Creationists believe that God created the Earth around 6,000 years ago, along with complex organisms to inhabit it. ![]() A couple of notable theories were:Ĭreationism-The belief that God designed the Earth and everything that would ever live on it. Pre-Darwinian Theories of Speciesīefore Charles Darwin’s natural selection theory, other prominent biologists put forward their own theories about how and why different species appeared. In this case, because the conditions on each island were slightly different, over time those traits diverged and created noticeably different types of finches. This happened because traits that help organisms survive and reproduce tend to get passed on to the next generation, while less suitable traits tend to get outcompeted and die out. Charles Darwin developed his theory by studying finches in the Galapagos Islands, where he found that birds on different islands had distinctly different beak shapes-for example, one beak type was well suited for cracking open nuts, while another was effective at digging insects out of tree bark.ĭarwin concluded that each type of finch had evolved to thrive in its particular environment. Mukherjee begins the story of genetics in 1859, when Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution, titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Here’s how Darwin’s ideas shaped our understanding of genetics. However, while Darwin accurately explained the results of evolution, he wasn’t able to figure out how it worked. How did Darwin’s theory affect science and society? How did Darwin’s ideas shape our understanding of evolution and genetics?Ĭharles Darwin’s natural selection theory paved the way for many subsequent theories and discoveries that make up the bedrock of our current understanding of human evolution. Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading. This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
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