Man's+Evolution

=The Timeline of the progress of Man:= =toc= // [|Toumai] // // [|Kenyanthropus] //[|//] [|Ardipithecus ramidus//]  [|//Australopithecus afarensis//]  //[|Australopithecus africanus]//  //[|Australopithecus anamensis]// //[|Australopithecus garhi]//  [|//Australopithecus aethiopicus//]  //[|Australopithecus boisei]//  //[|Australopithecus robustus]//  [|//Homo habilis//]  //[|Homo rudolfensis]//  //[|Homo ergaster]//  //[|Homo erectus]//  //[|Homo neanderthalensis]//  //[|Homo sapien]// =Who invented it?= An naturalist named Charles Darwin came up with the theory.

//Charles Darwin was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution and transformed the way we think about the natural world.// //Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire into a wealthy and well-connected family. His maternal grandfather was china manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, while his paternal grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, one of the leading intellectuals of 18th century England.// //Darwin himself initially planned to follow a medical career, and studied at Edinburgh University but later switched to divinity at Cambridge. In 1831, he joined a five year scientific expedition on the survey ship HMS Beagle.//

//At this time, most Europeans believed that the world was created by God in seven days as described in the bible. On the voyage, Darwin read Lyell's 'Principles of Geology' which suggested that the fossils found in rocks were actually evidence of animals that had lived many thousands or millions of years ago. Lyell's argument was reinforced in Darwin's own mind by the rich variety of animal life and the geological features he saw during his voyage. The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, 500 miles west of South America. Darwin noticed that each island supported its own form of finch which were closely related but differed in important ways.//

//On his return to England in 1836, Darwin tried to solve the riddles of these observations and the puzzle of how species evolve. Influenced by the ideas of Malthus, he proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection. The animals (or plants) best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the characteristics which helped them survive to their offspring. Gradually, the species changes over time.// //Darwin worked on his theory for 20 years. After learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, the two made a joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859 Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'.// //The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension of Darwin's theory was that homo sapiens was simply another form of animal. It made it seem possible that even people might just have evolved - quite possibly from apes - and destroyed the prevailing orthodoxy on how the world was created. Darwin was vehemently attacked, particularly by the Church. However, his ideas soon gained currency and have become the new orthodoxy.// //Darwin died on 19 April 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.//

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin was born on the same day as [|Abraham Lincoln]. He was the fifth child and second son of Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood. Darwin was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved (developed gradually) over millions of years from a few common ancestors.

In 1831, Darwin set out on H.M.S. Beagle as a self-financed gentleman companion to the 26-year-old captain, Robert Fitzroy. The Beagle was on a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. The expedition visited places around the world, and Darwin studied plants and animals everywhere he went, collecting specimens for further study.

Upon his return to London in 1836, Darwin conducted thorough research of his notes and specimens. Out of this study grew several related theories: one, evolution did occur; two, evolutionary change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years; three, the primary mechanism for evolution was a process called natural selection; and four, the millions of species alive today arose from a single original life form through a branching process called “speciation.”

Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. He set these theories forth in his book called, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859) or “The Origin of Species” for short. After publication of Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on botany, geology, and zoology until his death in 1882. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Charles Robert Darwin [|FRS] (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an [|English] [|naturalist].[|[I]] He established that all [|species] of life have descended over time from [|common ancestry], and proposed the [|scientific theory] that this <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">[|branching pattern] of [|evolution] resulted from a process that he called [|natural selection]. <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book [|On the Origin of Species].[|[1]][|[2]] The [|scientific community] and much of the general public came to accept [|evolution as a fact] in his lifetime.[|[3]] However, it was not until the emergence of the [|modern evolutionary synthesis] from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed that natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution.[|[4]] In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the [|life sciences], explaining the [|diversity of life].[|[5]][|[6]] <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his [|medical education] at the [|University of Edinburgh]; instead, he helped to investigate [|marine invertebrates]. Studies at the [|University of Cambridge] encouraged his passion for [|natural science].[|[7]] His [|five-year voyage] on [|HMS Beagle] established him as an eminent [|geologist] whose observations and theories supported [|Charles Lyell]'s [|uniformitarian] ideas, and publication of his [|journal of the voyage] made him famous as a popular author.[|[8]] <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and [|fossils] he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the [|transmutation of species] and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838.[|[9]] Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority.[|[10]] He was writing up his theory in 1858 when [|Alfred Russel Wallace] sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of [|both of their theories].[|[11]] Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature.[|[3]] In 1871, he examined [|human evolution] and [|sexual selection] in [|The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex], followed by [|The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined [|earthworms] and their effect on soil.[|[12]] <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"> In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was one of only five nineteenth-century non-royal personages from the United Kingdom to be honoured by a [|state funeral],[|[13]] and was buried in [|Westminster Abbey], close to [|John Herschel] and [|Isaac Newton].

