Evolution

I wouldn’t call it confusing, more so- challenging to those who must change their world view.
With the discovery of the Theory, or without evolutions existence?
Without Darwin’s research, it would of took longer to piece together the theory and would of (I hope) been shortly created later by someone else. Go back a few hundred years to see how the world functioned without its discovery. The scientifically leaps it has contributed are astonishing. As for a biological difference in the world, well…our world would be non-existent.

Without it we would have no real idea how biology functions. Our medical knowledge might be deeply corrupted without it. Cancer research for one, would probably be at a standstill.

But even if Darwin hadn't published, others were on the verge of figuring it out anyway. And with the other knowledge coming to light around it, it probably would have been impossible for it to stay unrecognized even a hundred years ago.

It would be called Wallace's Theory of Evolution---Alfred Russel Wallace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace



Rap

My feeling would be that Robert Chambers, who is porportedly the author of a paper Reflections on the Vestiges of Creation which was published in the 1840's, would be remembered as the father of evolution because he came up with the "tree of descent" and the concept of transmutation through common ancestry. Chambers is, however, given short shrift as anyone other than a popular science author. WELL la dee dah, Darwin wasnt what wed call UIniversity trained . He learned most of his geology from field tripping with trained guys like Lyell and even Sedgewick (who later wound up really hating all "Evolutionists" starting with Chambers and adding DArwin to his list.
I dont like Wallace as the father of nat selection because his paper was lacking specificity and mechanisms. I do like Wallace as the first goy to really embrace biogeography and how animals adapt via transmutation when they are adrift on islands. He was one of the first to speculate on transmutation by ISOLATION (didnt know nothing about reproductive isolation). His greatest line, IMHO was

EEVERY SPECIES HAS COME INTO EXISTENCE COINCIDENT IN SPACE AND TIME WITH A PRE-EXISTING CLOSELY ALLIED SPECIES

Nice. I hadn't heard that before. Obviously quite true, and due to "Theory of Evolution" we know exactly why.

course, he probably spelled it more correctly cause he wrote everything in flowery penpersonship

I could live with Wallace, Chambers, Lydell, Sedgewick, Cope or Marsh amoung un-named others. Darwins ideas met universal agreement.

What I think is important is that the first printing of 1000 copies of 'On the Origin of Species' sold in a day to individuals in every nation in the world. Consequently, it is my feeling that the book presented a theory that's time had come. Darwin was just a step ahead of many that were leaning toward the same conclusion.

BTW Like the Wallace paraphase.

Rap