Chapter 22, Problem 22.1CR

Why was the age of Barth important for Darwin's ideas about evolution?

Summary Introduction

To review: The importance of the Earth’s age for Darwin’s ideas about evolution.

Introduction:

The Earth’s age was important for Darwin to deduce the concept of evolution as evolution is a slow and step-wise process.

Explanation of Solution

Darwin proposed that the “process of natural selection” has led to diversity in the present day species when compared to their ancestral counterparts. During the “Voyage of HMS Beagle (December 1831- October 1836)”, Darwin read “Lyell's Principles of Geology” and was influenced by the findings of Lyell which led him to conclude that evolution is a slow and subtle process. This process has a gradual action on the geologic change of the earth. He observed the geologic change along the coast of Chile and made it clear that the upward movement of rocks (to several meters) along the coast line was due to a violent earthquake.

Later, when he closely observed the fossil remains of ocean organisms from the Andes, he came to know that the movement of rocks that contain fossils was also due to similar earthquakes. These findings made him strongly infer that the earth must of much older age than its accepted age of a few thousand years. These findings are based on the fact that if the earth was not older than a few thousand years, it would not be possible to have major evolutionary changes as evolution is a slow and steady process. Therefore, the Earth’s age was very much important for Darwin to understand the process of evolution.