How Information Is Transmitted Over Time - 2059 Words

At its simplest evolution is how information is transmitted over time. Although Charles Darwin did not know about modern genetics with DNA and chromosomes, he did know that organisms resemble their parents, variation in a single species is able to be inherited, and that as there is change in population survival of the fittest will allow only the superior organism to pass its dominance on.(Eldridge 69) Darwin discovered many theories, such as natural selection and the descent of man from a common ancestors with apes, that caused a great opposition because they went against the traditional beliefs of society. Nevertheless, his theories were eventually accepted by the scientific community and they even went on the create the concept of Social†¦show more content†¦One of these was Principles of Geology, by Charles Lyell (1797-1875). Lyell proposed a new explanation for the extinct creatures that appeared in the fossil record. Rather than being evidence of a biblical catastrophe, he wrote, gradual changes in the Earth modified conditions in such a way that some unprepared creatures slowly died out. What most alarmed many of his readers was that this process would take many thousands or even millions of years. This was contrary to religious teachings that the Earth was about 6,000 years old.† (The Voyage of HMS Beagle.) His application of Lyell’s theory of the age of the earth and the meticulous details he took of the specimens he observed on the Beagle helped him prove his ideas. The fine work he showed with his observations made him a reputation in many circles back home before he even came back. (The Voyage of HMS Beagle.) In 1835, the Beagle sailed from Lima, Peru the the Galapagos, a group of islands of the coast of South America, this is where he truly made the major observations that proved the theory of evolution. The name, Galapagos, stems from the Spanish word for giant tortoises, which was one of the many species Darwin studied there. He noticed that the same species of animals differed between the island. (The Voyage of HMS Beagle.) Each island