itself, was not all that original. The idea of biological evolution began to be
widely accepted in some circles as early as 1800. The leading spokesman for
this idea was the French zoologist Lamarck. Even before him, Darwin’s own
grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had suggested that plants and animals had
evolved from some few primitive species. But none of them had come up with
an acceptable explanation as to how this evolution happened. They were
therefore not considered by churchmen to be any great threat.”
“But Darwin was?”
“Yes, indeed, and not without reason. Both in ecclesiastic and scientific
circles, the Biblical doctrine of the immutability of all vegetable and animal
species was strictly adhered to. Each and every form of animal life had been
created separately once and for all. This Christian view was moreover in
harmony with the teachings of Plato and Aristotle.”
“How so?”
“Plato’s theory of ideas presupposed that all animal species were
immutable because they were made after patterns of eternal ideas or forms.
The immutability of animal species was also one of the cornerstones of
Aristotle’s philosophy. But in Darwin’s time there were a number of
observations and finds which were putting traditional beliefs to the test.”
“What kind of observations and finds were they?”
“Well, to begin with an increasing number of fossils were being dug out.
There were also finds of large fossil bones from extinct animals. Darwin
himself was puzzled to find traces of sea creatures far inland. In South
America he made similar discoveries high up in the mountains of the Andes.
What is a sea creature doing in the Andes, Sophie? Can you tell me that?”
“No.”
“Some believed that they had just been thrown away there by humans or
animals. Others believed that God had created these fossils and traces of sea
creatures to lead the ungodly astray.”
“But what did scientists believe?”
“Most geologists swore to a ‘catastrophe theory/ according to which the
earth had been subjected to gigantic floods, earthquakes, and other
catastrophes that had destroyed all life. We read of one of these in the Bible—
the Flood and Noah’s Ark. After each catastrophe, God renewed life on earth
by creating new—and more perfect— plants and animals.”
“So the fossils were imprints of earlier life forms that had been wiped out
after these gigantic catastrophes?”
“Precisely. For example, it was thought that fossils were imprints of
animals that had failed to get into the Ark. But when Darwin set sail on the
Beagle, he had with him the first volume of the English biologist Sir Charles
Lyell’s Principles of Geology. Lyell held that the present geology of the earth,
with its mountains and valleys, was the result of an interminably long and
gradual evolution. His point was that even quite small changes could cause
huge geological upheavals, considering the aeons of time that have elapsed.”
“What kind of changes was he thinking of?”
“He was thinking of the same forces that prevail today: wind and
weather, melting ice, earthquakes, and elevations of the ground level. You’ve
heard the saying about a drop of water wearing away a stone—not by brute
force, but by continuous dripping. Lyell believed that similar tiny and gradual
changes over the ages could alter the face of nature completely. However,