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THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
After Charles Darwin completed his degree at Cambridge, he began taking lots of interest in geology aside having scientific interests in botany and zoology. He was offered a position as a naturalist on the HMS beagle, one of the British Royal Navy's Survey ships scheduled to make a long expedition to the south seas. The five year expedition continued with Darwin writing about his experiences. He collected samples of flora, fauna and fossils, and observing rock formations as well in each new area -
RESULTS FROM THE VOYAGE
Over the course of his travels, Darwin saw intriguing patterns in the distribution of features of organisms. He questioned how different species had formed. He established that the South American continent is gradually rising from the ocean. Darwin kept a notebook of his thoughts and theories about the variation of plants and animals. He formulated his bold theory about evolution of organisms by natural selection. -
THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY CHARLES DARWIN
Darwin studied birds, plants and fossils and noticed similarities among species and variations based on specific locations.This lead him to believe that the species we know today had gradually evolved from common ancestors.He developed the theory of evolution which declared that species survived through a process called "natural selection",where those who successfully adapted to change thrived and reproduced. He however decided to further investigate his hypothesis before publishing his theory -
'ORIGIN OF SPECIES'
After years of scientific investigation, he published a detailed explanation of his theory in his best know work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. His theory had three main components: that variation occurred randomly among members of a species, that an individual's traits could be inherited by his progeny and that the struggle for existence would allow only those with favorable traits to survive. In the next century, DNA provided scientific evidence for Darwin"s theory. -
CONCLUSION
Darwin's theory hugely impacted scientific thought. His theory of evolution by "natural selection" is the foundation upon which modern evolutionary theory is built.
REFERENCES
Biography.com Theory of evolution
famousscientists.org Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin,British naturalist by Adrain J. Desmond link to more information and video http://bbva.info/2nSE3pA