Help on Charles Darwin?

Question

How did he help make our planet a better place to live? Also, he's an expert in the field of _______?

Easy 10 points.

Answer 1

Darwin developed the first and so far only feasible theory of evolution.  (Various flawed theories had been proposed and shot down.)

He gave all biology an underpinning that allowed for the development of all aspects of the life sciences.  The single most direct benefit from Darwin's work is probably in medicine. Without the underlying theory and its consequences biology could  only be a hit and miss approach  as if all life were not related somehow.  But all life is related somehow and advances in medicine would be much, much slower or impossible without Darwin's work.

ALso, his theory underlie the study of ecology and the environment.  WIthout evolution these fields would not be meaningful.  Like all th life sciences they would be a mish mash of disconnected pieces of information that can go nowhere.

Answer 2

He was also on expert on earthworms which he wrote his final book about.

How did he help make our planet a better place to live?

That is a matter of opinion.

Can't think of a direct reason why earth is better place to live with theory of evolution.

It helped progress the field of science and medicine perhaps.

You could also say he gave us a reason not to be dependant on religion, which can be harmful on society.

Answer 3

>"How did he help make our planet a better place to live?"

By providing the cornerstone idea that united all of biology.  As such, pretty much all of modern Biology, including *ALL OF MODERN MEDICINE* is touched in some way by Darwin's theory.

For example, have you ever taken antibiotics?   Have a look at the label on the bottle, or at the instructions your doctor gave you, and it will say something like "Make sure to finish all this medication, even if symptoms subside."  Why?  Because of the Darwinian concept of natural selection.  Those individual bacteria that have or develop some resistance to the antibiotics will be the very same individuals that repopulate if you stop too soon ... which makes a bounceback infection that is even harder to kill.  That is Darwinian principles in action.

Other examples include our need to make a new flu shot every year because this year's flu viruses have evolved by Darwinian means to be immune to last year's flu shot.  Or our ability to predict roughly where and when epidemics will occur, and what they will emerge from, depends on Darwinian principles.   Or our ability to combat viral infections like HIV take advantage of knowledge of Darwinian principles of how the virus mutates in response to antivirals.  Or our understanding of how pests respond to pesticides depends on Darwinian ideas.

>"Also, he's an expert in the field of _______?"

For the bulk of his career he was what was called in his time, a "naturalist."   So "nature" might be the correct answer.

He also wrote a lot of papers specifically about barnacles, so he was certainly an expert in them.  But then he went through a phase writing about plants, including orchids.  His last book was about earthworms.  So he was certainly an expert in all of these fields.

I would go with "nature."

Answer 4

for some reason i want to say geology... im not totally sure but when i took bio  (my fav subject in the world! =) ) i know that the study of evolution has a lot to do with study fossils  

Answer 5

All i know is he is an expert in tha field of geology, thats where his main interest took place

Answer 6

Well, he went and studied finches in the Galapagos Islands. He then formulated his most famous theory of Natural Selection. In other words, survival of the fittest. He was a naturalist, so I guess he's an expert in the field of evolutionary studies...

Answer 7

geology

Answer 8

Darwin was not the first to have a theory of evolution.  He actually "borrowed" ideas first presented by his father.  In addition, Jean LeMarck preceded Darwin with ideas on evolution by about 60 years.  

First of all, Darwin's education and expertise originally was in medicine as he planned to be doctor.  He then went to Cambridge and was a theology major.  It was during his trip on the HMS Beagle that he developed expertise in geology.  However, he was hired as a naturalist.  Darwin had read about geological time and had made many observations regarding nature.  He was putting the evidence together when hired for the 5 year voyage that included the Galapagos Islands (he was actually on the Galapagos Islands for only a bout 5 weeks) .

Darwin's contribution to humankind was that he discovered the undeniable theory of how life developed the diversity we see today.  He titled his book, "On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection".  To this day, all scientific discoveries have substantiated and expanded our understanding of natural selection.  All science has shown Darwin to be correct.

It was Darwin's explanation that has become the glue that holds all of biology together as his explanations help to explain all of biology.  Without Darwin's explanation, then nothing in biology makes any sense.  With it, all of biology makes total sense.