"I am almost convinced that (completely contrary to opinion when I started) species are not (and this is such a confession of murder) immutable."
Charles Darwin – 11.01.1844
February 12, 2009: the bicentennial year of the birth of Charles Darwin. It is also the year in which his best-known (and controversial) book, The Origin of Species, completes 150 years of publication, on November 24th. Despite all this time, Darwin and his ideas are still known and also remain a matter of controversy. Many of them in relation to the pioneering of his thought, others related to the old discussion of science x religion and another portion that involves the misinterpretation and lack of knowledge of its legacy.
In any case, it is a fact that this book has had an impact on society, perhaps as strongly as the heliocentric theory. And it is also evident that much about evolution was already speculated before him, including by his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, and also, well before, in Ancient Greece itself; and that Wallace himself had similarly realized the mechanism that Darwin had spent more than twenty years thinking about.
However, Darwin was the only one who managed to synthesize theory with concrete evidence. These he collected during the years he traveled aboard the Beagle ship. This is so much a fact that, when Darwin again returned to England, on solid ground, he was already a recognized personality.
An interesting aspect about the theory is that it perceives heredity without, at least, Mendel's (1822-1844) genetics having emerged. Another “detail” is that, based on his written records – which are not few – it can be said that his abolitionist ideas (quite innovative, for the time) also helped in the insight into the existence of a single origin for life, raising a notion of brotherhood among all living beings - mainly by the same species, making slavery an absurd biological.
Another reason why Darwin is worthy of the credits and honors he has been receiving this year, all over the world, refers to his effort, his genius, spirit investigative, critical and comparative data analysis - in addition to all the care he took so that, before publishing, he had answers and evidence that until then had not he had.
It is even known that the publication of the book could even have taken place later, if the young Alfred Wallace had not sent him his manuscripts, in these recorded the idea of natural selection - causing, on the advice of friends, the letters of these two were read at the Linnean Society, in 1858.
The discovery of natural and sexual selection and, with them, pioneering studies about the behavior of individuals and ecology itself are also noteworthy.
About the celebrations, the house in which he lived and who even wrote his theory, was renovated and is open for visitors, in an exhibition that presents, among all the available collection, the first edition of The Origin of Species, its wedding ring and objects collected during the trip aboard the Beagle.
In Brazil, celebrations take place in several states. In Bahia, for example, there was the planting of trees typical of the Atlantic Forest, a tribute to the passage of the Beagle through Salvador. In Rio de Janeiro, the Sangari Institute released a book entitled “Charles Darwin, in a not-so-distant future”. In Portugal, an exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (one of the world's largest exhibitions on the subject), in addition to several other events, also marks this date.
Impressively, the Vatican will promote, in March, at the Pontifical Gregorian University, an international congress to discuss evolution and intervention divine in the evolution of species, bringing together specialists in science, cultural anthropology, philosophy and theology, Catholics and non-Catholics: “Biological evolution: facts and theories”. According to a Jesuit and professor at this institution, the discussion about Darwin is more ideological than scientific and he believes that faith and the theory of evolution are not incompatible. Ratzinger himself (Benedict XVI) and renowned scientists such as Stephen Jay Gould (the one who proposed non-interfering magisteriums) agree.
So, we can remember that Darwin's theory itself has been evolving over time – reminding us, further, that there is a range of evolutionists who disagree with certain aspects of his theory, such as Stephen Jay himself. Gould. However, its basic principles, until proven otherwise, are well founded: and just remember the bacteria and the importance of taking the drugs at the right dose and at the right times, in order to avoid artificial selection of these.
In closing, a sentence from our honoree:
"The impossibility of conceiving the universe as great and wonderful as it really is seems to me the main argument for the existence of God."
Charles Darwin – 02.04.1873
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology
Brazil School Team
evolutionary biology -Biology -Brazil School
