Title: Darwin’s Finches
Date: 1835
Nationality: Galapagos Islands
Creator: Sketches created
by Charles Darwin
Medium: Print sketches of
birds
Title: The Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection
Date: 1859
Nationality: United
Kingdom
Creator: Charles Darwin
Medium: Print
Natural selection acts solely through the preservation of variations in some way advantageous, which consequently endure
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (Strong and Davis 650).
As
artifacts of learning, Darwin’s finches represent the beginning point of his
general theory of evolution that eventually culminated in The Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection. In order to develop his theory of evolution and natural
selection, Darwin had to combine knowledge of several fields (including
population dynamics, geology, botany, and physiology) (Strong and Davis ,. He had to gather relevant data (discernment),
analyze it, and reevaluating preexisting paradigms (judgment) in order to synthesize
a functional theory. What is most
striking about this particular synthesis is that the initial integration of
something very small and simple—the difference of physical characteristics of
related birds—sparked a whole new realm of scientific theory and
understanding. Small and simple things
should never be underestimated in their impact, not only for a single person,
but for the whole world.
Image taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin's_finches
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