A monograph about the origin of the word ‘evolution’ and how its meaning has evolved today.

{ee-vuh-loo-shuh’n}

ABOVEpicture taken by Danielle Horton in Carlisle, Cumbria.

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HISTORY

CHARLES

SCIENCE

ORIGIN

DARWIN

DEFINITION

SYNONYMS

Who used the word throughout history and how it has developed in our language from Latin.

A quote from Charles Darwin discussing the theory of evolution.

Dictionary definition of the word.

The scientific definition of the word and a list of synonyms.

1640 “an opening of what was rolled up,” from L. evolutionem

“unrolling of a book,” noun of action from evolvere. Used in

various senses in medicine, mathematics, and general use,

including “growth to maturity and development of an individual living thing”

“CHARLES DARWIN USED THE WORD ONLY ONCE... [HE] PREFERRED ‘DECENT WITH MODIFICATION’ THAN ‘EVOLUTION’...”

BELOWpicture taken by Danielle Horton in the West of Glasgow.

1615 < Latin evolution- (stem of evolutio) an unrolling, opening, equivalent to evolut.

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“CHARLES DARWIN USED THE WORD ONLY ONCE... [HE] PREFERRED ‘DECENT WITH MODIFICATION’ THAN ‘EVOLUTION’...”

1660 Modern use in biology, of species, first attested 1832 by

Scottish geologist Charles Lyell. Charles Darwin used

the word only once, in the closing paragraph of “The

Origin of Species” (1859), and preferred ‘descent with modification’ than ‘evolution’,

in part because evolution already had been used in the 18c. homunculus theory of

embryological development (first proposed under this name by Bonnet, 1762), and in

part because it carried a sense of “progress” not found in Darwin’s idea.

evolutionevolutioevolute

evolvereevolutionem

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But Victorian belief in progress prevailed (along with

brevity), and Herbert Spencer and other biologists

popularized evolution. It is now a common and much

loved word within our spoken and written language.

“THE FACT OF EVOLUTION IS THE BACKBONE OF BIOLOGY, AND BIOLOGY IS THUS IN THE PECULIAR POSITION OF BEING A SCIENCE FOUNDED ON AN IMPROVED THEORY, IS IT THEN SCIENCE OR FAITH?” CHARLES R. DARWIN

BELOWpicture taken by Danielle Horton in Dumfires AE Forrest.

“THE FACT OF EVOLUTION IS THE BACKBONE OF BIOLOGY, AND BIOLOGY IS THUS IN THE PECULIAR POSITION OF BEING A SCIENCE FOUNDED ON AN IMPROVED THEORY, IS IT THEN SCIENCE OR FAITH?”

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any process of formation or growth; development: the evolution of a language; the evolution of the airplane.

1 a product of such development; something evolved: The exploration of space is the evolution of decades of research.

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noun.

a motion incomplete in itself, but combining with coordinated motions to produce a single action, as in a machine.

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Biology. change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift.

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a pattern formed by or as if by a series of movements: the evolutions of a figure skater on ice.

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an evolving or giving off of gas, heat, etc.7Mathematics. the extraction of a root from a quantity.8

any similar movement, especially in a close order drill.10

a movement or one of a series of movements of troops, ships, etc., as for disposition in order of battle or in line on parade.

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LEFT picture taken by Danielle Horton in Carlisle, Cumbria.

a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development, as in social or economic structure or institutions.

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The process by which species of organisms arise from earlier life forms and undergo change over time through natural selection

. The modern understanding of the origins of species is based on the theories of Charles Darwin combined with a modern knowledge of genetics based on the work of Gregor Mendel. Darwin observed there is a certain amount of variation of traits or characteristics among the different individuals belonging to a population. Some of these traits confer fitness—they

SCIENTIFIC DEFINITION

allow the individual organism that possesses them to survive in their environment better than other individuals who do not possess them and to leave more offspring. The offspring then inherit the beneficial traits, and over time the adaptive trait spreads through the population. In twentieth century, the development of the the science of genetics helped explain the origin of the variation of

the traits between individual organisms and the way in which they are passed from generation to generation. This basic model of evolution has since been further refined, and the role of genetic drift and sexual selection in the evolution of populations has been recognized.

ABOVEpicture taken by Danielle Horton in the Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

phylogenesisontogenesisincreaseexploitationmaturationunfoldingchangemetamorphosisenlargementprogressiongrowth

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Info taken from Dictionary.com

{ee-vuh-loo-shuh’n}