Peter Bowler: Charles Darwin: the man and his influence

provide a citation for each sentence with quoted material. Papers without proper citations will be graded down one full letter grade. Please remember that part of your grade will be based on correct use of English, so please proof read your paper (and please use the past tense when discussing the past!). Since a major part of your grade will be based on your ability to explain ideas in your own words, please use your own words and avoid quoting. If you do use someone else’s words, you MUST use quotation marks to avoid plagiarism AND cite your source – plagiarism will result in your paper being given an F. You may use your books and notes, but you should not discuss the question or your answer with anyone else; you are to fly solo on this project. Please be specific; if you are vague I will assume you don’t really understand the material. The question: Please write an essay on Charles Darwin by Peter Bowler that includes the following: 1) in your opening paragraph explain what Bowler is attempting to do in his book (what his purpose is), and what thesis he is presenting in his book; then 2) indicate whether Darwin was the first person to propose a theory of evolution (and, if not, the state of the theory in the 1830?s at the time of his trip on the Beagle); then 3) indicate what empirical evidence he obtained during his trip on the Beagle that eventually convinced him that evolution had occurred; then 4) explain what role ideas derived from geology and demography played in providing the conceptual framework that helped convince Darwin that evolution had occurred (name the authors of the ideas and briefly summarize the ideas that influenced Darwin); then 5) explain Darwin’s notion of the mechanism by which evolution occurred and how he became convinced of this idea; then 6) explain whether Darwin believed his theory of evolution supported the idea of progress and how far Victorian intellectuals (including scientists) accepted the implications of Darwin’s theory on this point; then 7) conclude by stating the author’s conclusion in your own words