History of evolutionary doctrine

History of evolutionary doctrine originates in ancient philosophical systems, the ideas of which, in turn, were rooted in cosmological myths. The impetus for the recognition of evolution by the scientific community was the publication of Charles Darwin's book "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life", which made it possible to completely rethink the idea of ​​evolution, backing it up with experimental data from numerous observations. The synthesis of classical Darwinism with the achievements of genetics led to the creation of a synthetic theory of evolution.

Evolutionary ideas in antiquity

Anaximander

According to some researchers, the source of evolutionary ideas stems from the cosmogony of ancient religions. [ non-authoritative source?] The ideas of creation and development of the universe and life go in them parallel to each other, sometimes closely intertwined. But the mythical way of thinking makes it difficult to crystallize harmonious concepts from them. The first such concept that has come down to us was developed by Anaximander, a student of Thales of Miletus. We know about Anaximander's scheme from the historian of the 1st century BC. e. Diodorus Siculus. In his presentation, when the young Earth was illuminated by the Sun, its surface first hardened, and then fermented, rotting appeared, covered with thin shells. All kinds of animal breeds were born in these shells. Man, on the other hand, seems to have arisen from a fish or an animal similar to a fish. Despite the originality, Anaximander's reasoning is purely speculative and not supported by observations. Another ancient thinker, Xenophanes, paid more attention to observations. So, he identified the fossils that he found in the mountains with the imprints of ancient plants and animals: laurel, shells of mollusks, fish, seals. From this, he concluded that the land once sank into the sea, bringing death to land animals and people, and turned into mud, and when it rose, the imprints dried up. Heraclitus, despite the impregnation of his metaphysics with the idea of ​​constant development and eternal becoming, did not create any evolutionary concepts. [ non-authoritative source?] Although some authors still refer to him as the first evolutionists.

But I will tell you something else: in this perishable world
There is no birth, just as there is no destructive death:
There is only one confusion and the exchange of what is mixed, -
What is unreasonably called birth by dark people.

Many heads have grown, devoid of the back of the head and neck,
Bare hands wandered, having no shelter in the shoulders,
Eyes wandered around the world, alone, without foreheads orphan.

... single-membered parts wandered ...

But how soon the deity was combined with the deity,
Then they also began to converge with each other at random;
Many others also were born to them unceasingly.

That is, according to Empedocles, separate organs can grow out of the earth, which then combine, giving rise to bizarre creatures. Many of them die, unable to even move, while others survive.

The only author from whom the idea of ​​a gradual change of organisms can be found was Plato. In his dialogue "The State" he put forward the infamous proposal: to improve the breed of people by selecting the best representatives. Without a doubt, this proposal was based on the well-known fact of the selection of producers in animal husbandry. In the modern era, the unwarranted application of these ideas to human society has developed into the doctrine of eugenics, which underlies the racial politics of the Third Reich.

Medieval and Renaissance

Albert the Great

With the rise in the level of scientific knowledge after the "ages of darkness" of the early Middle Ages, evolutionary ideas again begin to slip in the writings of scientists, theologians and philosophers. Albert the Great first noted the spontaneous variability of plants, leading to the emergence of new species. The examples once given by Theophrastus he characterized as transmutation one kind to another. The term itself was apparently taken by him from alchemy. In the 16th century, fossil organisms were rediscovered, but only by the end of the 17th century did the idea that this was not a “game of nature”, not stones in the form of bones or shells, but the remains of ancient animals and plants, finally captured the minds. In the 1559 work "Noah's Ark, Its Shape and Capacity", Johann Buteo provided calculations that showed that the ark could not accommodate all kinds of known animals. In 1575, Bernard Palissy arranged an exhibition of fossils in Paris, where he first compared them with living ones. In 1580, he published in print the idea that since everything in nature is "in eternal transmutation", many fossil remains of fish and mollusks belong to extinct types.

Evolutionary ideas of modern times

As we can see, the matter did not go beyond the expression of disparate ideas about the variability of species. This same trend continued with the advent of the New Age. So Francis Bacon, the politician and philosopher, suggested that species could change, accumulating the "errors of nature". This thesis again, as in the case of Empedocles, echoes the principle of natural selection, but there is not yet a word about the general theory. Oddly enough, but the first book on evolution can be considered a treatise by Matthew Hale (Eng. Matthew Hale ) "The Primitive Origination of Mankind Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature". This may seem strange just because Hale himself was not a naturalist and even a philosopher, he was a lawyer, theologian and financier, and wrote his treatise during a forced vacation on his estate. In it, he wrote that one should not assume that all species were created in their modern form, on the contrary, only archetypes were created, and all the diversity of life developed from them under the influence of numerous circumstances. Hale also anticipated many of the controversies about chance that arose after the establishment of Darwinism. In the same treatise, the term "evolution" in the biological sense is mentioned for the first time.

Georges Louis Buffon

Ideas of limited evolutionism like those of Hale arose constantly, and can be found in the writings of John Ray, Robert Hooke, Gottfried Leibniz, and even in the later work of Carl Linnaeus. They are expressed more clearly by Georges Louis Buffon. Observing the precipitation from the water, he came to the conclusion that 6 thousand years, which were allotted for the history of the Earth by natural theology, are not enough for the formation of sedimentary rocks. The age of the Earth calculated by Buffon was 75,000 years. Describing the species of animals and plants, Buffon noted that along with useful features, they also have those to which it is impossible to attribute any utility. This again contradicted natural theology, which held that every hair on an animal's body was created for its benefit, or for man's benefit. Buffon came to the conclusion that this contradiction can be eliminated by accepting the creation of only a general plan, which varies in specific incarnations. Having applied Leibniz's "law of continuity" to systematics, in 1749 he spoke out against the existence of discrete species, considering species to be the fruit of the imagination of taxonomists (this can be seen as the origins of his ongoing polemic with Linnaeus and the antipathy of these scientists to each other).

