Darwin's main contribution was to the development of biology. Darwin's main merit is... How new species are formed
The main provisions of the teachings of Charles Darwin. The main merit of Charles Darwin is that he, together with A. Wallace, explained the development of nature by the action of only natural laws, without the intervention of supernatural forces. The main provisions of his teaching reveal the causes - the driving forces of the evolution of the organic world. Charles Darwin drew attention to the variety of breeds of domestic animals and varieties of cultivated plants. How did this diversity arise? Trying to answer this question, he came to the following conclusion: man creates varieties and breeds based on hereditary variability And artificial selection . From generation to generation, man selected and left for the tribe individuals with some hereditary change and eliminated other individuals from reproduction. As a result, new breeds and varieties were obtained, their characteristics corresponded to human interests.
Understanding the origin of cultural forms provides the key to explaining the origin of species. Hereditary variability, on the basis of which artificial selection is carried out, also manifests itself in nature. By itself, it does not yet lead to the formation of a new species, just as it does not lead to the emergence cultural form. Similar to human creativity in nature, there must be reasons that determine the process of speciation. They are struggle for existence And natural selection.
Struggle for existence - complex and diverse relationships of organisms with each other and environmental conditions. The inevitability of the struggle for existence in living nature stems from the contradiction between the ability of organisms to reproduce unlimitedly and the limited means of life, which leads to competition for the same food, for similar living and reproduction conditions. The opportunity to survive to sexual maturity falls to only a few individuals.
The consequence of the struggle for existence is natural selection , maintaining beneficial individual differences and eliminating harmful ones. Natural selection preserves individuals with hereditary changes useful in given environmental conditions and eliminates individuals without these changes. As a result, the first ones leave fertile offspring and their numbers increase.
Thus, from generation to generation, as a result of the interconnected action of hereditary variability, the struggle for existence, and natural selection, species change in the direction of increasing adaptability to the conditions of existence. The fitness of organisms as a result of evolution is always relative. Another result of evolution is the diversity of species inhabiting the Earth.
The teaching of Charles Darwin does not need to involve non-material factors to explain the evolution and proves that the driving forces of the development of nature are found in nature itself. They are hereditary variability, struggle for existence And natural selection.
Therefore, living nature has self-propulsion And self-development . This is the ideological significance of the teachings of Charles Darwin.
The contradiction between the intensity of reproduction and the limited means of life. Who hasn’t watched dandelion seeds fly in the wind, suspended on parachutes? Think about what would happen if every dandelion seed sprouted and produced offspring? And this would continue for several years? It is estimated that in just 10 years, the offspring of just one dandelion would cover our planet with a continuous layer 20 cm thick. But there are plants that bear even more seeds. So, in a poppy capsule there are up to 3000 seeds, and there are up to ten such capsules on one plant. It is not difficult to calculate how many seeds are dispersed by just one poppy plant each year.
Many animals are also fertile. The sturgeon lives about 50 years. Every year he lays almost 300 thousand eggs, sweeping more than 15 million during his life. If not a single egg is lost, then the offspring of one female sturgeon is enough to populate all our rivers. A pair of elephants - one of the less fertile animals - producing no more than 6 cubs over the entire period, over 750 years can potentially produce offspring amounting to 19 million individuals. But neither elephants nor dandelions fill the whole Earth. This happens because not every organism survives to sexual maturity: most individuals die due to lack of space, food, moisture, light and other reasons. The contradiction between the ability of organisms to reproduce unlimitedly and the limited means of life inevitably leads to a struggle for existence.
The struggle for existence and its forms. Term struggle for existence C. Darwin used it in a metaphorical sense, meaning by this the various relationships of organisms with environmental factors and with each other, and not only as a direct struggle between predator and prey, accompanied by bloodshed and death. Charles Darwin identified three forms of struggle for existence.
I . Intraspecific struggle occurs most acutely, since all individuals of the species need the same, and very limited resources - food, living space, shelters, breeding sites. Each species has a set of adaptations that reduce the possibility of collisions between individuals (marking the boundaries of individual areas, complex hierarchical relationships in a herd, flock, etc.). However, species adaptations that benefit the species as a whole often harm individual individuals and lead to their death. For example, brown hares, when there is a lack of food, drive a competitor away from good grazing areas and fight while chasing the female. Intraspecific struggle plays a big role in evolution, leading to the death of individual individuals of the species; it determines the prosperity of the species as a whole and contributes to its improvement.
