how did darwin's work, reveal how science might be used to explain the past and the future of life on earth?
2007-02-01 08:22:50 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
He was still gathering evidence through observation. The more evidence you have, the better your theory will be accepted. He realised that another scientist, Wallace, was working on the same theory, and may well publish before him. This would make it Wallace's theory, and give Darwin's work a supporting evidence role, at best. So they decided to present their work at the same time. Darwin's work was the most comprehensive, having been gathered over many years, so we have Darwin's theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. He kept it a secret because he knew that it would be controversial, and would question the religious dogma of creation. Also, scientists sometimes don't like to share knowledge, probably there was a bit of ego involved.
As to the second part of your question. Go to www.talkorigins.org for information.
2007-02-01 08:36:21 · answer #1 · answered by Labsci 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
> why is Darwin keep his theory of a secret from all but a few friends?
He understood that there would be considerable controversy, and so he wanted to have an overwhelming amount of evidence organized. Getting this organized was taking a while, and Darwin was also doing other things in the meantime.
It was only when Wallace was going to "scoop" him that Darwin got his act together and finally published.
2007-02-01 09:02:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Darwin kept his work secret for several reasons: he was afraid of backlash from the religious and scientific establishments of his day, he was editing his manuscript for a long time to attempt to pre-emptively answer any questions that might be asked, and he had some moral qualms about a theory that would demolish the "argument from design", which was one of the most elegant and beautiful pieces of evidence for the existence of God.
Eventually he published his results (many years after he first formulated his theories) because other scientists were starting to come up with similar ideas and he didn't want his hard work to be wasted.
2007-02-01 09:01:46 · answer #3 · answered by MissA 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was probably considered heresy in his day, he could have gotten in big legal trouble because of it.
Galileo had to recant some of his scientific discoveries to avoid execution.
2007-02-01 08:31:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