Caris McKee-Shell
Charles Darwin is described as a naturalist and is one of the most famous faces of biology and science. His publication of his research regarding the evolution of everything is now one of the most accepted and discussed theories of all time.
A theory.
This, for many, makes the concept of evolution unreliable, untrustworthy, and fake. So what did he do right, what did he do wrong, and most importantly, what does this umbrella term ‘theory’ really mean?
In the dictionary, a theory is defined as ‘a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.’ Synonyms include hypothesis, conjecture and speculation. Yet, to simplify this, a theory is generally a set of ideas or rules outlined by a subject in an attempt to describe the indescribable. They help us to gain a further understanding of what we currently believe, to expand our knowledge on subjects uninvestigated thus far, and to get us thinking about how we made it to this point in time. Theories are everywhere, the most commonly studied in schools being pythagoras’ theorem (meaning ‘proved by a chain or reasoning’) and atomic theory.
When this subject is contemplated, there are always theories which will never become fact. Let’s look at atomic theory as an example: In both chemistry and physics lessons, you will study the development of the atom. This would be from Democritus’ theory in 400 BC, to the most recent atomic model produced by James Chadwick in 1932.
However, atomic theory will continue to remain a theory, unless someone can provide concrete and certain evidence to prove a final model. Even in a topic as small as the atom, there has been so much change over so much time.
At the time being we agree with Chadwicks atomic model, but there was also a time when people agreed with Democritus. This fluctuation and uncertainty is why we have to allow for change in a field so complex, and therefore cannot be defined as law or fact.
Now onto Darwin. His most famous proposition was of course his theory of evolution. In this, he outlined many ideas, a few of which this article will explore. For example, natural selection. This proposed that every living thing has the ability to change, and it must use this ability to adapt to its environment. Characteristics in an animal that did not adapt would fade from the species, and the next line of ancestry would lose this feature or develop another. Eventually, over countless years, this would lead to a complete change in an animal and this theory remains to be widely accepted. Although a select few still choose to oppose this, the range of supporting evidence he provided makes it difficult to disagree with. Darwin drew conclusions from several fields of work and used varied examples to fully comprehend and present his theories.
However, because of the progression of science following Darwin’s death, some of his ideas were always bound to be discounted. One of the mistakes many focus on in his work was the estimation he made of the age of the Earth - 100 million years old. This was much closer than the predictions of others prior to him, but still so far away from the estimate today standing at 4.543 billion.
The main focus of criticism that his work received was his Tree of Life. This is a visual way to describe nature and its variegation. There are countless branches, representing different species, all changing and diversitising over time, linking back to a common ancestor. However, many scientists disputed this theory because it was too simple and didn’t account for horizontal gene transfer - this is the non-sexual transfer of genetic material between genomes.
In closing, it becomes extremely difficult to sort between fact and fiction in a theory. It is, by name, an unproven idea. Darwin couldn’t concretely prove any of his ideas, but he challenged the way that people thought and allowed other scientists to build on their own theories. Although some disputed his ideas, he gave them a baseline to work from and ideas to dispute, therefore refining and furthering our knowledge of our universe to date.
Fact is never truly fact.
It is always in a vulnerable position from which it can be jeopardised and questioned and contradicted. It can be changed and altered, and anyone who is prepared to propose such concepts accepts this in courage and knowledge.
Darwin himself stated that ‘in the long history of humankind (and animal kind too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively prevailed’.
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