A brief history of evolution

There were two long-standing notions that impeded the development of the concept of evolution. One would be the fixity of species. The notion of Fixity of Species is that, “Species, once created, can never change.” This is a theory that is totally opposed to those of biological evolution. God created man and he is who he is. The inorganic and organic worlds are fixed by creation. The other is the belief of a relatively short duration since the creation of the earth. As stated by Archbishop James Usher in the early sixteen hundreds A.D., a scholar in the pre-scientific tradition who used a literal interpretation of the bible to estimate the time of creation stated that the earth was created in 4,004 B.C. Therefore the earth was less then 6,000 years old.

This theory was one that had to be changed before science could make any large

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Not by one man, but through a collaboration of many brilliant wealthy white men, we finally found out how we came to be the upright, intelligent species we are today. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. A scientific revolution led by Copernicus attempted to provide a framework to discover the Natural Laws or fundamental principles that govern the universe. He also proposed the idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. The essay then went on to explain that not all organisms secure adequate food every generation, only a few survive to perpetuate the existence of the species.

Comte de Buffon believed that the differences between populations of a species were the result of their accommodation to local environmental conditions. Transmutability was the term used to describe ‘evolution’ before the word came to be commonly used later in the 19th century. " The essay talked about how population growth potentially exceeds increases in food resources, and how in nature, overpopulation is checked by struggle for existence.

Chevalier de Lamarck, came up with the idea of an evolution of species according to fixed laws. This meant that things did not happen at random, rather there was a reason for them to. He also believed that organ systems would develop according to the wants and needs of an organism.

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Approximate Word count = 835
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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