An example of the struggle for existence is the favoring of one species by another without harming itself (birds and mammals distribute fruits and seeds), the mutual adaptation of species to each other (flowers and their pollinators). Thus, interspecific struggle leads to the evolution of both interacting species and to the development of mutual adaptations in them. Interspecific struggle intensifies and intensifies intraspecific struggle.
III . Combating unfavorable conditions of inorganic nature also enhances intraspecific competition, as individuals of the same species compete for food, light, warmth and other conditions of existence. It is no coincidence that a plant in the desert is said to fight drought. In the tundra, trees are represented by dwarf forms, although they do not experience competition from other plants. The winners in the fight are the most viable individuals (their physiological processes and metabolism proceed more efficiently). If biological characteristics are inherited, this will ultimately lead to the improvement of species adaptations to the environment.
Natural selection. The phenomenon of variability has been known for a long time. The ability of organisms to reproduce in geometric progression. But it was Charles Darwin who compared these two phenomena in nature and made an ingenious conclusion that seems so simple to us now: in the process of struggle for existence, only those organisms survive that are distinguished by some useful features under given conditions. Consequently, the probability of survival is not the same: individuals that have at least minor advantages over others have a greater chance of surviving and leaving offspring. Charles Darwin called the process of preserving some individuals at the expense of others natural selection . The term “selection” itself has a conditional meaning, since there is no selector in nature. Environmental conditions act as evaluators of new signs and properties. The choice of the term is justified by the analogy between the survival of individuals in natural conditions and artificial selection. Indeed, the material for both natural and artificial selection are small hereditary changes that accumulate from generation to generation. However, the speed of artificial selection is much higher (sometimes a variety or breed is created by a person during his life), and its result is the creation of forms useful to people. Natural selection occurs tirelessly and without interruption over many centuries and leads to the formation of forms adapted to the environment.
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics
"The Evolutionary Theory of Charles Darwin."
Work completed by: Work accepted by: II year Viktor Efimovich
Today, the attitude towards Darwin's theories in society cannot be called unambiguous. Some consider it a scientific truth, others contrast it with a religious worldview. Charles Darwin is an outstanding English naturalist who was one of the first to come to the important conclusion for biology that all types of living organisms evolve from common ancestors. In his theory, which he described in his book “The Origin of Species,” he called natural selection the main mechanism of evolution. To this day, his views have not lost their relevance, and many of the ideas underlie biological science. The contribution of this researcher to biology is difficult to overestimate.
Basis of biological knowledge
Darwin's main contribution to biology was the creation of evolutionary theory, which is the basis of all modern biology. One of the founders of the so-called synthetic theory of evolution, F. G. Dobzhansky, believes that “nothing in biology can make sense except in the light of evolutionary theory.” Any school textbook describes that amphibians descended from fish, and reptiles, in turn, from amphibians. We can say that before the theory of evolution was created (Charles Darwin's main contribution to biology), this science as such did not exist. In order to study this discipline, it was necessary to receive a medical or theological education.
As in any other branch of scientific knowledge, the theory of evolution has many more questions than answers. The question of what contribution Charles Darwin made to biology is also relevant in the light of modern research. About 80 years ago, on the basis of this concept, the so-called synthetic theory of evolution was created. However, even this is now considered outdated. Biologists are talking about the third revision of the evolutionary concept and the creation of its new version, which would combine knowledge from the field of genetics, paleontology, zoopsychology, embryology and other disciplines.
Formation of species
Darwin's contribution to biology lies in the fact that he was able to partially answer the difficult question of how new species are formed. However, the scientist himself admitted that this problem is far from its final solution.
The basic property of every biological species is that it cannot interbreed with other species - this is how it gains the ability to function as an autonomous biological unit. This property is called reproductive isolation. It is implemented using several mechanisms.
How new species are formed
First of all, this is a difference in habitats. This is also a difference in mating coloration, dissimilarity in mating rituals, and lack of viability in interspecific hybrids. On initial stages During the process of speciation, the ancestral range of an animal species is divided into several populations isolated from each other. It is in these groups separated from each other that interspecific differences accumulate. After some time, these populations may come into contact with each other again. If hybridization occurs, then this offspring should be less fit than the parental forms. After some time, hybridization stops and the speciation process is considered complete. This is what Charles Darwin's theory of evolution predicts.