Lamarck's theory

Jean Baptiste Lamarck

A sure step towards unifying the transformist and systematic approaches was taken by the naturalist and philosopher Jean Baptiste Lamarck. As a proponent of species change and a deist, he recognized the Creator and believed that the Supreme Creator created only matter and nature; all other inanimate and living objects arose from matter under the influence of nature. Lamarck emphasized that "all living bodies come from one another, and not by successive development from previous embryos." Thus, he opposed the concept of preformism as autogenetic, and his follower Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) defended the idea of ​​the unity of the body plan of animals of various types. Lamarck's evolutionary ideas are most fully set forth in the Philosophy of Zoology (1809), although Lamarck formulated many of his evolutionary theory in introductory lectures to the course of zoology as early as 1800-1802. Lamarck believed that the steps of evolution do not lie in a straight line, as follows from the "ladder of beings" of the Swiss natural philosopher C. Bonnet, but have many branches and deviations at the level of species and genera. This performance set the stage for future family trees. Lamarck proposed the very term "biology" in its modern sense. However, the zoological works of Lamarck, the creator of the first evolutionary doctrine, contained many factual inaccuracies and speculative constructions, which is especially evident when comparing his works with the works of his contemporary, rival and critic, the creator of comparative anatomy and paleontology, Georges Cuvier (1769-1832). Lamarck believed that the driving factor of evolution could be the "exercise" or "non-exercise" of the organs, depending on the adequate direct influence of the environment. Some naivety of the argumentation of Lamarck and Saint-Hilaire contributed greatly to the anti-evolutionary reaction to the transformism of the early nineteenth century, and caused criticism from the creationist Georges Cuvier and his school, absolutely reasoned from the factual side of the issue.

catastrophism and transformism

Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

With his usual honesty, Darwin pointed out those who had directly pushed him to write and publish the doctrine of evolution (apparently, Darwin was not too interested in the history of science, since in the first edition of the Origin of Species he did not mention his immediate predecessors: Wells, Matthew, Blite). Lyell and, to a lesser extent, Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) had a direct influence on Darwin in the process of creating the work, with his geometric progression of numbers from the demographic work An Essay on the Law of Population (1798). And, it can be said, Darwin was "forced" to publish his work by a young English zoologist and biogeographer Alfred Wallace (1823-1913), sending him a manuscript in which, independently of Darwin, he sets out the ideas of the theory of natural selection. At the same time, Wallace knew that Darwin was working on evolutionary doctrine, for the latter himself wrote to him about this in a letter dated May 1, 1857: “This summer it will be 20 years (!) Since I started my first notebook on the question of how and in what way species and varieties differ from each other. Now I am preparing my work for publication... but I do not intend to publish it earlier than in two years... Indeed, it is impossible (in the framework of a letter) to state my views on the causes and methods of changes in the state of nature; but step by step I came to a clear and distinct idea - true or false, this must be judged by others; because, alas! - the most unshakable confidence of the author of the theory that he is right is in no way a guarantee of its truth! Darwin's sanity can be seen here, as well as the gentlemanly attitude of the two scientists towards each other, which is clearly seen when analyzing the correspondence between them. Darwin, having received the article on June 18, 1858, wanted to submit it to print, keeping silent about his work, and only at the insistence of his friends wrote a “brief extract” from his work and presented these two works to the judgment of the Linnean Society.

Darwin fully accepted the idea of ​​gradual development from Lyell and, one might say, was a uniformitarian. The question may arise: if everything was known before Darwin, then what is his merit, why did his work cause such a resonance? But Darwin did what his predecessors failed to do. First, he gave his work a very topical title that was "on everyone's lips." The public had a burning interest precisely in "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life." It is difficult to recall another book in the history of world natural science, the title of which would equally clearly reflect its essence. Perhaps Darwin had seen the title pages or the titles of his predecessors' works, but simply had no desire to get acquainted with them. We can only guess how the public would have reacted if Matthew had thought to release his evolutionary views under the title "Possibility of changing plant species over time through survival (selection) of the fittest." But, as we know, "The ship's construction timber ..." did not attract attention.

Secondly, and most importantly, Darwin was able to explain to his contemporaries the reasons for the variability of species on the basis of his observations. He rejected as untenable the idea of ​​"exercise" or "non-exercise" of organs and turned to the facts of breeding new breeds of animals and plant varieties by people - to artificial selection. He showed that the indeterminate variability of organisms (mutations) is inherited and can become the beginning of a new breed or variety, if it is useful to man. Transferring these data to wild species, Darwin noted that only those changes that are beneficial to the species for successful competition with others can be preserved in nature, and spoke of the struggle for existence and natural selection, to which he attributed an important, but not the only role of the driving force of evolution. Darwin not only gave theoretical calculations of natural selection, but also showed on the basis of actual material the evolution of species in space, with geographic isolation (finches) and, from the standpoint of strict logic, explained the mechanisms of divergent evolution. He also introduced the public to the fossil forms of giant sloths and armadillos, which could be seen as evolution over time. Darwin also allowed for the possibility of long-term preservation of a certain average species norm in the process of evolution by eliminating any deviant variants (for example, sparrows that survived after a storm had an average wing length), which was later called stasigenesis. Darwin was able to prove to everyone the reality of the variability of species in nature, therefore, thanks to his work, the ideas about the strict constancy of species came to naught. It was pointless for the statics and fixists to continue to persist in their positions. Unfortunately, the contemporaries of the events, and even the evolutionists of the present, identified (and identify) the rejection of the concept of the immutability of species with the rejection of the direction of creationism, which, as has been shown, has a full right to exist.

The rise of Darwinism

Ernst Haeckel

As a true follower of gradualism, Darwin was concerned that the absence of transitional forms could be the collapse of his theory, and attributed this lack to the incompleteness of the geological record. Darwin was also worried about the idea of ​​"dissolving" a newly acquired trait in a number of generations, with subsequent crossing with ordinary, unaltered individuals. He wrote that this objection, along with breaks in the geological record, is one of the most serious for his theory.

Darwin and his contemporaries did not know that in 1865 the Austro-Czech naturalist abbot Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) discovered the laws of heredity, according to which the hereditary trait does not “dissolve” in a number of generations, but passes (in case of recessivity) into a heterozygous state and can be propagated in a population environment.

In support of Darwin, scientists such as the American botanist Aza Gray (1810-1888) began to come out; Alfred Wallace, Thomas Henry Huxley (Huxley; 1825-1895) - in England; the classic of comparative anatomy Karl Gegenbaur (1826-1903), Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), zoologist Fritz Müller (1821-1897) - in Germany. No less distinguished scientists criticize Darwin's ideas: Darwin's teacher, professor of geology Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873), the famous paleontologist Richard Owen, a major zoologist, paleontologist and geologist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), German professor Heinrich Georg Bronn (1800-1873). 1862).

