charles darwin figured out the mechanism of evolution known as natural selection.
charles darwin figured out the mechanism of evolution known as natural selection.
who figured out the mechanism of evolution known as natural selection?
charles darwin
where the fact of evolutionary change was accepted but the mechanism proposed by charles darwin, natural selection, was denied, explanations of evolution such as lamarckism, catastrophism, orthogenesis, vitalism, structuralism and mutationism (called saltationism before 1900) were entertained. different factors motivated people to propose non-darwinian mechanisms of evolution. natural selection, with its emphasis on death and competition, did not appeal to some naturalists because they felt it immoral, leaving little room for teleology or the concept of progress in the development of life. some who came to accept evolution, but disliked natural selection, raised religious objections. others felt that evolution was an inherently progressive process that natural selection alone was insufficient to explain. still others felt that nature, including the development of life, followed orderly patterns that natural selection could not explain.
alternatives to evolution by natural selection
for darwin and his contemporaries, natural selection was in essence synonymous with evolution by natural selection. after the publication of "on the origin of species", educated people generally accepted that evolution had occurred in some form. however, natural selection remained controversial as a mechanism, partly because it was perceived to be too weak to explain the range of observed characteristics of living organisms, and partly because even supporters of evolution balked at its "unguided" and non-progressive nature, a response that has been characterised as the single most significant impediment to the idea's acceptance. however, some thinkers enthusiastically embraced natural selection; after reading darwin, herbert spencer introduced the phrase "survival of the fittest", which became a popular summary of the theory. the fifth edition of "on the origin of species" published in 1869 included spencer's phrase as an alternative to natural selection, with credit given: "but the expression often used by mr. herbert spencer of the survival of the fittest is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient." although the phrase is still often used by non-biologists, modern biologists avoid it because it is tautological if "fittest" is read to mean "functionally superior" and is applied to individuals rather than considered as an averaged quantity over populations.
natural selection