Charles Darwin

Modified: 2023-08-13 (3:35 PM CDST)

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  Charles Darwin was one of the most influential men in history.
• His theory of evolution transformed the world's view of itself in several ways.
  • First, Darwin continued the trend of loss of uniqueness with regard to humankind's view of itself.
  • The naive view of humans as unique and specially created had been under siege since the late Middle Ages (i.e., Galileo and Copernicus).
  • Darwin's theory provided continuity between humans and the rest of nature.
• Second, Darwin's mechanism of natural selection provided a plausible substitute for creationism, even though Darwin could not provide the details of natural selection.
  • Those details came to light as the science of genetics was born and the theory of evolution merged with genetics to provide the "modern synthesis of biology."
  • Spencers's notion of survival of the fittest was wrong.
  • Instead, modern evolutionary theory substitutes reproduction of the fittest, or differential reproductive success.
• Third, Darwin pushed back the time horizon of the history of the universe.
  • Instead of Bishop Usher's thousands of years (since the Flood), we now argue over the 14.5 billion years (since the Big Bang).