Sexual selection
Darwin's contribution to biology lies in the fact that it was he who put forward the idea of sexual selection in nature, which was original for his time. At the moment, a huge amount of evidence has accumulated in favor of this theory. Darwin realized that animals have many characteristics that cannot be explained solely by adaptation to environmental conditions.
For example, the luxurious feathers of some types of birds (for example, the peacock) cannot be called adaptive. In addition, such plumage makes the bird even more vulnerable to predatory animals. It also requires the intake of additional nutrients into the body in order to maintain the shape and color of the plumage. The scientist came to the conclusion that evolution is more likely a problem of reproduction than a question of the survival of species. Any traits that are inherited and are an advantage in the mating process tend to spread throughout the animal population.
Types of sexual selection
Charles Darwin's contribution to biology lies in the fact that, in addition to putting forward the theory of sexual selection, he was able to concretize it, identifying two types of this mechanism of evolution. The first type, otherwise called male-male competition, is a competition between males for the attention of females. This type of competition helps males develop the most adaptive traits: e.g. big horns, strong hooves. The second form is the female’s choice of a partner for mating. In this case, those traits that females prefer in males become most widespread in the population.
When considering Charles Darwin's contribution to biology, one cannot help but mention his words that female preferences can be compared to the actions of breeding new breeds of animals in humans. The scientist said: “Each animal has certain features, individual differences. Just as a person can breed the type of domestic birds he likes, so the preferences of females in the appearance of males will almost certainly lead to changes and modifications of characteristics in the population. These changes can reach any scale over time that is compatible with the life of the species.”
How other scientists accepted Darwin's concept
However, Darwin's contribution to the development of biology was not appreciated by scientists of that time. For example, the theory of sexual selection was accepted by the biologist and statistician R.I. Fisher and several colleagues. The reason that many ideas were not accepted by the society of that time was patriarchal morals. After all, Darwin lived in the Victorian era, and his theory of sexual choice was practically not taken into account, since it gave females a large role in the process of evolution. Until recently, this theory was not accepted by scientists.
Fisher's additions
Fisher supplemented Darwin's concept with several concepts about uncontrolled sexual selection. The scientist used this term to describe a type of selection in which a positive feedback is formed between the selection of certain traits in males by females, which leads to the spread of these traits. For example, a peacock's tail may continue to evolve until it makes it difficult for the species to survive. Scientist Zahavi put forward the concept that females prefer extremely pronounced features, since only a healthy body can maintain such features (only a full-fledged peacock can have a tail that is constantly maintained in this state).
Darwin's contribution to biology, briefly described in the article, is very great. From childhood, Darwin loved biology and showed interest in the world around him. That is why they made so many significant achievements. Without Darwin it is impossible to imagine modern natural science. Briefly, Darwin's contribution to biology can be described by the following theses:
- He became the first scientist to explain the theory of the evolution of species.
- Darwin's discoveries became the basis for the modern synthetic evolutionary concept.
- Darwin made a significant contribution to the development of genetics, as he proved the possibility of changing species characteristics using artificial intervention.
Charles Darwin's contribution to biology is very difficult to summarize briefly, since the entire discipline is based on his discoveries. Evolutionary theory is an almost inexhaustible field of knowledge. Many questions await scientists of the new generation, who, based on Darwin's discoveries, will be able to put forward new theories and fill gaps in the concepts of modernity.
Darwin's contribution to the development of biology was made possible thanks to his ability to identify the most important facts and phenomena that are closely related to the most important questions in the field of natural science. At that time, the question of the origin of species had not yet been posed to scientists in a clear form, but Darwin already then drew attention to those phenomena that contained the key to solving this difficult question.
Darwin's Professional Choice
Many who are interested in what contributions Darwin made to biology are surprised by his biographical data. After all, in 1831, young Charles graduated from the university with satisfactory grades, like many others of his comrades. Do final choice Professor of Botany J. Henslow helped him in favor of biological research. It was he who drew attention to the extraordinary abilities of young Darwin in time.
Journey
In 1831, the explorer began his famous voyage on a ship called the Beagle, without which Charles Darwin's contribution to the development of biology would hardly have been realized. The voyage lasted 5 years. During this time, the scientist visited many places: Chile, Peru, Brazil, and the Galapagos Islands. Each of them has its own closed fauna. And from the very beginning of his research, Darwin became seriously interested in the ways in which animals and plants migrated. The scientist was also of considerable interest in the transitional forms between species, which only caused annoyance to other researchers, since they did not fit into the then existing theories.
