Summary of Charles Darwins The Origin of Species

Summary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”
Darwin turned wholeheartedly to the problem of evolution. Ever since his Beagle
trip he had been convinced that the difference between what naturalists called
'varieties' and what they called 'species' was much less significant than
previously thought. If pigeon breeders could create varieties as different as
pouters, runts, and fantails, what would prevent nature from doing the same?
And, given millions of years, wasn't it possible that a pigeon could be turned into
something so radically different we would no longer be willing to call it a
pigeon–or even a bird?
Darwin was not the first to have these kinds of thoughts. Seventy years before,

his grandfather, Erasmus, had devoted a whole section of his bookZoonomia to
the issue of evolution. In 1844, Robert Chambers anonymously published his
controversial book, The Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, a sweeping
history of the cosmos that came down strongly on the side of evolution, largely
on the evidence of fossils (the 'vestiges' of creation). The book was flawed, but
popular, and it brought the idea of evolution into the public eye. The opposition to
evolution was still strong, but it included among its number a wide range of
opinions, from those who thought that all species had been created at the
beginning of the world in the same form as they now had, to those who thought
that new species were being continuously created to fill new environmental
niches, to those who thought that variation within species was within Nature's
power but the creation of new species remained in God's hands.
Darwin had two things to contribute to this debate: a wealth of observations on
adaptation, and, more importantly, a theory that could explain how new
adaptations arose without the guiding hand of a divine Creator. His observations
were gained by his own experience on the Beagle, his eight painstaking years of
work on barnacles, and the advice and expertise of friends like Hooker. His
theory was his own creation. Darwin solved the problem of evolution by pointing
to a mechanism that depended on nothing but variation and chance: natural
selection ***. Many more individuals were born than could be supported by the
environment, which meant that some had to die. Which ones died? Obviously,
those that were least well adapted to the environment. Given that there is
variation in the population, and that that variation is heritable (i.e. can be passed
from one generation to the next), it was clear that the most useful adaptations
would be preserved. If enough of those adaptations were accumulated, a new
species could arise.
Although this sketch of the theory was already in place in Darwin's notes, in 1854
he was still struggling with a few pieces that he had yet to make sense of. One
had to do with the population of islands like the Galapagos. According to his
theory, animals and plants had arrived on the islands millions of years before and
had slowly adapted to fit the unique environments on each island. But how had
they gotten there in the first place? He was unwilling to accept the possibility that
these volcanic islands had once been closer to the mainland of South America.
Instead, he tried to prove that seeds and even eggs might have been transported
on ocean currents from the mainland. He conducted experiments: soaking seeds
in salt water for weeks to see if they would still germinate (most did) and figuring
out which seeds would float (most didn't). The second puzzle piece was why
there was such a great diversity of life in the world. If every species was
continuously adapting to fit the environment as best it could, why didn't all
species converge to the same form? Shouldn't there be some 'best species' that
would dominate all others? Darwin solved this problem by drawing an analogy
with modern industry. It was not true that there was a single 'best job' in any task.
In fact, production got more efficient the more specialized each worker became.
The same held true in the natural world: species specialized so that they could
capitalize on particular aspects of the environment. In fact, a species that was
failing in the competition in one particular environmental niche could become
startlingly successful if it simply shifted niches so that it was no longer in
head-to-head competition similar species.
To shore up his understanding of variation under artificial selection–the kind of

selection that had produced pets and domestic farm animals–Darwin started to
learn all he could about pigeons. Breeding pigeons was a pastime that few
aristocrats threw themselves into, but Darwin eagerly built a shed in the yard
behind Down House. He started making trips into London to speak to the
professionals, downing beers with them while they boasted about how they could
see differences of 1/16th of an inch between two pigeon's beaks. Darwin studied
not only living, breeding pigeons, but also dead ones; for a while, his workshop
became a shop of horrors as he killed and 'skeletonized' pigeons of all varieties
and ages, not to mention the occasional rabbit or chicken, studying the
sometimes striking differences in structure between different varieties.
Meanwhile, Darwin was testing out his theory of evolution on friends like Hooker
and zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley. No one was entirely convinced yet, but
some progress was being made. When Lyell, the geologist whose Principles of
Geology had so inspired Darwin while on the Beagle, found out about Darwin's
theory, he urged him to publish it as soon as possible, if only to ensure that he
would not be scooped. Darwin demurred: he was much more interested in
producing a watertight case for evolution by natural selection than in gaining
credit for a theory that could be easily dismissed. Nonetheless he started working
on a manuscript in May of 1856. It started as a sketch, but it quickly became
obvious that, when completed, it would rival Lyell's Principles in length, and
would probably have to be published in multiple volumes.
***Natural Selection
On of the most important contributions made to the science of evolution by

Charles Darwin is the concept of natural selection. The idea that members of a
species compete with each other for resources and that individuals that are
better adapted to their lifestyle have a better chance of surviving to reproduce
revolutionized the field of evolution, though it was not accepted until several
decades after Darwin first proposed it. Today, natural selection forms the basis
for our understanding of how species change over time.
Natural selection may act to change a trait in many different ways. When
selection pressures favor the average form of the trait, selection is said to be
stabilizing. Directional selection occurs when selection pressures favor one
extreme of the trait distribution. Selection is disruptive when the average form of
the trait is selected against while either extreme is unaffected.
In addition to natural selection, there are two other types of selection. Sexual
selection, which Darwin believed was distinct from natural selection, involves the
selection of traits based on their role in courtship and mating. Artificial selection is
the selective breeding of species by humans to increase desirable traits, though
the traits do not necessarily have to confer greater fitness.

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Summary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”

To shore up his understanding of variation under artificial selection–the kind of

On of the most important contributions made to the science of evolution by

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