Charles Darwin
Amazing Facts
*Charles Robert Darwin(12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist,best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.
*Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and he was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
*Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species.
*The Linnean Society of London has commemorated Darwin's achievements by the award of the Darwin–Wallace Medal since 1908.
*Darwin has been commemorated in the UK, with his portrait printed on the reverse of £10 banknotes printed along with a hummingbird and HMS Beagle, issued by the Bank of England.
*A life-size seated statue of Darwin can be seen in the main hall of the Natural History Museum in London.
Key Learnings / Sayings
A republic cannot succeed, till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
Although much remains obscure, and will long remain obscure, … I am convinced that Natural Selection has been the main but not exclusive means of modification.
Struggle For Existence - Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring. The offspring, also, will thus have a better chance of surviving, for, of the many individuals of any species which are periodically born, but a small number can survive. I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection, in order to mark its relation to man's power of selection..
Natural Selection - This preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection.
One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.
If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case.
All animals feel Wonder, and many exhibit Curiosity. They sometimes suffer from this latter quality, as when the hunter plays antics and thus attracts them.
He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record, will rightly reject my whole theory. For he may ask in vain where are the numberless transitional links which must formerly have connected the closely allied or representative species, found in the several stages of the same great formation.
The highest stage in moral culture at which we can arrive, is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts.
It has often and confidently been asserted, that man's origin can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.
The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by man attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than woman can attain — whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands.
The moral faculties are generally esteemed, and with justice, as of higher value than the intellectual powers. But we should always bear in mind that the activity of the mind in vividly recalling past impressions is one of the fundamental though secondary bases of conscience. This fact affords the strongest argument for educating and stimulating in all possible ways the intellectual faculties of every human being.
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
Believing as I do that man in the distant future will be a far more perfect creature than he now is, it is an intolerable thought that he and all other sentient beings are doomed to complete annihilation after such long-continued slow progress. To those who fully admit the immortality of the human soul, the destruction of our world will not appear so dreadful.
Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work worthy the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals.
We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universe to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act … Our faculties are more fitted to recognize the wonderful structure of a beetle than a Universe.
Pangenesis -- A cell is a complex structure, with its investing membrane, nucleus, and nucleolus.
In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.
The evolution of the human race will not be accomplished in the ten thousand years of tame animals, but in the million years of wild animals, because man is and will always be a wild animal.
Quotes - Gyan
“I love fools' experiments. I am always making them.”
“The very essence of instinct is that it's followed independently of reason.”
“A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, - a mere heart of stone.”
“I am turned into a sort of machine for observing facts and grinding out conclusions.”
“Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence.”
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