After the trip
Darwin's contribution to biology was not appreciated by scientists of that time, but his travel diary became very popular among the common population. It was written very in simple language. Although Charles Darwin could not be called a brilliant writer, his love for the world around him and his powers of observation made up for the imperfections of his presentation.
When Darwin returned from the expedition, he was 27 years old. And the question of his future career was resolved as if by itself, without any difficulties. Darwin did not consider himself someone capable of “advancing scientific knowledge.” He just had a huge amount of material on his hands, and he himself was already drawing up plans for further research. The scientist did just that and spent the next two decades processing the materials that he had on hand.
The English scientist Charles Darwin made an invaluable contribution to biological science, managing to create a theory of the development of the animal world based on the determining role of natural selection as the driving force of the evolutionary process. The foundation for the creation of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin was observations during trip around the world on the Beagle. Darwin began developing the theory of evolution in 1837, and only twenty years later, at a meeting of the Linnaean Society in London, Darwin read a report that contained the main provisions of the theory of natural selection. At the same meeting, a report was read by A. Wallace, who expressed views that coincided with Darwin's. The two reports were published together in the Journal of the Linnaean Society, but Wallace acknowledged that Darwin had developed the theory of evolution earlier, more deeply, and more completely. That is why Wallace, emphasizing Darwin’s priority, called his main work, published in 1889, “Darwinism.”
In his works “On the Expression of Sensations in Animals and Man” (1872), as well as “Instinct” and “Biographical Sketch of a Child” (1877), Darwin was the first to use an objective method of studying the psyche, although implemented in the form of observation rather than experiment.
Using a large amount of factual material, Darwin carefully analyzed the repertoire of expressive movements in humans and animals, mainly primates. Summarizing the results of this comparison, Darwin came to the conclusion that the manifestations of sensations in animals and humans have many similarities: for example, some forms of expression of human emotions, such as raising the hair under the influence of extreme fear or baring teeth during a fit of rage, are hardly possible understand, if not assume, that man once existed in a more primitive and bestial state. “The commonality of certain modes of expression of emotion in different but related species, such as the movement of the same muscles during laughter in man and various monkeys, seems more meaningful if we assume that they are descended from the same ancestor” (Darwin, 1953 ). On this basis, he came to the conclusion about the common origin of monkeys and humans, i.e. their kinship and continuity. 1
Darwin was the first to apply the principle of objective analysis to such mental phenomena (the expression of emotions), which until that moment were considered the most subjective.
The extensive information Darwin collected about the behavior of animals in natural conditions and in captivity allowed him to clearly identify three main categories of behavior - instinct, the ability to learn and the “ability to reason.” He defined instincts as acts that are performed in the same way by many individuals of the same species, without understanding the purpose for which these actions are performed. At the same time, Darwin believed that the rudiments of reason (“the ability to reason” - reasoning) are as inherent in many animals as instincts and the ability to form associations (i.e., to learn). He defined the difference between the psyche of man and higher animals, no matter how great, as a difference “in degree, not in quality.” 2
Charles Darwin's idea that human mental activity is only one of the results single process evolutionary development, stimulated the use of the comparative method in psychology, in particular the collection of data on the similarities between the psyches of animals and humans.
Thus, Charles Darwin’s contribution to the problem of animal thinking is as follows:
for the first time, the idea of three components of animal behavior and psyche (instinct, learning, rational activity) was introduced;
Charles Darwin's teaching contributed to the application of the comparative and evolutionary approach in psychology.
The next stage in the study of animal behavior, and in particular the most complex forms of their psyche, was associated with the introduction of objective research methods as opposed to the dominant method of introspection in human psychology - a description of the psyche based on introspection. A whole complex of related but independent disciplines appears - zoopsychology, experimental and comparative psychology, higher physiology nervous activity; Behaviorism occupies a special position in this list. Comparative psychology compares different stages mental development animals of different levels of organization. Such studies shed light on the increasing complexity of the animal psyche in the evolutionary series. 1
11 MAIN DIRECTIONS OF THE THEORY OF CREATIONISM
Evolution theory –
one of the biggest mysteries of all time. The hierarchy of living forms observed in nature has long led man to the idea of a “ladder of creatures” and subsequently made it possible to discern the phenomenon of evolution.