An interesting fact is that it was Bronn who translated Darwin’s book into German, who did not share his views, but who believes that the new idea has the right to exist (modern evolutionist and popularizer N. N. Vorontsov pays tribute to Bronn in this as a true scientist). Considering the views of another opponent of Darwin - Agassiz, we note that this scientist spoke about the importance of combining the methods of embryology, anatomy and paleontology to determine the position of a species or other taxon in the classification scheme. In this way, the species gets its place in the natural order of the universe.

It was curious to know that Haeckel, an ardent supporter of Darwin, widely promotes the triad postulated by Agassiz, the “method of triple parallelism” already applied to the idea of ​​kinship, and it, warmed up by Haeckel’s personal enthusiasm, captures contemporaries. All any serious zoologists, anatomists, embryologists, paleontologists start building entire forests of phylogenetic trees. With the light hand of Haeckel, it spreads as the only possible idea of ​​​​monophilia - origin from one ancestor, which reigned supreme over the minds of scientists in the middle of the 20th century. Modern evolutionists, based on the study of the method of reproduction of the Rhodophycea algae, which is different from all other eukaryotes (fixed and male and female gametes, the absence of a cell center and any flagellar formations), speak of at least two independently formed ancestors of plants. At the same time, they found out that "The emergence of the mitotic apparatus occurred independently at least twice: in the ancestors of the kingdoms of fungi and animals, on the one hand, and in the sub-kingdoms of true algae (except for Rhodophycea) and higher plants, on the other." Thus, the origin of life is recognized not from one proto-organism, but at least from three. In any case, it is noted that already “no other scheme, like the proposed one, can turn out to be monophyletic” (ibid.). The theory of symbiogenesis, which explains the appearance of lichens (a combination of algae and fungus), also led scientists to polyphyly (origin from several unrelated organisms). And this is the most important achievement of the theory. In addition, recent research suggests that they are finding more and more examples showing "the prevalence of paraphilia and in the origin of relatively closely related taxa." For example, in the “subfamily of African wood mice Dendromurinae: the genus Deomys is molecularly close to the true Murinae mice, and the genus Steatomys is close in DNA structure to the giant mice of the subfamily Cricetomyinae. At the same time, the morphological similarity of Deomys and Steatomys is undoubted, which indicates the paraphyletic origin of Dendromurinae. Therefore, the phylogenetic classification needs to be revised, already on the basis of not only external similarity, but also the structure of the genetic material.

Gregor Johann Mendel

August Weisman

The experimental biologist and theorist August Weismann (1834-1914) spoke in a fairly clear form about the cell nucleus as the carrier of heredity. Regardless of Mendel, he came to the most important conclusion about the discreteness of hereditary units. Mendel was so ahead of his time that his work remained virtually unknown for 35 years. Weismann's ideas (sometime after 1863) became the property of a wide range of biologists, a subject for discussion. The most fascinating pages of the origin of the doctrine of chromosomes, the emergence of cytogenetics, the creation by T. G. Morgan of the chromosome theory of heredity in 1912-1916. - all this was strongly stimulated by August Weismann. Investigating the embryonic development of sea urchins, he proposed to distinguish between two forms of cell division - equatorial and reduction, that is, he approached the discovery of meiosis - the most important stage of combinative variability and the sexual process. But Weisman could not avoid some speculation in his ideas about the mechanism of heredity transmission. He thought that the whole set of discrete factors - "determinants" - only cells of the so-called. "germ line". Some determinants get into some of the cells of the "soma" (body), others - others. Differences in the sets of determinants explain the specialization of soma cells. So, we see that, having correctly predicted the existence of meiosis, Weismann was mistaken in predicting the fate of the distribution of genes. He also extended the principle of selection to the competition between cells, and since cells are carriers of certain determinants, he spoke of their struggle among themselves. The most modern concepts of "selfish DNA", "selfish gene", developed at the turn of the 70s and 80s. 20th century in many respects have something in common with the Weismann competition of determinants. Weisman emphasized that the "germ plasm" is isolated from the cells of the soma of the whole organism, and therefore spoke of the impossibility of inheriting the characteristics acquired by the body (soma) under the influence of the environment. But many Darwinists accepted this idea of ​​Lamarck. Weismann's harsh criticism of this concept caused him personally and his theory, and then to the study of chromosomes in general, a negative attitude on the part of orthodox Darwinists (those who recognized selection as the only factor in evolution).

20th century

Crisis of Darwinism

The rediscovery of Mendel's laws occurred in 1900 in three different countries: Holland (Hugo de Vries 1848-1935), Germany (Karl Erich Correns 1864-1933) and Austria (Erich von Tschermak 1871-1962), which simultaneously discovered Mendel's forgotten work. In 1902, Walter Sutton (Seton, 1876-1916) gave a cytological justification for Mendelism: diploid and haploid sets, homologous chromosomes, the process of conjugation during meiosis, the prediction of the linkage of genes located on the same chromosome, the concept of dominance and recessiveness, as well as allelic genes - all this was demonstrated on cytological preparations, based on the exact calculations of Mendelian algebra, and very different from hypothetical family trees, from the style of naturalistic Darwinism of the 19th century. The mutational theory of de Vries (1901-1903) was not accepted not only by the conservatism of orthodox Darwinists, but also by the fact that on other plant species, researchers were unable to obtain the wide range of variability achieved by him on Oenothera lamarkiana (it is now known that evening primrose is a polymorphic species , which has chromosomal translocations, some of which are heterozygous, while homozygotes are lethal. De Vries chose a very successful object for obtaining mutations and at the same time not entirely successful, since in his case it was necessary to extend the results achieved to other plant species). De Vries and his Russian predecessor, the botanist Sergei Ivanovich Korzhinsky (1861-1900), who wrote in 1899 (Petersburg) about sudden spasmodic "heterogeneous" deviations, thought that the possibility of the manifestation of macromutations rejected Darwin's theory. At the dawn of the formation of genetics, many concepts were expressed, according to which evolution did not depend on the external environment. The Dutch botanist Jan Paulus Lotsi (1867-1931), who wrote the book Evolution by Hybridization, also came under criticism from the Darwinists, where he rightly drew attention to the role of hybridization in speciation in plants.

