human survival.

Only natural causes (accidents and old age), disasters (wars, pestilences, and famines of all kinds), moral limitations, and sins (Malthusian refers to infanticide, murder, birth control, and homosexuality) can limit the excessive growth of the population.

Malthus noted that many people misused his theories, painfully illustrating that he did not merely predict future cataclysms. "The reasons for the persistence of periodic disasters have existed since human history, and they still exist and will continue to exist in the future, unless there is a decisive change in the physical structure of our nature. 」

Thus, Malthus considered his Treatise on Population to be an explanation of the past and present condition of mankind, as well as a prediction of our future.

The argument of population theory is that the increase in food will only be in an equal series, while the increase in population will be in an equal proportional series. Therefore, he felt that human beings must be concerned about the lack of food, and reduce the preventive restrictions on marriage, as well as the suffering of real poverty and the oppression of the already born population.

The Reverend Thomas, Robert, and Malthus (1766-1834) was generally referred to as Thomas and Malthus, although he preferred to refer to himself as Robert and Malthus. is a British demographer and political economist. His academic thinking was pessimistic but far-reaching.

The main point of Malthus's 1798 treatise is that the size of the population is severely limited by the means of subsistence. When the means of subsistence increase, so does the population. Demographic pressures spur production growth. Production growth, in turn, stimulates population growth.

In the long run, production growth cannot keep pace with the growth potential of the population, and there will inevitably be a huge rift between the size of the population and the ability to provide for it.

Many factors that affect population and productivity, such as sex, labor and children, are influenced by the individual's income and expenditure. When population growth exceeds the ability to provide for it, positive inhibitors come into play. The nature of these inhibitors will have an impact on other parts of the biosocial system. (To be continued......)