Along with the theory of evolutionism, the theory of creationism also developed - the doctrine of the divine creation of the world as a whole, celestial bodies, the Earth and life forms on it from “nothing”. In “scientific” creationism, a particularly active trend can be identified that insists on the absolute truth of the literal interpretation of the Bible. It was formulated in detail by G. Morris (1995), who founded the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego (USA, California) in 1972.
Creationism (from the Latin creatio, gen. creationis - creation) is a theological and ideological concept within which the main forms of the organic world (life), humanity, planet Earth, as well as the world as a whole, are considered as directly created by the Creator or God .
Evolutionism adheres to the uniformitarian view, according to which all development processes occurred and are occurring gradually and evenly. The processes taking place today are no different from those that took place in the past.
In contrast, proponents of creation theory conceptualize the Earth's past in terms of catastrophism, which assumes that the Earth experienced at least one worldwide cataclysm. This global catastrophe was the flood, which dramatically changed the nature of many natural processes on the planet. Uniformitarianism completely excludes the factor of catastrophes in the development of the history of the Earth.
The main argument of creationists remains their reference to the fact that the theory of creation cannot be called a theological science, since it relies exclusively on data from the natural sciences. The works of creation scientists meet absolutely all scientific requirements. At the same time, they are convinced that the theory of creation not only corresponds to the accumulated scientific data, but also explains it much better than the theory of evolution.
At the same time, both theories cannot experimentally prove their initial postulates. Creationists do not have the ability to reproduce the act of creation in laboratory conditions, because only God can do this. On the other hand, evolution proceeds so slowly that it is completely impossible to record in short periods of time. The followers of these two theories are united by faith. Creationists believe in an initial act of creation, evolutionists believe in the gradual development of all living things. Let's make a comparative comparison of these two models.
Currently, creationism represents a wide range of concepts that include purely theological and philosophical concepts and concepts that claim to be scientific. However, what is common to this set of concepts is that they are rejected by the majority of modern scientists as unscientific, at least according to the criterion of the philosopher K. Popper: conclusions from the premises of creationism do not have predictive power, since they cannot be verified by experiment.
Considering the main directions of the theory of creationism, we can say the following. There are many different movements in Christian creationism that differ in their interpretation of natural scientific data. According to the degree of divergence from generally accepted scientific views on the past of the Earth and the Universe, they are distinguished:
– literalistic (young-earth) creationism (Young-Earth Creationism) insists on literal adherence to the Book of Genesis
Old Testament, that is, that the world was created exactly as described in the Bible - in 6 days and about 6000 (as some Protestants claim, based on the Masoretic text
Old Testament) or 7500 (as some Orthodox claim, based on the Septuagint) years ago.
– metaphorical (old-earth) creationism: in it “6 days of creation” is a universal metaphor, adapted to the level of perception of people with different levels of knowledge; in reality, one “day of creation” corresponds to millions or billions of real years (the word day (Heb. “yom”) does not mean only a day, but often indicates an indefinite period of time (Ps.; 2 Peter.). Among metaphorical creationists at the present time most common:
– Progressive creationism: according to this concept, God continuously directs the process of change in biological species and their emergence. Representatives of this movement accept geological and astrophysical data and dating, but completely reject the theory of evolution and speciation by natural selection;
Pius XII), or interpreting chance in nature as a manifestation of divine providence (modern Russian paleontologist A.V. Gomankov). Theologically, different concepts of theistic evolutionism vary from those common to Abrahamic
religions
theism (deacon
Russian Orthodox Church
Andrey Kuraev) to pantheism, deism and the views of Teilhard de Chardin. Because in discussions on the topic “evolution or creation?” theistic evolutionists most often support the “evolutionist” point of view, many creationists who do not accept evolution do not consider their position to be creationism at all (the most radical of the literalists even deny theistic evolutionists the right to call themselves Christians
Many representatives of Orthodox Judaism deny the theory of evolution, insisting on a literal reading of the Torah, but representatives of the modern Orthodox movement of Judaism - religious modernists and religious Zionists - tend to interpret some parts of the Torah allegorically and are ready to partially accept the theory of evolution in one form or another. Representatives of the conservative and reformed
Judaism accepts the basic postulates of the theory of evolution to the fullest.