If in the middle of the 18th century the contradiction between transformism (continuous change) and the discreteness of taxonomic units of taxonomy seemed insurmountable, then in the 19th century it was thought that gradualistic trees built on the basis of kinship entered into conflict with the discreteness of hereditary material. Evolution by visually distinguishable large mutations could not be accepted by the gradualism of the Darwinists.

Thomas Morgan

Trust in mutations and their role in shaping the variability of a species was restored by Thomas Gent Morgan (1886-1945) when this American embryologist and zoologist turned to genetic research in 1910 and eventually settled on the famous Drosophila. Probably, one should not be surprised that 20-30 years after the events described, it was population geneticists who came to evolution not through macromutations (which began to be recognized as unlikely), but through a steady and gradual change in the frequencies of allelic genes in populations. Since macroevolution by that time seemed to be an indisputable continuation of the studied phenomena of microevolution, gradualness began to seem an inseparable feature of the evolutionary process. There was a return to Leibniz's "law of continuity" at a new level, and in the first half of the 20th century a synthesis of evolution and genetics could take place. Once again, once-opposite concepts have united.

In the light of the latest biological ideas, there is a distancing from the law of continuity, now not by geneticists, but by the evolutionists themselves. So the famous evolutionist S.J. Gould raised the issue of punctualism (punctuated equilibrium), as opposed to gradualism.

"New Synthesis"

Ronald Fisher

The synthetic theory in its current form was formed as a result of rethinking a number of provisions of classical Darwinism from the standpoint of genetics at the beginning of the 20th century. After the rediscovery of Mendel's laws (in 1901), the evidence of the discrete nature of heredity, and especially after the creation of theoretical population genetics by the works of Robert Fisher (-), John Haldane (), Sewell Wright ( ; ), Darwin's doctrine acquired a solid genetic foundation.

The theory of neutral evolution does not dispute the decisive role of natural selection in the development of life on Earth. The discussion is about the proportion of mutations that have an adaptive value. Most biologists accept some of the results of the theory of neutral evolution, although they do not share some of the strong claims originally made by Kimura. The theory of neutral evolution explains the processes of molecular evolution of living organisms at levels no higher than those of organisms. But for the explanation of progressive evolution, it is not suitable for mathematical reasons. Based on the statistics for evolution, mutations can either occur randomly, causing adaptations, or those changes that occur gradually. The theory of neutral evolution does not contradict the theory of natural selection, it only explains the mechanisms taking place at the cellular, supracellular and organ levels.

Punctuated Equilibrium Theory

In 1972, paleontologists Niels Eldridge and Stephen Gould proposed the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which states that the evolution of sexually reproducing creatures occurs in jumps, interspersed with long periods in which there are no significant changes. According to this theory, phenotypic evolution, the evolution of properties encoded in the genome, occurs as a result of rare periods of formation of new species (cladogenesis), which proceed relatively quickly compared to periods of stable existence of species. The theory has become a kind of revival of the saltation concept. It is customary to contrast the theory of punctuated equilibrium with the theory of phyletic gradualism, which states that most of the evolutionary processes proceed evenly, as a result of the gradual transformation of species.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

State educational institution of higher

vocational education

North Caucasian State Technical University

By discipline: Concepts of modern natural science

Topic: Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Scientific feat

Completed by: 1st year student, ST-101 group

Besleneyeva Angelina Alievna

Checked by: Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy Belyaeva E.N.

Stavropol, 2010

Life and Works of Charles Darwin…………………..……………….3

The basic principles of Darwin's evolutionary theory…………..... 7

The influence of Darwinism on the development of biology………………………..9

Conclusion…………………………………………………………...9

References……………………………………………………………………11

Life and works of Ch. Darwin.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) is the founder of evolutionary biology. Charles Darwin is also the author of a number of major works on botany, zoology, geology and comparative psychology.

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in the family of a doctor. While studying at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, Darwin gained a thorough knowledge of zoology, botany and geology, skills and a taste for field research. An important role in shaping his scientific outlook was played by the book of the outstanding English geologist Charles Lyell "Principles of Geology". Lyell argued that the modern appearance of the Earth was gradually formed under the influence of the same natural forces that are active at the present time. Darwin was familiar with the evolutionary ideas of Erasmus Darwin, Lamarck and other early evolutionists, but they did not seem convincing to him.

The decisive turn in his fate was the round-the-world trip on the Beagle ship (1832-1837). He studied the geological structure, flora and fauna of many countries, sent a huge number of collections to England. In South America, comparing the found remains of extinct animals with modern ones, Charles Darwin suggested their relationship. On the Galapagos Islands, he found species of lizards, turtles, and birds that were not found anywhere else. They are close to South American. The Galapagos Islands are of volcanic origin, and therefore Charles Darwin suggested that species came to them from the mainland and gradually changed. In Australia, he became interested in marsupials and oviparous, which became extinct in other parts of the globe. Australia as a mainland separated itself when the higher mammals had not yet arisen. Marsupials and oviparous developed here independently of the evolution of mammals on other continents. Thus, the conviction gradually grew stronger in the variability of species and the origin of some from others. Darwin made the first records of the origin of species during his trip around the world.

Upon returning from his voyage, Darwin begins to ponder the problem of the origin of species. He considers various ideas, including the idea of ​​Lamarck, and rejects them, since none of them gives an explanation for the facts of the amazing adaptability of animals and plants to their living conditions. What seemed to the early evolutionists as a given and self-explanatory, appears to Darwin as the most important question. He collects data on the variability of animals and plants in nature and under conditions of domestication. Many years later, recalling how his theory arose, Darwin would write: “Soon I realized that the cornerstone of man's success in creating useful races of animals and plants was selection. However, for some time it remained a mystery to me how selection could be applied to organisms living in natural conditions. Just at that time in England, the ideas of the English scientist T. Malthus about the increase in the number of populations exponentially were vigorously discussed. I paid attention to the fact that any species reproduces exponentially: one individual of herring spawns on average up to 40 thousand eggs, sturgeon - up to 2 million eggs, frog - up to 10 thousand eggs, one poppy plant produces up to 30 thousand eggs. seeds. So why does the number of adults remain relatively constant?”

Charles Darwin explained this by a simple competitive struggle between adults, as well as a lack of food (as a result of which such competition arises), the attack of predators, and the influence of adverse natural conditions.

