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1.8 analyse information from secondary sources on the historical development of theories of evolution and use available evidence to assess social and political influences on these developments

analyse information from secondary sources on the historical development of theories of evolution and use available evidence to assess social and political influences on these developments

Background

By the beginning of the 19th century, a great deal of evidence was available to the scientific community that supported evolution. What was missing was a plausible mechanism to explain how evolution was occurring. Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace independently arrived at evolution as a result of natural selection. Darwin gathered evidence after sailing on the HMS Beagle to South America and the Galapagos Islands. By the early 1840s, he had documented the main points of his theory.

Wallace was a British naturalist working in Indonesia in the mid-1850s. In 1858, Wallace sent a copy of his work to Darwin. Darwin’s colleagues encouraged him to publish The Origin of Species at the same time and so receive the credit for his years of work and insight. The Origin of Species included overwhelming evidence to support Darwin’s conclusions. Even though the Darwin/Wallace theory of natural selection caused a furore amongst Victorian society in England when published, scientific thinking was gaining respectability and becoming an important mechanism for change.

The theory of evolution has encountered opposition since it was first introduced. This is because it can be seen as a threat to religious and social beliefs.