Evolution
Even though neither authors arrived to the meeting in July 1, 1858, Linnaean Society of London listen to the Secretary of Society read, “On the tendency of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation of varieties and species by natural means of selection,” by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Most of the members were very disappointed to find out that neither scientists would be attending the meeting. However the secretary continued to read their papers and even though the authors of the letters were not there, their fear and excitement could be heard in their writing. In the two first papers of the work, the introduction described how the meeting came to be and the process of getting in contact. Charles Darwin described the rush of finishing and publishing his essay as the meeting came closer. They also explain the unfortunate circumstances of the reasons they were not able to attend and address the own theories and discoveries.
The secretary of society read the four main points. First was Lyell and Hooker’s own letter of introduction explaining the extraordinary circumstances.
Second he read an excerpt from Darwin’s unpublished draft, part of a chapter titled, “On the Variation of Organic Beings in a State of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; on the Comparison of Domestic Races and True Species”.
Third he read an abstract of Darwin’s 1857 letter on the subject to Harvard University botanist Asa Gray. Lastly he read Wallace’s manuscript, “On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type.”
For an English major in college hearing the specific and complex scientific reasoning for the theory of evolution was both fascinating and incredibly confusing. However the theory of evolution by natural selection is easily explained in the gradual process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population when traits help and keep a species alive in its specific environment. For example say a plant had a trait that controlled how much water it needed and the only possible genotypes were: it needed a lot of water (w) and it hardly needed water at all (W).
If this plant lived in the desert than the any plants that carried the (w) gene would die out and never have the chance to reproduce, leaving only the plants with the (W) gene. Eventually over time all the plants would have the (W) gene and the (w) gene would become extinct. The more suited it is to its environment, the better chance it has at surviving and reproducing. As far as reproducing goes the natural selection has produce species different than their ancestors. The struggle for existence usually meant members of each species are continuously competing for food shelter and other necessities for life.
As far as the long meeting of Linnaean Society on July 1, 1858, did not cause an immediate sensation. The day went by as other papers were read, But the paper was accepted for publication in the society’s Proceedings later that year.