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WRITE ABOUT PIGEONS
In 1859, Whitwell Elwin, editor of the respected British Journal “Quarterly review”
was sent an advance copy of Charles Darwin’s latest book, “On the Origin of Species.”
In it Darwin revealed his theory that species survive because they have favorable
traits.
Elwin agreed that the book had merit but feared that the subject would not
have a wide audience.
He urged Darwin to write a book on pigeons and commented that
"Everyone is interested in pigeons.”
The first printing of 1,250 copies of the "On the Origin of the Species"
sold out in one day.
Its full title was "On The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection,
Or The Preservation Of Favoured Races In The Struggle For Life."
By "Races," most people believe Darwin referred to variations on
various species and not to man.
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Captain FitzRoy |
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HMS Beagle |
Twenty two years earlier, in 1837 when Charles Darwin was 21,
he was chosen by Captain Robert FrizRoy to join him on the HMS Beagle on a trip to map
the East coast of South America.
Darwin’s father was a respected physician, and his mother’s father was
Josiah Wedgwood of pottery fame.
Darwin had just recently graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Divinity.
FrizRoy choose Darwin in part because social protocol forbade him to eat with
anyone but a gentleman.
Darwin not only was a gentleman, but his degree in Divinity also supported his
selection because one of FrizRoy’s motives for the trip was to seek evidence to
support the biblical notion of creation.
The voyage of the HMS Beagle lasted five years.
During this time Darwin turned his lifelong interest in earthworms into
one of the world’s greatest studies of natural science.
He collected thousand of specimens, took voluminous notes and made detailed
observations.
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Charles Darwin |
He wrote several books in the first few years after his return, but it took
15 years before he published “On the Origin of Species”.
Why so long? First of all he realized that his theories would cause uproar.
Secondly, he was not a recognized biologist and first published two long works on
barnacles and orchids to establish his reputation.
Thirdly, he suffered from depression and some chronic disease that left him so
weak he often could only work 20 or 30 minutes at a time.
Even after he became famous, he rarely appeared in public.
It has been speculated that he suffered from Chagas’s Disease,
a tropical disease caused by the parasite Trypansoma Cruzi that is spread by
the bite of the Benchuga Beetle.
The disease is still endemic in much of South America.
Alternative speculation points to "very bad surgery" at an early age (16 years).
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Charles Darwin |
One of the main problems with Darwin’s theory was the mechanism by which
the favorable traits passed on to the next generation.
A Scottish engineer named Fleeming Jenkin, pointed out that when you add more
water to whiskey it dilutes the whiskey instead of making it stronger.
He therefore concluded that successive generations would be less likely to
demonstrate a favorable trait.
A monk, named Gregor Mendel, who lived in what is now the Czech Republic,
performed the experiments on inheritance that provided the needed mechanism
missing from Darwin’s theory.
Darwin was right; his theory caused a great uproar.
As with the Copernican revolution, some people have chosen to interpret the
Bible to conflict with the increasingly overwhelming evidence supporting science,
and the debate begun in the nineteenth century
on where babies come from still rages today.
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Contents copyright 2005 by Dr. A. V. Persson and ParaComp, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
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Vol 4, No 2
