A brief history of evolution
Evolution, as stated in the text, is a change in the genetic structure of a species. For thousands of years during pre-scientific times the theory of evolution was non-existent. The understanding of the universe was based solely on the interpretation of supernatural concepts; God created Earth and made everything the way it is. People thought that to think differently would be ridiculous. 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
The next person to take part in the growth of evolution was Carolus Linnaeus. He proposed a hierarchical classification of organisms into several levels and attempted to discover the grand design of the Scale of Being. As a proponent of hierarchical classification he created Binomial Nomenclature, the process of providing the Genus and Species name for each organism. This is where we get the classification of Homo Sapiens for humans. It took hundreds of years but it happened. 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. advances. A scientific revolution led by Copernicus attempted to provide a framework to discover the Natural Laws or fundamental principles that govern the universe. Copernicus lived from 1473 to 1543 A.D. Copernicus postulated that the sun (not the earth) was the center of the universe and that the earth rotated around the sun. He pushed for the removal of a supernatural interpretation of the cosmos due to his own observations that the planets obeyed natural laws. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Erasmus Darwin, Charles’ grandfather, a poet
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Approximate Word count = 835
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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