Thus, the views of representatives of classical Orthodox Judaism are close to fundamentalist creationism, while the views of modern Orthodox, as well as conservative and reformed Judaism, are close to theistic evolutionism.
Since the Koran, unlike the Book of Genesis, does not contain detailed description creation of the world, literalist creationism is much less widespread in the Muslim world than in the Christian world. Islam believes (according to the text of the Koran) that humans and jinn are created by God. Modern views Many Sunnis on the theory of evolution are close to evolutionary creationism.
Among non-Abrahamic religions, creationism in Hinduism deserves attention. Since Hinduism assumes a very ancient age of the world (see kalpa), Hindu literalist creationism, in contrast to Abrahamic creationism, asserts not the youth of the Earth, but the antiquity (billions of years) of humanity. At the same time, like the fundamentalists of the Abrahamic religions, biological evolution is denied and, among other things, the simultaneous existence of humans and dinosaurs is affirmed.
In addition to the development of purely theological ideas, creationism makes a number of attempts to substantiate the creation of the world, remaining within the framework of the methodology of natural science of the 18th - early 19th centuries with some reservations: unlike the natural philosophy of the past, as a rule, the variability of species of plants, animals and bacteria is recognized, and it is also accepted postulate about the changeability of the laws of nature. Among the adherents of this approach there are supporters of both literal and metaphorical creationism.
The theory of intelligent design (English: Intelligent Design) states that the complexity and purposefulness of the structure of living beings and ecosystems is explained by the conscious design of a creator or some “agent” better than by the undirected process of mutations and natural selection. Representatives of the theory of conscious design distance themselves from religion, emphasizing the teleological and teleonomic aspects of the concept, but the very concept of design implies the presence of a subject of design, that is, a Creator.
If the classical religious fundamentalism of the 19th - first half of the 20th centuries simply rejected the data of natural sciences, then since the end of the 20th century, supporters of the theory of intelligent design have been making attempts to subordinate science to the needs of apologetics, and a characteristic feature is argumentum ad ignorantiam: “if science does not currently have a detailed explanation any fact or phenomenon, while religion has such an explanation, therefore, this fact or phenomenon must be interpreted from a religious position.”
One of the arguments of supporters of the theory of “intelligent design” (“a fine-tuning argument”) is based on the known sensitivity of the Universe and life to small changes in world physical constants (Anthropic principle). The range of permissible values of the constants turns out to be very narrow, and from the low probability of “fine-tuning” the Universe, a conclusion is drawn about its artificiality and the presence of an Intelligent Creator.
Historically, the first non-quantitative evolutionary “non-tuning” formulation of the anthropic principle was the statement of cosmologist A. L. Zelmanov
The quantitative approach “by contradiction” is the Ikeda-Jefferis argument: the introduction of “tuning friendliness” (weak anthropic principle) increases the likelihood of the natural origin of the Universe. However, this argument can also be used to defend ideas of intelligent design, many of whose proponents emphasize that despite the fact that numerous properties of the world - from the fundamental interactions that determine physics to the size and composition of the Sun, the Earth, and the radius of the Earth's orbit - favorable for maintaining life on Earth, some laws of nature (in particular, the need for the emergence of sufficiently large macromolecules or spontaneous violation of the chiral purity of biologically active molecules) are precisely “unfavorable” for the emergence of living matter from nonliving matter (in any case, detailed models of this process in modern biology have not been developed).
Followers of the ideas of the theory of “intelligent design” have proposed several criteria for the “artificiality” of an object, based on the concepts of systems theory and information theory (“irreducible complexity” by M. Behe, “specific complexity” by W. Dembski).
Boston University Professor M. Sherman proposes a hypothesis about the artificial appearance of the “universal genome” in the Cambrian to explain the reasons for the so-called Cambrian explosion in the evolution of multicellular organisms. Moreover, he insists on the scientific testability of his hypothesis.
“Creation science” or “scientific creationism” (English Creation Science) is a movement in creationism, whose supporters claim that it is possible to obtain scientific confirmation of the biblical act of creation and, more broadly, biblical history (in particular, the Flood), remaining within the framework scientific methodology.
Although in the works of proponents of creation science there is often an appeal to problems of complexity biological systems, which brings their concept closer to conscious design creationism, supporters of “scientific creationism” usually go further and insist on the need for a literal reading of the Book of Genesis, justifying their position with both theological and scientific arguments.
