Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Darwin questions the lack of observable transitional forms if evolution occurs through gradual changes.
In this quote, Charles Darwin is reflecting on the theory of evolution, specifically addressing a potential challenge to the idea that species evolve gradually from one form to another. He points out that if this gradual change is true, one would expect to find many transitional forms in the fossil record, yet their absence raises important questions about the completeness of our understanding of evolutionary history.
Themes
EvolutionTransitional FormsSpeciesGradationsFossil Record
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about evolutionary theory in a classroom setting.
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I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science....It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts.
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We cannot fathom the marvelous complexity of an organic being; but on the hypothesis here advanced this complexity is much increased. Each living creature must be looked at as a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars in heaven.
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I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
Charles DarwinRead
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
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