走進劍橋大學 第19期:物種起源與達爾文
Origin of Species and Darwin
物種起源與達爾文
Charles Darwin was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved over millions of years from a few common ancestors.
查爾斯達爾文是英國博物學者，因提出進化論和自然選擇學說而聞名于世。和科學界前輩一樣，達爾文相信地球上的所有生命都是由少數(shù)共同的祖先歷經(jīng)數(shù)百萬年進化而來的。
Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, on February 12, 1809，Darwin was the fifth child of a wealthy family. After graduating from the elite school at Shrewsbury in 1825, young Darwin went to the University of Edinburgh Medical School to study medicine. In 1827 he dropped out of medical school and entered the Christ’s College, Cambridge, in preparation for becoming a clergyman of the Church of England. There he met two stellar figures: Adam Sedgwick, a geologist, and John Stevens Henslow, a naturalist. Henslow not only helped build Darwin’s self-confidence but also taught him to be a meticulous and painstaking observer of natural phenomena and collector of specimens. After graduating from Cambridge in 1831，the 22-year-old Darwin was taken aboard the English survey ship Beagle, largely on Henslow's recommendation, as an unpaid naturalist on a scientific expedition around the world.
達爾文于1809年2月12日出生在英格蘭希施羅普郡什魯斯伯里的一個富裕家庭，在家中排行第五。1825年畢業(yè)于什魯斯伯里的一個精英學校后，年輕的達爾文考入愛丁堡大學醫(yī)學院學習醫(yī)學。1827年他從醫(yī)學院輟學并進入劍橋大學基督學院學習，準備成為英國國教牧師。在劍橋達爾文遇見了兩位一流的人物：地質(zhì)學者亞當塞奇威克和博物學者約翰斯蒂文亨斯樓。亨斯樓不僅幫助達爾文建立自信，還教導他要一絲不茍、不辭辛勞地觀察自然現(xiàn)象和收集標本。1831年從劍橋大學畢業(yè)后，在亨斯樓的大力推薦下，22歲的達爾文作為一名不收報酬的博物學者開始了他環(huán)游世界的科學探
In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. The expedition visited places around the world, and Darwin studied plants and animals everywhere he went, collecting specimens for further study.
達爾文在南美洲發(fā)現(xiàn)了和現(xiàn)代物種相似的滅絕動物的化石。在太平洋的加拉帕哥斯群島，他注意到和南美洲的情況一樣，同一個大類的動植物的很多變種都是相似的。達爾文隨探險隊拜訪了世界 上的許多地方，每到一處，他就開始研究當?shù)氐膭又参?，收集標本以備更深一步的研究?/div>
Upon his return to London in 1836，Darwin conducted thorough research of his notes and specimens. Out of this study grew several theories: one, evolution did occur; two, evolutionary change was gradual, requiring thousands to millions of years; three, the primary mechanism for evolution was a process called natural selection; and four, the millions of species alive today arose from a single original life form through a process called “sperfation."
1836年回到倫敦后，達爾文對他的筆記和標本就行了深入的研究。他的研究衍生出一些學說： 第一，進化的確發(fā)生了；第二，進化對于物種的改變是漸進的，需要上千甚至上百萬年的時間：第三，產(chǎn)生進化的最主要機制是一種被稱為自然選擇的進程；第四，當今世上的數(shù)百萬物種是由一個單一的初級生命形式通過“物種形成”衍生出來的。
Darwin’s theory of evolutionary selection holds that variation within species occurs randomly and that the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism's ability to adapt to its environment. He set these theories forth in his book called The Origin of Species (1859). After publication of Origin of Species, Darwin continued to write on botany, geology, and zoology until his death in 1882.
達爾文的進化選擇學說認為物種的變異是隨機發(fā)生的，每一個生物體的存活或滅絕是由那個生物體適應環(huán)境的能力決定的。1859年，他在自己的著作《物種起源》中 提出了這些學說?！段锓N起源》出版后，達爾文繼續(xù)在植物學、地質(zhì)學和動物學等方面著書立作，一直到1882年辭世。
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