Darwin named three types of struggle:

1) intraspecific struggle;

2) interspecific struggle;

3) the fight against inanimate nature.

Intraspecific struggle. Such a struggle Darwin considered the most intense. Here there is a struggle between individuals of the same species that live in the same conditions, have equal nutritional needs. Therefore, it is natural that the strongest, most adapted individuals survive here.

Fight against inanimate nature. This is a fight for survival. Nature is not always favorable to animals, and from time to time there are droughts (and, consequently, famine), floods, severe frosts, etc.

And as I had been well prepared, by long observation of the mode of life of animals and plants, to appreciate the significance of the struggle for existence going on everywhere, I was at once struck by the thought that under such conditions the favorable changes must tend to be preserved and the unfavorable ones to be destroyed. . The result of this should be the formation of new species.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) created the theory of natural selection simultaneously with Charles Darwin. One of the founders of zoogeography.

So, the idea of ​​the origin of species through natural selection came to Darwin in 1838. For 20 years he worked on it. In 1856, on the advice of Lyell, he began to prepare his work for publication. In 1858, the young English scientist Alfred Wallace sent Darwin the manuscript of his paper "On the tendency of varieties to deviate indefinitely from the original type." This article contained an exposition of the idea of ​​the origin of species through natural selection. Darwin was ready to refuse to publish his work, but his friends, the geologist Ch. Lyell and the botanist G. Hooker, who had long known about Darwin's idea and got acquainted with the preliminary drafts of his book, convinced the scientist that both works should be published simultaneously.

Darwin's book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life, was published in 1859, and its success exceeded all expectations. His idea of ​​evolution met with passionate support from some scientists and harsh criticism from others. This and subsequent works of Darwin "Changes in animals and plants during domestication", "The origin of man and sexual selection", "The expression of emotions in man and animals" were translated into many languages ​​immediately after the publication. It is noteworthy that the Russian translation of Darwin's book "Changes in Animals and Plants under Domestication" was published earlier than its original text. The outstanding Russian paleontologist V. O. Kovalevsky translated this book from the publishing proofs provided to him by Darwin and published it in separate editions.

Basic principles of the evolutionary theory of Ch. Darwin.

The essence of the Darwinian concept of evolution is reduced to a number of logical, experimentally verified and confirmed by a huge amount of factual data provisions:

1. Within each species of living organisms, there is a huge range of individual hereditary variability in morphological, physiological, behavioral and any other characteristics. This variability may be continuous, quantitative, or discontinuous qualitative, but it always exists.

2. All living organisms reproduce exponentially.

3. Life resources for any kind of living organisms are limited, and therefore there must be a struggle for existence either between individuals of the same species, or between individuals of different species, or with natural conditions. In the concept of "struggle for existence" Darwin included not only the actual struggle of an individual for life, but also the struggle for success in reproduction.

4. In the conditions of the struggle for existence, the most adapted individuals survive and give offspring, having those deviations that accidentally turned out to be adaptive to given environmental conditions. This is a fundamentally important point in Darwin's argument. Deviations do not occur in a directed way - in response to the action of the environment, but by chance. Few of them are useful in specific conditions. The offspring of a surviving individual who inherit the beneficial variance that allowed their ancestor to survive are better adapted to the environment than others.

5. Survival and preferential reproduction of adapted individuals Darwin called natural selection.

6. The natural selection of individual isolated varieties under different conditions of existence gradually leads to divergence (divergence) of the characteristics of these varieties and, ultimately, to speciation.

On these postulates, flawless from the point of view of logic and backed up by a huge amount of facts, the modern theory of evolution was created.

The main merit of Darwin is that he established the mechanism of evolution, which explains both the diversity of living beings and their amazing expediency, adaptability to the conditions of existence. This mechanism is a gradual natural selection of random undirected hereditary changes.

The influence of Darwinism on the development of biology.

All branches of biological science were rebuilt on the basis of Darwinism. Paleontology began to find out the ways of development of the organic world; taxonomy - family ties and origin of systematic groups; embryology - to establish what is common in the stages of individual development of organisms in the process of evolution; human and animal physiology - to compare their vital activity and identify family ties between them. At the beginning of the 20th century An experimental study of natural selection began, and genetics and ecology developed rapidly. Darwin's ideas in Russia met with the support of the progressive intelligentsia. In universities, the liberal part of the professorship restructured the course of zoology and botany in the light of Darwinism. Articles appeared in magazines that covered the teachings of Darwin. In 1864, The Origin of Species was first published in Russian. A large role in the development of biological science on the basis of Darwinism belongs to our domestic scientists. Brothers Kovalevsky, K. A. Timiryazev, I. I. Mechnikov, I. P. Pavlov, N. I. Vavilov, A. N. Severtsov, I. I. Shmalgauzen, S. S. Chetvertikov and many other luminaries of Russian science based their research on Darwin's ideas.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to acknowledge that the issue considered in this paper is not an easy one. Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to express my point of view on this matter. The origin of man is really a mystery to me. But let scientists guess at this problem, and everyone must decide for himself whether he came from a monkey or from someone else. Darwin's theory still in school caused me great doubts. Of course, this teaching can be considered as one of the points of view, but, most likely, it is far from reality: after all, it is obvious that the monkey and man developed in parallel. Thus, it seems that Darwin's theory is still controversial, but has solid grounds. In addition, more than one generation of remarkable people has grown up on the Darwinian theory of evolution. evolution Ch. Darwin served as observations during the round-the-world ... Beagle. Starting the development of an evolutionary theories in 1837 Charles Darwin for the first time only in 1858 ...

Main theories origin of life on earth

Abstract >> Biology

The foundation was created theories evolution, on which Charles Darwin created a slender building with his own ... for an answer, let's turn to the creator himself theories evolution Charles Darwin. In his book On the Origin of Species, he...

theories origin of state and law (1)

Coursework >> State and Law

Dinosaurs. This theory completely denies the process evolution and natural selection ( theory Darwin).3 The most durable ... d. the Ministry of Education of Serbia decided to study theory evolution Charles Darwin only in parallel with the development of creationism - ...

evolutionary theory Charles Darwin (2)

Abstract >> History

evolutionary theory Charles Darwin English scientist Charles Darwin made an invaluable contribution to biological science, having managed to create theory development... process. foundation to create theories evolution Ch. Darwin served as observations during the round-the-world ...