=What is it?=

//Evolution is what has always been and continues today. The way a certain creature develops offspring which is slightly different from the parents in order to assure survival is evolution. Evolution simply means to develop from one way to a slightly different version of the original.//


 * Evolution** (also known as **biological**, **genetic** or **organic evolution**) is the change in the [|inherited] [|traits] of a [|population] of [|organisms] through successive generations.[|[][|1][|]] This change results from interactions between processes that introduce [|variation] into a population, and other processes that remove it. As a result, variants with particular traits become more, or less, common.

Evolution has taken place over millions of years and is responsible for all the living things on Earth today. There are different views and theories about the origin of life and the evolutionary process.

=How is it still used today?=

To educate people and still find more information about the beginning of the world and all the creatures that have lived or still survive on our planet, Earth.

Modern scientists can now **answer questions about the natural world in ways Darwin never could.** New tools and technologies, such as DNA analyses, can reveal unexpected relationships between seemingly dissimilar groups. Accurate fossil dating methods show that evolution proceeds at variable rates and is not always gradual. And sophisticated studies of wild populations provide insights into how new species are formed. Darwin would be amazed—and delighted—to see how our new knowledge has helped advance his theory. =How has it changed over time?=

Scientists may have changed things around according toresearch and they are still constantly adding things and researching more information today.

=Why was it invented?=

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">The pace of discovery and the movement of events at the dawn of the twenty-first century make it at once difficult and essential to occasionally find the time to take a long look at the big picture. Did we get where we are, after some three billion years of life on earth, by happenstance? Or is there evidence of purpose in the realms of animate matter and, indeed, of human history? Is purpose a deep biological or even cosmological fact or just a human invention — a reed of consolation in a pointless universe? On a Caribbean island far from the bustle of their day jobs in the United States and the United Kingdom, ten people — natural scientists, social scientists, a writer, a philosopher, and a theologian — gather to consider the subject of purpose in relation to biological evolution, cultural evolution, and human psychology — and to ponder the meaning of the apparent arrow of life moving toward greater and greater complexity. Questions to be explored include the probability of directionality in the realm of animate matter, specifically, the likelihood of the evolution of a human intelligence, that is, an intelligence particularly suited to generating space probes and poems, and in the realm of technology, of art, and of social institutions. Was globalization itself nearly inexorable? Was the evolution of certain political values, such as liberal democracy, and evolution toward a universalistic morality — i.e., the conviction that all human beings deserve equal moral treatment — almost bound to occur given certain other trends in the unfolding world being shaped by the minds of men and women? A matter of equal import involves the possibility that natural selection may have favored purposive behavior. Is positive emotion tied to anti-entropic states? Is negative emotion intrinsic to zero-sum games? What are the emotional and health consequences of having purpose? Of lacking it? And finally, assuming there is a probabilistic directionality in biological and/or cultural evolution, what moral, spiritual, and/or theological inferences might be drawn? Does directionality constitute progress? Is it suggestive of higher purpose? Can seeing this directionality inspire personal spiritual progress independent of inferences drawn about higher purpose? Is scientific advance ultimately headed toward some “Point Omega” where human beings can aspire to omniscience and omnipotence? If so, is the process sacred? The probe for answers in the conversation in Nassau takes place under the aegis of the John Templeton Foundation. The purpose of the evolution theory is: finding out new medicines or drugs in plants to help cure people,animals, to find out the creatures that have lived on this planet, sometimes to find out the creatures that //still// live on this planet, what has happened, what is happening, how the world started, how we are the way we are today, how other animals and plants are the way they are and where they are today. For example: The sugarcane plant first used by humans sometime ago. The sugarcane plant would have had to evolve a little bit to battle the new kinds of element, to adjust themselves to their new lifestyle where their thing(sugar)is produced and taken away for use by humans, would need to change themselves to get used to the lack of sugar within them and possibly new ways to spread around or pollinate. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">

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=Research Strings:=

evolution + timeline + man human evolution + timeline evolution + today evolution + invented + why evolution theory + why was it invented evolution theory + why has it been invented evolution theory + purpose

=Webliography:= http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/species.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin http://www.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96feb/darwin.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml http://www.information-entertainment.com/Science/Evolution.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/21c/evolution/ http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/evolution/ http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_cult/evolit/s05/web1/mengland.html http://humbleapproach.templeton.org/Evolution_Purpose_Meaning/

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