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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (1427)	6/13/2006 2:35:44 PM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 69300

If he was working on evolutionary theory in some manner, it's amazing that he didn't publish anything about it for decades Then it is amazing. Darwin's ideas developed rapidly from the return in 1836 of the Voyage of the Beagle. By December 1838 he had developed the principles of his theory. At that time similar ideas brought others disgrace and association with the revolutionary mob. He was conscious of the need to answer all likely objections before publishing. While he continued with research, he had an immense amount of work in hand analysing and publishing findings from the Beagle expedition, and was repeatedly delayed by illness. That book was a big deal, and Darwin wanted to be darn sure he got it right before publishing. As it was, he still had no way to explain genetics or the implications of plate tectonics as neither of these fields were known at the time. Darwin wrote letters and essays to other scientists on the idea, but tried to avoid getting the clerics on his case. They were at the time even more powerful than they are now. In the mean time he published several books on supporting evidence, without tipping his hand as to what the evidence supported. Mostly it was long lists of factoids such as how fast earthworms would bury rocks and the collections made on the Beagle voyage. This way when he did publish Origin of Species he had the supporting evidence at hand, and wasn't immediately hit with a bunch of "What abouts" where he had no data. Most of all, Darwin appeared to be a shy person, living in the countryside and communicating to all but his immediate family by letters. He seemed to want to avoid the public attention that publication would cause. The geologist Charles Lyell forced the issue by making public some of Darwin's letters on natural selection along with Wallaces as a comparison. Then the cat was out of the bag, and Darwin went ahead and published his book a year later. TP

To: Brumar89 who wrote (1427)	6/13/2006 3:50:54 PM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 69300

You did get me to look a little deeper into Darwin's life and times. I have mostly studies his ideas, not his personal biography. It is reported that he became apprehensive about publishing a theory about the mutability of species after witnessing the extremely harsh reception that Robert Chambers got for a book with Larmarkian concepts. This included personal public denunciations by the Anglican Bishop. Darwin was understandable reluctant to risk his personal and professional life until he was darn sure he could support his theory. (He also considered just publishing postumously). TP en.wikipedia.org

To: Brumar89 who wrote (1427)	6/19/2006 11:38:26 AM
From: LLCF	Respond to of 69300

Darwin DID however publish "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals describing animals with self awareness and emotions. He also wrote in "The Descent of Man" that: "Ants certainly communicate information to each other, unite for the same work or games of play . They recognize their fellow ants after months of absence, and feel sympathy for each other ...the capture slaves. He seems to conclude: "the mental faculties of man and the lower animals do not differ in kind, though immensely in degree" DAK