Often the role of Darwin is reduced to the proof of biological evolution, but such proof (albeit not accepted by contemporaries) was already given by Lamarck. The merit of Darwin is in a detailed theoretical analysis of evolution. His theory was based on a number of theoretical premises.

So, T. Malthus (1766-1834) published "Treatise on Population"(1798), in which he described the possible consequences of unchecked population growth: if such growth occurred in geometric progression, and food production - in arithmetic, then there would be a decreasing amount of food for each person, and global famine would threaten Mankind.

Principle uniformitarianism English geologist C. Lyell (1797-1875): slow, imperceptible geological changes (if they are long enough) lead to radical results: mountain building, raising or lowering the seabed, etc. Similar million-year changes in biology can lead to the formation of new types of living organisms.

Fact from the history of science

Under the motto "The present is the key to knowing the past," C. Lyell proclaimed the idea uniformitarianism: The earth was formed under the influence of constant geological factors that operate in the modern era. For example, he measured the thickness of erupted lava in Sicily in order to show that Mount Etna could have been formed as a result of the accumulation of this solidified lava. He also measured the erosion caused by Niagara Falls and declared that the current location of the falls could be explained by the gradual erosion of rocks by the action of the Niagara River. Lyell's teaching formed the basis of all earth sciences, refuting the theory of catastrophes that prevailed at that time. Ch. Lyell was the first to make us consider the age of the Earth not in hundreds of thousands, but in billions of years.

Changes in animals and plants under the influence of selection and domestication - undoubted evidence species variability.

Rice. 15.1

The first essay on the theory of evolution (1842) was not published because Darwin sought to expand the argument in favor of his conclusions. He was prompted to publish the work by news of the evolutionary and ideas of the English naturalist A.R. Wallace (1823-1913). In November 1859, C. Darwin published the work "The Origin of Species by Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life. On the first day, all 1250 copies were sold.

The empirical basis of Darwin's theory was made up of several observations.

• Individuals that are part of the population have a large reproductive potential. So, many plants produce tens and hundreds of thousands of seeds, and fish spawn from several hundred to several million eggs. In particular, the virgin oyster produces 1 million eggs per season, and the puffball produces 7 x 10 11 spores.
• Number of individuals in each given population 1 relatively unchanged.

Thus, many individuals do not survive to reproductive age.

and do not leave offspring, since an active “struggle for existence” takes place in the population.

All populations have variability. The conclusion from this observation is that in the "struggle for existence" those individuals that are best adapted to the conditions of life have a "reproductive advantage" and are more adapted to survive and leave offspring.

Information for thought

Ch. Darwin distinguishes between two types of variability. Certain variability- the ability of all individuals of the same species, under certain environmental conditions, to react in the same way to these conditions (in the forest, all pines are slender, in the field, pines grow sprawling). Contrary to Lamarck, such variability is not inherited. Uncertain variability arises under the influence of random (uncertain) factors, it is inherited, and minor differences in the first generation are amplified in subsequent generations. In the future, indefinite changes began to be called mutations, and certain modifications.

Darwin's theoretical concept is based on three main principles.

The first principle is variability is an essential property of living things.

In nature, it is impossible to find two completely identical, identical organisms, but under extremely unfavorable conditions, every smallest difference can become exactly that. decisive change , which will determine whether this organism will survive or be destroyed.

• The second principle is struggle for existence : all types of organisms can reproduce exponentially, but survive and reach maturity only in arithmetic progression, i.e. a small part of the offspring (in full accordance with the generalizations of Malthus). Under these conditions, the struggle for existence unfolds.
• The third principle is principle of natural selection : the most adapted individuals of a given species survive and leave offspring. Thanks to heredity changes persist in offspring and can lead to the formation of a new species.

The specific force that forms stable natural traits from minor differences in individual individuals, Darwin found in breeders who select for further breeding only those orga- nisms that have characteristics that are useful to man. An analogue of artificial selection, according to Darwin, in nature is natural selection.

Thus, if, according to Lamarck, adaptive variability is inherited directly , then Darwin denied such a direct connection between heredity and variability. In the system of interrelation "heredity - variability" he introduced two intermediate links : the concept of "struggle for existence" and natural selection as a mechanism that allows you to reject "unnecessary" forms and form new species. This mechanism, according to Darwin, is a consequence of "one general law that determines the progress of all organic beings, namely, reproduction, change, the survival of the strongest and the death of the weakest."

In contrast to the supporters of the idea of ​​catastrophism, Darwin pays attention precisely to gradual nature of changes in biology.

Expert opinion

Charles Darwin:

“To put it metaphorically, we can say that natural selection daily and hourly investigates the smallest changes all over the world, discarding the bad ones, preserving and adding up the good ones, working inaudibly and invisibly, wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself, to improve every organic being in connection with the conditions of his life, organic and inorganic.

Natural selection in nature is the result of the struggle for existence, by which Darwin understood the relationship of organisms of a given species with each other (intraspecific competition), with other types of organisms (interspecific relations), as well as with inert (non-living) environmental factors. The most acute is the competition between identically arranged individuals of a given species: their the needs of life are the same and every species of living organisms tends to multiply indefinitely. This is what leads to overpopulation and lack of resources. As a result, individuals that are very different from other representatives of this species are more likely to survive and leave offspring in the first place.

If, in subsequent generations, sharply different individuals turn out to be equally successfully adapted to the environment, then the species is divided into two (or more) forms, which can become new species. Darwin called this evolution divergence(from lat. divergens-“Diverging in different directions”), As a result of competition, those species that are less adapted to these conditions die out (their individuals do not live to reach the period of puberty and cannot reproduce).

Darwinian principles - (1) struggle for existence; (2) heredity and variation; (3) natural selection - have become the cornerstone of scientific biology, just as Newton's laws have become the cornerstone of the physical picture of the world. No wonder E. Haeckel called Darwin "Newton of the organic world." Like Newton in physics, C. Darwin created first fundamental theory in biology - the theory of natural selection. It is symbolic that C. Darwin is buried next to I. Newton in Westminster Abbey.

