Today's soundtrack is Deafheaven: New Bermuda.
I'm starting Charles Darwin's illustrated and abridged Origin of Species today.
Introduction
Darwin introduces his work with a disclaimer: It is incomplete; he cannot provide references; however, due to his declining health, he has been convinced to publish his work so far.
Darwin says that all species came from one common ancestor; largely thanks to Natural Selection.
Chapter 1: Variation Under Domestication
Darwin says that domesticated species exhibit more variety than those in the wild, due to their being given opportunity to grow in more diverse climates and conditions. He says that exposing existing species to new conditions for several generations will result in variances abd modifications. He believes that changes to an organism depend largely on the organism itself; the conditions that the organism is subjected to are less important, because "similar variations [...] arise under dissimilar conditions" (50).
Darwin believed that differences in physical characteristic seen when comparing domesticated and wild animals could be attributed to a hereditary effect - smaller muscle mass in ducks, larger udders in cows, and drooping ears in dogs. (I think it more likely that selective breeding, rather than inherited effects, are the cause of these differences).
Darwin observed what he called "Correlated Variance," where certain traits exhibit only in conjunction with other traits. He also believed that the majority of characteristics are inherited; only a small minority are not. Darwin did not know why some traits were passed on to only certain family members but not others - to the males only, for example.
Countering his peers, Darwin claims that diversity in domesticated species does not mean that there were many preceding wild species; it merely means that the civilization started domestication earlier than had been previously known.
Darwin decided to study the differences between kinds of pigeons and joined two pigeon clubs. Darwin was convinced that all species of pigeons descended from the rock dove.
Darwin says that ancient man domesticated and selectively bred species not for the good of the species, but for the good of man. To most effectively breed for man's good, he must not simply select the best of them, but the outliers; however, through unconscious selection, if the best of a breed is kept and the others destroyed, a similar result will take place over a longer period of time.
Darwin says that man's power of selection is impeded if he is not in a position where he can afford to be selective in breeding only for certain characteristics.