The following statements are typical for the works of “scientific creationists”:
– the opposition of “operational science” about natural phenomena in the present time, the hypotheses of which are accessible to experimental verification, and “historical science” about events that occurred in the past. Due to the inaccessibility of direct verification, according to creationists, historical science is doomed to rely on a priori postulates of a “religious” nature, and conclusions historical science may be true or false depending on the truth or falsity of the a priori accepted religion;
- “originally created race”, or “baramin”. Creationists of past centuries, like C. Linnaeus, describing various species of animals and plants, assumed that species are unchanged, and the number is now existing species equal to the number originally created by God (minus species that have already become extinct within the historical memory of mankind, for example, dodos). However, the accumulation of data on speciation in nature has led opponents of the theory of evolution to hypothesize that representatives of each “baramin” were created with a set of specific characteristics and the potential for a limited range of changes. Species (reproductively isolated community, as understood by population scientists)
genetics, or the static phase of the evolutionary process, as paleontologists understand it) is not synonymous with the "baramin" of creationists. According to opponents of the theory of evolution, some "baramins" include many species, as well as higher-order taxa, while others (for example, the human one, which creationists insist on for theological, teleological and some natural scientific reasons) can only include one kind. After creation, representatives of each “baramin” interbred with each other either without restrictions, or in sub-baramins - species. As a criterion for belonging to two different types One “baramin” that creationists usually put forward is the ability to produce offspring (even infertile ones) through interspecific hybridization. Since there are known examples of such hybridization between mammal species traditionally classified as belonging to different genera, there is an opinion among creationists that in mammals the "baramin" roughly corresponds to a family (the only exception is humans, which constitute a separate "baramin");
– “flood geology”, which declares the simultaneous deposition of most sedimentary rocks
of the earth's crust with burial and rapid fossilization of remains due to the global flood during the time of Noah and on this basis denying stratigraphic
geochronological scale. According to proponents of flood geology, representatives of all taxa appear “fully formed” in the fossil record, which refutes evolution. Moreover, the occurrence of fossils in stratigraphic layers does not reflect the sequence of floras and faunas that succeeded each other over many millions of years, but the sequence of ecosystems associated with different geographical depths and altitudes - from
Today we’ll talk a little about the evolutionary teachings of Charles Darwin.
One of the main pages in the history of the formation of modern biology is associated with the name of the famous Englishman Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882).
Of course, by the middle of the 19th century, when Charles Darwin’s first work “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection...” (1959) was published, the ideas of creationism about the immutability of the world of living beings were significantly undermined (mainly by evolutionary teaching). What new did Charles Darwin “invent”? What is Darwin's theory?
The main merit of Charles Darwin is that he was the first to clearly formulate the position of main factors of evolution and established the driving force of evolution. …..
To be fair, the name of Alfred Wallace should also be remembered. The fact is that in 1858, when Darwin’s 20-year-old work was still being prepared for publication, he was sent for review a manuscript by the young scientist A. Wallace (1823 -1913), which outlined ideas similar to the views of Darwin himself. Therefore, for the first time the idea of natural selection was presented jointly by them at a meeting of the Linnean Society in London.
Why do we know Charles Darwin well, recognize his teaching “Darwinism” and do not remember A. Wallace? The fact is that Wallace (a most honest and devoid of vanity man) himself fairly gave the palm to Darwin. And isn't it ironic : the term Darwinism itself became entrenched in science precisely thanks to A. Wallace, who published a book called “Darwinism” in 1875.
So, the factors of evolution according to Charles Darwin :
1. Heredity
2. Variability
3. The struggle for existence
The driving force of evolution is natural selection.
As we now know, heredity and variability- these are “two sides of the same coin” : hereditary information located in the (chromosomes) of the cell nucleus.
Transmitted from one cell to another during asexual reproduction (mitosis) unchanged, DNA provides the phenomenon. Which is undoubtedly very important for the existence of organisms in relatively stable environmental conditions.
This whole triad of evolutionary factors: heredity, variability and the struggle for existence “rules” in natural conditions, as Charles Darwin thought of, natural selection.
It is natural selection that ensures such a harmonious existence for more than two million various types organisms on Earth, their adaptability to all kinds of habitats and to interact with each other.
