Charles Darwin Father of Evolution Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in England. His paternal grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, one of the leading intellectuals of 18th century England.

Darwin himself initially wanted to have a medical career and studied at Edinburgh University but later switched to divinity at Cambridge. In 1831, he joined a five year scientific expedition on the survey ship HMS Beagle.

At this time, most Europeans believed that the world was created by God in seven days as described in the bible. On his trip, Darwin read Lyell's 'Principles of Geology' which suggested that the fossils found in rocks were actually evidence of animals that had lived many thousands or millions of years ago. During his voyage Darwin started to notice some patters that reinforced Lyell's argument. The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, when he D noticed that each island supported its own form of species which were closely related to the other islands an main land but differed in important ways.

On his return to England in 1836,influenced by the ideas of Malthus, he proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection. The animals (or plants) best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the characteristics which helped them survive to their offspring. Gradually, the species changes over time. Darwin worked on his theory for 20 years. After learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, the two made a joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859 Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'.

The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension of Darwin's theory was that homo sapiens was simply another form of animal. It made it seem possible that even people might just have evolved - quite possibly from apes - and destroyed the prevailing orthodoxy on how the world was created. Darwin was vehemently attacked, particularly by the Church.

The Vatican claims Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution should not have been dismissed and claimed it is compatible with the Christian view of Creation.

By Chris Irvine 8:03AM GMT 11 Feb 2009

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said while the Church had been hostile to Darwin's theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, added that 4th century theologian St Augustine had "never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish" and forms of life had been transformed "slowly over time". Aquinas made similar observations in the Middle Ages. Ahead of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the Vatican is also set to play down the idea of Intelligent Design, which argues a "higher power" must be responsible for the complexities of life. The conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University will discuss Intelligent Design to an extent, but only as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than a scientific or theological issue. Monsignor Ravasi said Darwin's theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, pointing to comments more than 50 years ago, when Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/4588289/The-Vatican-claims-Darwins-theory-of-evolution-is-compatible-with-Christianity.html

Watch this video it truly explains theories of evolution

Formation of Earth Earth was formed about 4000 to 5000 millions of years ago. Fossils from microscopic animals and bacterias prove that life surged about 3.000 millions of years ago. It is likely, that initially the Earth's atmosphere contained methane, ammoniac, carbon dioxide and other gases that are abundant in other planets from the Solar System. It seems likely that Earth surged from the combination of different chemicals., The sea was probable made of organic compounds.

The most important step was the appearance of molecules that autorreplicated themselves and were capable of producing copies of them. Once these self-replicating molecules were formed, something similar to the Darwinian natural selection might have occured.Organisms with good replication might have prevailed however the ones with bad replication died. A molecular form of natural selection led to a higher efficiency between replicated molecules.

The molecules which survived developed hability to autoconserve themselves and to reproduce. This was probably due to the multiplication of molecules (proteins). These kind of bacteria gave place to the first fossils. The following evolution might be due to the continuation on natural selection.

This image shows how many species can evolve from just one specie

What is evolution?

The theory of evolution states that an organisms can become more sophisticated or change in response to the environment. It is a biological mechanism driven by natural selection.

EVOLUTION

Have species evolved or has it been divine intervention?
This blog is intended to see wether the scientific theory of evolution or the religous beliefs of the creation of different species is more common.