• Darwin (1809-1882), during his circumnavigation of the world on the Beagle, collected a wealth of data indicating that species cannot be considered immutable. He took with him the newly published first volume of C. Lyell's Fundamentals of Geology, in which the principle of uniformitarianism was substantiated. This book had a great influence on Darwin. Several facts prompted Darwin's idea of ​​evolution: a comparison of two skeletons of a sloth from the northern part of Patagonia: a huge fossil and a small modern one; the difference between finches in the Galapagos Islands: almost every island of the archipelago has its own species (Fig. 15.1). Another incentive is associated with the work of breeders, who by the first half of the 19th century. created many breeds of domestic animals and varieties of agricultural plants.
• The term "population" Darwin did not use, but wrote about "groups of individuals." The term was introduced by W. Johansen in 1903.
• For details, see: Green //., Stout W., Taylor D. Biology. pp. 281-283.
• Cit. Quoted from: Ruzawip G. I. Concepts of modern natural science. M., 2006. S. 259.
• Cit. Quoted from: Ruzavin G. I. Concepts of modern natural science. M.: 2006. S. 235.

Ideas about the gradual and continuous change of all types of plants and animals were expressed long before Charles Darwin by many scientists. The most interesting are the views of J. B. Lamarck, who believed that the evolution of living organisms occurs under the guiding influence of environmental conditions. It is under the influence of this environment that organisms acquire properties favorable for life, which are then inherited. Thus, according to Zh.B. Lamarck, all favorable signs and properties acquired by living organisms turn out to be hereditary and therefore determine the course of further evolution.

Although the Darwinian concept of evolution recognizes the existence of such group variability that organisms acquire under the influence of a certain environmental factor, it considers that only random individual changes that have turned out to be beneficial can be inherited and thereby influence the process of further evolution.

Based on a vast amount of factual material and the practice of selection work to develop new varieties of plants and animal breeds, Charles Darwin formulated the basic principles of his evolutionary theory.

In nature, it is impossible to find two completely identical, identical organisms. The more carefully and deeply we study nature, the more we become convinced of the general, universal character of the principle of variability. At a superficial glance, for example, it may seem that all the trees in a pine forest are the same, but closer examination may reveal some differences between them. One pine produces larger seeds, another is better able to tolerate drought, a third has a higher content of chlorophyll in needles, etc. Under normal conditions, these differences do not have a noticeable effect on the development of trees. But under extremely unfavorable conditions, Alexei Vladimirovich Yablokov (b. 1933) points out, each such smallest difference can become precisely that decisive change that will determine whether this organism will remain alive or be destroyed.

C. Darwin distinguishes between two types of variability. To the first, which is called "individual" or "indeterminate" variability, he refers to that which is inherited. He characterizes the second type as "certain" or "group" variability, since those groups of organisms that are under the influence of a certain environmental factor are subject to it. In the future, "indefinite" changes were usually called mutations, and "definite" modifications.

Suffice it to say that many plants produce tens and hundreds of thousands of seeds, while fish spawn from several hundred to millions of eggs. Under these conditions, the struggle for survival unfolds, which is most often called the struggle for existence. However, as Ch. Darwin emphasizes, "the struggle for existence" is a metaphorical expression that characterizes various relationships between organisms, ranging from cooperation within a species against adverse environmental conditions and ending with competition between organisms in obtaining food, occupying a better habitat , leadership in a group, etc. In this regard, intraspecific and interspecific struggles are often distinguished.

With its help, it was possible to satisfactorily explain why out of the huge offspring of living organisms, only a small number of individuals survive and reach maturity. Darwin put forward a very general hypothesis, according to which in nature there is a special selection mechanism that leads to the selective destruction of organisms that are unadapted to existing or changed environmental conditions. These results, Darwin points out, are

consequences of one general law that determines the progress of all organic beings, namely, reproduction, change, the survival of the strongest and the death of the weakest.

Developing the doctrine of natural selection, he draws attention to such characteristic features of it as the gradual and slow process of change and the ability to summarize these changes into large, decisive ones, which ultimately lead to the formation of new species. C. Darwin wrote:

Metaphorically speaking, we can say that natural selection daily and hourly investigates the smallest changes all over the world, discarding the bad ones, preserving and adding up the good ones, working inaudibly and invisibly, wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself, to improve every organic being in connection with with the conditions of his life, organic and inorganic.

The weakest point in the teachings of Charles Darwin was the concept of heredity, which was seriously criticized by his opponents. Indeed, if evolution is associated with the random appearance of useful changes and the hereditary transmission of acquired characteristics to offspring, then how can they be preserved and even strengthened in the future? After all, as a result of crossing individuals with useful traits with other individuals that do not possess them, they will transmit these traits to offspring in a weakened form. Eventually, over the course of a number of generations, beneficial changes that have accidentally arisen should gradually weaken, and then disappear altogether. Ch. Darwin himself was forced to recognize these arguments as very convincing; with the then ideas about heredity, they could not be refuted. That is why, in the last years of his life, he began to increasingly emphasize the impact on the process of evolution of directed changes occurring under the influence of certain environmental factors. It is easy to understand that such a change in views means, in fact, a transition to the positions of J. B. Lamarck, according to which evolution occurs under the control influence of the external environment, which forces organisms to change in a certain direction. In this regard, there is no need to eliminate unadapted individuals, and thus the basic principle of the Darwinian theory of evolution - natural selection. Meanwhile, real facts testified that such selection occurs everywhere, but the principle of selection itself was substantiated insufficiently convincingly, primarily in relation to the transmission of hereditary traits. Later, some other shortcomings of Darwin's theory concerning the main causes and factors of organic evolution were also revealed. This theory needed further development and substantiation, taking into account the subsequent achievements of all biological disciplines.

And the history of the formation of evolutionary doctrine

Chapter 10

10.1. Pre-Darwinian period of formation of the evolutionary idea

The evolutionary doctrine is based on the recognition of the historical development of the living. Evolution is understood as an irreversible gradual process of historical changes in living things. The first ideas about the historical change of living organisms are rooted in the depths of centuries. 2000 BC in China, there were teachings that allowed the transformation of some organisms into others. Ideas, although rather naive, about the development of living things can be found in the writings of ancient authors of Ancient Greece. So, Anaximander (610-546 BC) believed that man descended from fish. Empedocles (483-423 BC) expressed the idea of ​​the natural development of wildlife, the survival of those who are most expediently arranged. In the writings of Aristotle (384-322 BC), nature is considered in accordance with the gradations of perfection.

