Prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of Darwin. Doctrine of descent

By the second half of the XIX century, all the prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of Darwin. Only a bright and brave scientist was needed who could formulate a new idea about the origin of species. In general, these prerequisites can be divided into two groups - scientific and socio-economic.

Criticism of Creationists

Charles Darwin formulated the main theses of the theory of evolution in his book The Origin of Species, published in 1859. There he also used the term "natural selection" for the first time. Darwin's ideas became a real revolution in science and public consciousness. The secular public furiously argued, someone agreed with the scientist, someone doubted. By the church, the theory of evolution was instantly condemned.

And this is not surprising, because people for many centuries believed that the whole world and the creatures that inhabited it were created by God. Christians have this story described in the Bible. The theory of the involvement of a certain Absolute in the creation of life in a scientific language was called creationist. These views have not been questioned for many centuries. And only in the XVIII century creationism as a theory was first seriously criticized by philosophers and thinkers. Then the first prerequisites for the emergence of Darwin's theory appeared.

Ideas about the variability of nature

In the XVIII century, the philosopher Emmanuel Kant came to the conclusion that the Earth did not always exist, but appeared at a certain point in time. His point of view, he opened in detail in the book "Universal Natural History and Sky Theory." This was one of the first attacks on the Church and its creationist views.

In 1830, the founder of modern geology, the natural scientist Charles Lyell, substantiated the theory that the Earth's surface changed over time, depending on climate variations, volcanic activity and other factors. Lyell first timidly suggested that the organic world was not always the same. His idea was confirmed by paleontological studies of the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. These prerequisites for the emergence of Darwin's theory spawned new research.

Theory of Unity of the Environment

The first half of the XIX century was marked by discoveries that proved that nature is a single whole. For example, Swedish chemist Jens Berzelius proved that plants and animals consist of the same elements as inorganic bodies. The German chemist and physician Friedrich Wöhler at the same time experimentally first obtained first oxalic acid, and then urea. This researcher has proved that organic substances can be synthesized from inorganic substances. For their emergence, there was no need for a divine life-giving force, as creationists believed.

By the nineteenth century, Europeans had penetrated the remotest corners of the planet. Research expeditions were sent to the tropical forests of Africa and the polar tundra of America. Scientists returning home shared their observations. In educated Europe, people increasingly understood how diverse and complex the world is. These prerequisites for the emergence of Darwin's theory allowed the English scientist to generalize a huge layer of information about different species of animals and plants from all over the planet.

Anatomical discoveries

In 1807 the German zoologist Alexander von Humboldt became the founder of the theory that the territorial distribution of living organisms depends on the conditions of their existence. His followers continued to study the relationship between fauna and the environment.

There are new scientific prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of Darwin. New disciplines were born, including comparative morphology. Anatomes who studied the internal structure of different species, came to the conclusion that they have similarities. Botanists at the same time made a breakthrough in comparative embryology.

Development of agricultural selection

In addition to scientific, there were also socio-economic prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of Darwin. Before the publication of his most famous book, The Origin of Species, a British scientist studied agricultural selection a lot. It originated in the XIX century due to the economic development of the British Empire.

Its colonial acquisitions increased. This allowed farmers to use a variety of crops in the farm. Socio-economic prerequisites for the emergence of Darwin's theory were that especially pro-active owners of farms began to artificially improve cultivated crops in order to obtain a greater yield. This was done with the help of breeding. The change of cultures for their greater adaptability to the new conditions in the economy led Darwin to the idea that a similar process could occur in nature.

The influence of the doctrine of a market economy

The English scholar was greatly influenced by the views of economist Adam Smith. He created the theory of a market economy. It emphasized the importance of competition between different producers. Because of the competition, companies needed to constantly improve the quality of the products offered, so that they could be bought.

On a similar principle, Darwin's theory of the origin of man and all other species is constructed. This rule was called natural selection. Darwin noted that in nature only species survive that are more adapted to changing conditions. In the environment everything was like in a market economy. This was insisted on by the theory of Darwin (the origin of man).

The demographic theory of Malthus

The well-known theories of Darwin's theory also appeared thanks to the research of the English demographer Thomas Malthus. This scientist in his writings substantiated the idea that the human population is growing too fast compared with the increase in food production. The thought of Malthus was that this contradiction would ultimately lead to mass starvation and a decrease in the population.

The theory of the origin of species transfers this principle to the whole of nature in general. Limited resources, sooner or later, should lead to a struggle between representatives of the living world, concluded Charles Darwin, drawing on the ideas proposed by Thomas Malthus. The scientist believed that nature independently maintains a balance between species so that everyone has enough food, territory, etc.

Observations of Darwin

Finally, the last prerequisite for the emergence of Darwin's theory was his own round-the-world journey on the Beagle. The voyage lasted almost five years (1831-1836). The researcher took part in the expedition, the purpose of which was to study the outlines of the coasts of South America. Thus, Darwin has a unique opportunity to look at the nature of the most mysterious and distant places on the planet.

The Englishman collected a considerable number of facts that enabled him to be convinced of the correctness of the evolutionary theory. First, he discovered the similarity between armadillos and sloths of South America and untouched fossils that the scientist discovered during stops on the mainland. Secondly, Darwin saw with his own eyes that the fauna changes along with the change of geographic zones. Some species that lived on the South American shores no longer came across in the tropics, closer to the equator.

Darwin discovered a different pattern in the Galapagos Archipelago. On each of the islands of this group there was at least one unique species of animals (owls, lizards, etc.). This observation allowed the English scientist to assume that in each isolated zone development proceeds in its own way. Darwin generalized all his conclusions, having formalized them in the form of a new theory in the book The Origin of Species (1859). His idea of evolution turned the scientific world.