16.2 Ideas That Shaped Darwin's Thinking
What did Hutton and Lyell conclude about Earth's history?- How did Lamarck propose that species evolve?
- What was Malthus's view of population growth?
- How is inherited variation used in artificial selection?
artificial selection
Outline Make an outline of this lesson using the green headings as main topics and the blue headings as subtopics. As you read, fill in details under each heading.
THINK ABOUT IT All scientists are influenced by the work of other scientists, and Darwin was no exception. The Beagle's voyage came during one of the most exciting periods in the history of science. Geol-ogists, studying the structure and history of Earth, were making new observations about the forces that shape our planet. Naturalists were investigating connections between organisms and their environments. These and other new ways of thinking about the natural world provided the foundation on which Darwin built his ideas.
An Ancient, Changing Earth
What did Hutton and Lyell conclude about Earth's history?
Many Europeans in Darwin's day believed Earth was only a few thousand years old, and that it hadn't changed much. By Darwin's time, however, the relatively new science of geology was providing evidence to support different ideas about Earth's history. Most famously, geologists James Hutton and Charles Lyell formed important hypotheses based on the work of other researchers and on evidence they uncovered themselves. Hutton and Lyell concluded that Earth is extremely old and that the processes that changed Earth in the past are the same processes that operate in the present. In 1785, Hutton presented his hypotheses about how geological processes have shaped the Earth. Lyell, who built on the work of Hutton and others, published the first volume of his great work, Principles of Geology, in 1830.
FIGURE 16–4 Ancient Rocks These rock layers in the Grand Canyon were laid down over millions of years and were then slowly washed away by the river, forming a channel.
Table of Contents
- Formulas and Equations
- Applying Formulas and Equations
- Mean, Median, and Mode
- Estimation
- Using Measurements in Calculations
- Effects of Measurement Errors
- Accuracy
- Precision
- Comparing Accuracy and Precision
- Significant Figures
- Calculating With Significant Figures
- Scientific Notation
- Calculating With Scientific Notation
- Dimensional Analysis
- Applying Dimensional Analysis