Did Darwin Get Everything Right?

Among his strongest public supporters, such as Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Asa Gray, there were sharp theoretical differences with Darwin. On the other hand, some of his public critics privately assisted his research.

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is arguably the most important book in biology. In it, he describes his theory of evolution by natural selection. Published in 1859, it became an instant bestseller, partly due to its conversational style rather than an academic tone.

Charles R. Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. The theory of evolution by natural selection formulated in Darwin’s book explains how organisms change over time due to changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits. Changes that allow an organism to better adapt to its environment help it survive and reproduce.

The theory has two main points:

1. All life on Earth is connected and related to each other.
2. The diversity of life results from modifications of populations by natural selection, where some traits are favored in an environment over others.

Evolution by natural selection is one of the best-substantiated theories in the history of science, supported by evidence from paleontology, geology, genetics, and developmental biology. Nevertheless, did Darwin get everything right back in the 19th century?

When Darwin published On the Origin of Species, various evolutionary ideas had already been proposed. However, earlier in the 19th century, the English scientific establishment was closely tied to the Church of England, and science was part of natural theology. Ideas about the transmutation of species were controversial and not accepted by the scientific mainstream.

Within two decades after the publication of the once-controversial On the Origin of Species, Darwin’s theory was widely accepted by the scientific community. His work is now considered the foundation of evolutionary biology. But were Charles Darwin’s ideas immaculate?

As an eminent scientist, Darwin’s findings in On the Origin of Species were taken seriously. The evidence he presented generated scientific, philosophical, and religious discussion, helping secularize science by promoting scientific naturalism. Despite widespread scientific agreement on evolution, scientists fully recognized the significance of natural selection long after Darwin’s death.

Darwin never claimed to scientifically demonstrate the inferiority of women and Africans to white men, yet he justified his misogynist and racist views with what he considered “educated guesses.” Darwin concluded that the intelligence of white women and Africans equated to that of white male children. However, he privately took advice from important women in his life and brought up his daughters to be as sophisticated in science and theology as his sons, helping them advance in their careers. Perhaps his condescending views covered only those he was not acquainted with.

Without access to DNA, Darwin’s work on heredity remained hypothetical and incorrect. He proposed that each organ and tissue of a male organism contributed to the sperm, determining the offspring’s configuration, a hypothesis he called “pangenesis.” Today we know that both the egg and the sperm contribute equal amounts of genetic information. When the sperm fertilizes the egg, the first cell of the embryo with a mix of parents’ genetic information emerges.

When Darwin was born, common wisdom held that the Earth was six thousand years old. Most scientists acknowledged it was older, and a few years after On the Origin of Species was published, Scottish physicist William Thomson and later Darwin’s son George calculated the Earth to be one hundred million years old. Darwin agreed with this and thought it was enough time for evolution. Today we know that the Earth is 4.543 billion years old.

Charles Darwin, a privileged white man of his time, lived in a bubble and held views now considered extremely misogynistic and racist. In the 21st century, one might hesitate to associate with such a man. However, Darwin was human and prone to mistakes like anyone else.

Today, the theory of evolution is often referred to as Darwin’s theory of evolution or Darwinism, not because scientists endorse his worldview or see his 1859 theory as perfect, but because he is considered the founder of evolution science. A scientist’s work is never done, and the Theory of Evolution in the 21st century is far more advanced and supported by evidence than in the 19th century. Since Darwin’s death, the theory has been refined, amended, and corrected where necessary, but the foundation proposed in 1859 has stood the test of time.

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