Well, it seems like everything should be clear to you. According to Darwin, there are factors of evolution, there is a driving force of evolution. Yes, you understand, but it’s just not clear to the authors and compilers of the Unified State Exam tests themselves. One can only wonder whose “bright mind” was visited by such creativity : Here is one of the Unified State Exam test tasks offered to students by the authors of FIPI in the Open Bank of Unified State Exam assignments in biology.
Hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection are
1) properties of living nature
2) results of evolution
3) driving forces of evolution
4) main directions of evolution
In order to answer this test “correctly” you need to forget everything that is written in textbooks on Darwin’s theory, everything that was taught to you school teachers and during the exam, with some sixth sense, guess that, according to the authors’ idea, the correct answer is 3) .
But there is still one small justification in favor of the authors of this question. The fact is that according to modern (STE) factors of evolution include : mutational and combinational variability, population waves, genetic drift, isolation. But even according to STE, the driving force of evolution is the same - natural selection.
In connection with the last point, as a Unified State Exam tutor in biology, I strongly advise you to remember such a form of biological progress as general.
The main forms of biological progress, which we will consider in the next article, aromorphoses (or morphophysiological progress) and idioadaptations (or allomorphoses) are usually remembered well. But the fact that general degeneration is the third form of biological progress is most often forgotten.
*************************************************************************
Dear blog visitors, if you have any questions for the biology tutor via Skype, please write in the comments.
You can purchase on my blog answers to all tests OBZ FIPI for all years of examinations and.
Darwin's merit lies in the fact that he revealed the main driving forces of evolution. He explained the change in organisms by the action of the laws of nature, without the intervention of supernatural forces. Charles Darwin based his explanation of evolution on three main factors: variability of organisms; struggle for existence; natural selection.
Slide 12 from the presentation "Development of Darwin's theory of evolution". The size of the archive with the presentation is 862 KB.Biology 9th grade
summary other presentations“Ice cream composition” - Ice cream preparation technology. Detection of carbohydrates. Ice cream - good or bad. Detection of proteins in ice cream. Energy value ice cream under study. Study chemical composition ice cream Detection of fats. Ice cream is one of the most favorite food products of the population. Residue detection. The history of the origin of ice cream. Determination of the presence of iron ions. Ice cream composition.
“Vitamins and their role” - B vitamins. Anabolic. Vitamin N. Vitamins. Vitamins of group E. Vitamins of group P. Porphyrin derivatives. Bilirubinoids. Vitamin F. Corrin derivatives. Antivitamins D3. Used to treat chronic anemia. Inositol. Vitamin N. Provitamins A. Equivalent forms. Vitamins of group Q. Vitamins of group K. Antivitamins K. Vitamin-like substances. Enzymatic transformation. Vitamins of group D. Daily requirement.
“Variability of characteristics of organisms” - Biological significance of heredity. Gene mutations. Combinative variability. Variability. Mutation. Variability of signs in an organism. Mutational variability. The ability of an organism to change during ontogenesis. Non-hereditary variability. Genomic mutations.
“Organogenesis” - Experiments on amphibians have shown that mesoderm plays an important role in the establishment of spatial organization already at the earliest early stages formation of a general plan of body structure. In chimeric mouse embryos, for example, the cells of two original morulae are mixed, as a result of which cells of two genotypes are chaotically mixed in the adult organism. Changes in the expression patterns of various cadherins are closely correlated with changes in cell association during gastrulation, neurulation, and somite formation; such changes in early embryogenesis may be regulated and at least partially dependent on the distribution of cadherins.
“Human endocrine system” - Glands. Hypothalamic-pituitary system. Enzymes. Sex glands. Properties of hormones. Secret extraction. Thyroid. The relationship between the nervous and endocrine systems. Endemic goiter. Endocrine regulation of human body functions. Functions of hormones. Tissue proliferation. Pituitary. Glands of mixed secretion. Hormones. Endocrine glands. Adrenal glands. Thymus. Endocrine regulation. Exocrine glands.
"Evolution of the Living World" - Artificial selection. Microevolution. The doctrine of variability. Levels of organization of living matter. The doctrine of gradation. Basic properties of living organisms. Charles Robert Darwin. Charles Darwin's theory on the origin of species. Evolution of the living world on Earth. Type criteria. Carl Linnaeus. Natural selection. Macroevolution. Darwinism. Jean Baptiste Lamarck. Properties of living organisms. Adaptation of organisms to environmental conditions.
