On the Origin of Evolution: Tracing 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea' from Aristotle to DNA (ePub)

The theory of evolution by natural selection did not at all arise from nothing and immediately in its final form in the head of Charles Darwin. The idea of evolution in its various versions has been expressed since Antiquity, and even the process of natural selection, Darwin's key contribution to the explanation of the origin of species, was vaguely guessed by several predecessors and contemporaries of the great Briton. One of these contemporaries, Alfred Russel Wallace, saw it no less clearly than Darwin himself. Since then, work on understanding the mechanisms of evolution has also not stopped for a minute - many generations of geneticists and molecular biologists have taken care of this. None of this in any way diminishes the merit of Darwin himself in explaining how evolution affects individuals and entire species. Having first become acquainted with this theory, the "Darwin bulldog" Thomas Henry Huxley himself exclaimed: "How stupid it was not to think of it!" But everyone is strong in hindsight, and becoming the first to clearly formulate a thought that seems to be on the surface is a very difficult task. Another achievement of Darwin is that he, unlike the same Wallace, was able to present the theory of evolution in a form understandable to mere mortals. He undoubtedly deserves his fame as the discoverer of evolution by natural selection, but we hope that after reading this book you will agree that his contribution is only a link in a long chain that goes back to ancient times at one end and continues to be forged into our time.