Ideas about the changeability of living beings were opposed by those who dominated for many centuries and were always supported by the church. ideas about the emergence of the living as a result of the act of creation, about the constancy and immutability of everything that exists, which were subsequently united by the idealistic trend -creationism. The ideas of creationism dominated the period of the Middle Ages, and even the Renaissance, which contributed to the development of natural science in general, was characterized by metaphysical views and teleological explanations of the initial expediency of everything created by a higher being. A convinced creationist was also the creator of the classical system of the living world - the Swedish naturalist of the XVIII century Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who argued that "species are highly constant."

In the second half of the 18th century, ideas spread in natural science transformism. One of the major transformists was J. Buffon (1707-1788), who in his "Natural History" expressed bold ideas about the formation of the Earth as a result of a cosmic catastrophe, about the birth of "grains of living matter" under the influence of heat, about the appearance of a few species, their modification into numerous species under the influence of environmental factors. Erasmus Darwin (1731-1803), grandfather of Charles Darwin, set forth ideas close to the views of J. Buffon in verse in the poem "Temple of Nature". D. Diderot, E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, K.F. Rulye and others.

Transformism, as well as the first evolutionary ideas in general, was developed and spread in Russia thanks to the efforts of M.V. Lomonosov, A.N. Radishcheva, K.F. Wolf, A.A. Kaverznev. According to M.V. Lomonosov, the world has "great antiquity", the surface of the Earth, plants and animals are constantly changing.

A.N. Radishchev (1749-1808) built based on materialistic ideas "ladder of substances" reflecting the complication of natural objects, ranging from minerals to humans. The steps of the ladder correspond to significant stages in the development of nature - the transformation of inorganic substances into organic ones, the emergence of new qualities in living beings, including sensation, thinking, etc.

A.A. Kaverznev in his dissertation "On the Rebirth of Animals" substantiated the assumption that domestic animals descended from wild ancestors, and all animals descended from one trunk. Explaining the fact of animal variability, A.A. Kaverznev attached great importance to the direct influence of environmental factors on organisms.- climate, food, temperature.

WITH

Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)

creatorfirst reasoned evolutionary concept is Jean Baptiste Lamarck(1744-1829). His concept, set out in the main work "Philosophy of Zoology" (1809), although it was speculative, but reflected the first attempt in the history of biology to search for a material factor in the change of living organisms. As such, he indicated changes in the external environment, which directly (in plants) or indirectly (through the nervous system in animals) cause transformations in living beings. To the conviction about the variability of species Zh.B. Lamarck came on the basis of long-term studies of flora and fauna. He discovered transitional forms between species, which he saw as evidence of the inconstancy of species. New types of living organisms arise, in his opinion, as a result of a smooth transformation of old forms in an adequate way to changes in the environment. The result of progressive changes, complication of life forms Zh.B. Lamarck considered the gradation of living bodies. In accordance with it, he arranged living beings in steps, depending on the degree of complexity of their organization.

Progressive evolution as the emergence of more complex and perfect forms J.B. Lamarck explained "law of gradations" - the desire of living beings to complicate their structure.Once having arisen, adaptive changes further, in his opinion, are able to be inherited (the concept of "inheritance of acquired traits"). Thus arose a system of views on the evolutionary process, called Lamarckism.

Reasons for evolution J.B. Lamarck considered the desire of all living organisms for progress, development from simple to complex, as well as expedient changes in organisms aimed at adapting to external conditions.Changes these, as J.B. Lamarck,caused by the direct influence of the external environment, the exercise of the organs and the inheritance of characteristics acquired during life. According to Zh.B. Lamarck, the influence of external conditions on animals with a central nervous system is carried out indirectly through a primary change in needs and habits, which causes new forms of activity and, as a result, intensive exercise of some organs and relative inactivity of others. The exercise of the organs stimulates their development and increase, and the lack of exercise leads to underdevelopment, reduction and often to disappearance. The result of this are changes in the form and structure of the organism, which are inherited and thus fixed in the offspring. The dependence of the state of the organs on their exercise and the preservation of changes in the offspring are known as the two laws of J.B. Lamarck. First Law States that in every animal, the more frequent and longer use of organs leads to their increase, and, conversely, the non-use leads to a decrease or disappearance of organs.Second Law reads: everything that is acquired by organisms under the influence of external conditions, as a result of exercise, or lost due to disuse, is inherited by descendants. So, the long neck of giraffes J.B. Lamarck explained by the fact that they constantly stretch it, trying to reach higher and higher leaves located in the crown of trees (Fig. 130). Some lengthening of the neck can be achieved by such constant exercises, but these changes are not transmitted to offspring. Since the exercise of the organs does not affect the structure of germ cells, but only traits due to mutations are inherited, at present, Lamarck's laws are of historical interest only.Their progressive significance for their era lies in the recognition of the variability of species and in an attempt to search for a material factor (changing environmental conditions) to explain the historical changes in organisms, which at one time served as the starting point for Darwinism.

Contribution of Zh.B. Lamarck's evolutionary doctrine as a whole is enormous. He created the first evolutionary concept during the period of dominance of metaphysical and creationist ideas, proclaiming the principle of variability of species. His concept is fundamentally materialistic, although in recognizing such a property of organisms as a tendency to improvement, idealism manifested itself, concessions were made to the idealistic worldview that prevailed at that time. It was also wrong to deny

Rice. 130. The evolution of long necks in giraffes from a Lamarckian point of view

the reality of species existence. Contemporaries did not accept the evolutionary teachings of J.B. Lamarck, in which the unconvincingness of his arguments and speculative judgments played an undoubted role.

Even before the publication of the main work of Charles Darwin, the famous Russian scientist K.M. Baer (1792-1876) held views on the variability of species. His law of "germ similarity", the statement about the similarity of the individual development of organisms, in fact, anticipated the "biogenetic law", formulated later by E. Haeckel and F. Müller.

Professor of Moscow University K.F. Roulier (1814-1858), on the basis of paleontological, comparative anatomical and embryological studies, independently came to the idea of ​​evolution. In his work "On the Animals of the Moscow Province" he wrote that the development of animals is determined by the changing external environment. K.F. Roulier argued that nature changed many times, plants and animals gradually developed and became more complex, and this complication was crowned with the appearance of man.