Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Origins and the Greeks
- 2 Evolution before Darwin
- 3 Charles Darwin’s Geology
- 4 Looking Back with “Great Satisfaction” on Charles Darwin’s Vertebrate Paleontology
- 5 The Origins of the Origin
- 6 Darwin and Taxonomy
- 7 Darwin and the Barnacles
- 8 The Analogy between Artificial and Natural Selection
- 9 The Origin of Species
- 10 Sexual Selection
- 11 Darwin and Species
- 12 Darwin and Heredity
- 13 Darwin and Time
- 14 Darwin’s Evolutionary Botany
- 15 Mimicry and Camouflage
- 16 Chance and Design
- 17 Darwin and Teleology
- 18 The Evolution of the Origin (1859–1872)
- 19 Alfred Russel Wallace
- 20 Darwin and Humans
- 21 Darwin and Language
- 22 Darwin and Ethics
- 23 Social Darwinism
- 24 Darwin and the Levels of Selection
- 25 Darwin and Religion
- 26 Darwinism in Britain
- 27 Darwinism in the United States, 1859–1930
- 28 The German Reception of Darwin’s Theory, 1860–1945
- 29 Darwin and Darwinism in France before 1900
- 30 Encountering Darwin and Creating Darwinism in China
- 31 Darwinism in Latin America
- 32 Botany
- 33 Population Genetics
- 34 Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies
- 35 Ecological Genetics
- 36 Darwin and Darwinism in France after 1900
- 37 Botany and the Evolutionary Synthesis, 1920–1950
- 38 The Emergence of Life on Earth and the Darwinian Revolution
- 39 The Evolution of the Testing of Evolution
- 40 Mimicry and Camouflage
- 41 The Tree of Life
- 42 Sociobiology
- 43 Evolutionary Paleontology
- 44 Darwin and Geography
- 45 Darwin and the Finches
- 46 Developmental Evolution
- 47 Darwin’s Evolutionary Ecology
- 48 Darwin and the Environment
- 49 Molecular Biology
- 50 Challenging Darwinism
- 51 Human Evolution after Darwin
- 52 Language Evolution since Darwin
- 53 Cultural Evolution
- 54 Literature
- 55 Darwin and Gender
- 56 Evolutionary Epistemology
- 57 Ethics after Darwin
- 58 Darwin and Protestantism
- 59 Creationism
- 60 Darwin and Catholicism
- 61 Judaism, Jews, and Evolution
- 62 Religion
- 63 From Evolution and Medicine to Evolutionary Medicine
- Bibliography
- Index
24 - Darwin and the Levels of Selection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Origins and the Greeks
- 2 Evolution before Darwin
- 3 Charles Darwin’s Geology
- 4 Looking Back with “Great Satisfaction” on Charles Darwin’s Vertebrate Paleontology
- 5 The Origins of the Origin
- 6 Darwin and Taxonomy
- 7 Darwin and the Barnacles
- 8 The Analogy between Artificial and Natural Selection
- 9 The Origin of Species
- 10 Sexual Selection
- 11 Darwin and Species
- 12 Darwin and Heredity
- 13 Darwin and Time
- 14 Darwin’s Evolutionary Botany
- 15 Mimicry and Camouflage
- 16 Chance and Design
- 17 Darwin and Teleology
- 18 The Evolution of the Origin (1859–1872)
- 19 Alfred Russel Wallace
- 20 Darwin and Humans
- 21 Darwin and Language
- 22 Darwin and Ethics
- 23 Social Darwinism
- 24 Darwin and the Levels of Selection
- 25 Darwin and Religion
- 26 Darwinism in Britain
- 27 Darwinism in the United States, 1859–1930
- 28 The German Reception of Darwin’s Theory, 1860–1945
- 29 Darwin and Darwinism in France before 1900
- 30 Encountering Darwin and Creating Darwinism in China
- 31 Darwinism in Latin America
- 32 Botany
- 33 Population Genetics
- 34 Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies
- 35 Ecological Genetics
- 36 Darwin and Darwinism in France after 1900
- 37 Botany and the Evolutionary Synthesis, 1920–1950
- 38 The Emergence of Life on Earth and the Darwinian Revolution
- 39 The Evolution of the Testing of Evolution
- 40 Mimicry and Camouflage
- 41 The Tree of Life
- 42 Sociobiology
- 43 Evolutionary Paleontology
- 44 Darwin and Geography
- 45 Darwin and the Finches
- 46 Developmental Evolution
- 47 Darwin’s Evolutionary Ecology
- 48 Darwin and the Environment
- 49 Molecular Biology
- 50 Challenging Darwinism
- 51 Human Evolution after Darwin
- 52 Language Evolution since Darwin
- 53 Cultural Evolution
- 54 Literature
- 55 Darwin and Gender
- 56 Evolutionary Epistemology
- 57 Ethics after Darwin
- 58 Darwin and Protestantism
- 59 Creationism
- 60 Darwin and Catholicism
- 61 Judaism, Jews, and Evolution
- 62 Religion
- 63 From Evolution and Medicine to Evolutionary Medicine
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the mid-1820s, Charles Darwin was in medical school at the University of Edinburgh. There he met the evolutionist Robert Grant. Grant was interested in zoophytes, organisms that were considered plantlike animals. He and others hoped these organisms might help bridge the gap between the two kingdoms. Darwin accompanied Grant on collecting trips to the Firth of Forth, and it was through this work that he had his first brush with scientific scholarship. Darwin delivered a short report to the Plinian Society, a natural history club, on his observations of the “ova” of Flustra, a seaweed-like aquatic invertebrate.
A few years later, while aboard the Beagle, Darwin’s interest in zoophytes continued. In his account of the voyage, he offered the following reflective description of one of these species, Virgularia patagonica:
Each polypus, though closely united to its brethren, has a distinct mouth, body, and tentacula. Of these polypi, in a large specimen, there must be many thousands; yet we see that they act by one movement; that they have one central axis connected with a system of obscure circulation; and that the ova are produced in an organ distinct from the separate individuals. Well may one be allowed to ask, what is an individual?
(1839b, 117)- Type
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- The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolutionary Thought , pp. 202 - 210Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013
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