Professor touts Darwin's diverse contributions

Hardy delivered the presentation as a tribute to Darwin, whose 201st birthday was Friday, Feb. 12. The address was the first installment of this spring’s Graves Lecture Series at CSC’s King Library.

She said that many wrongly associate Charles Darwin exclusively to the study of evolution. She instead described Darwin as an accomplished and highly respected scientist who made significant contributions in many areas of science.

Hardy said Darwin was a skilled, thorough, broadly-trained naturalist who was widely recognized and respected for his many contributions to all aspects of science long before “On the Origin of Species” was published in 1859.

Hardy, who recounted stories from throughout the scientist’s life, noted that evolution as a theory had been discussed for years, and that Darwin’s grandfather was an accomplished writer on the topic.

“Darwin’s contribution to science is much, much broader and more complex,” she said.

She said Darwin was accomplished in every area of natural history. During the 1830s, the young scientist spent five years touring the globe aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, a Royal Navy research ship. During the voyages he completed much lauded research, even including work in geology and paleontology. Historians say the plants and animals he stumbled upon during the mission challenged his thoughts and influenced his approach to science. Hardy noted that Darwin later authored research about a wide variety of scientific topics, including, for example, coral reef formation, insectivorous plants, plant fertilizations, influence of earthworms in producing soil and the comparative anatomy and sexual life cycle of barnacles.

“When watching his children he became fascinated with their facial expressions and how similar these expressions were to the zoo-captive primates, so one area of his study looked at emotion expression and human psychology,” she said.

Darwin did, of course, make valuable contributions to the theory of evolution, she said.

“What Darwin contributed to the theory of evolution was an understanding of the mechanism through which natural selection works to change a population from one generation to another. Variation among offspring, differential survival and dissimilar reproduction comprise what Darwin called ‘natural selection,’ and this is a much more accurate description of Darwin’s theory,” she said.

Hardy said her interest in Darwin became fueled upon reading “The Origin of Species” after completing graduate school. She progressed to “Journey of the Beagle” and various biographies and additional writings of Darwin, his son Francis, and others. She has maintained an interest in Darwin’s work for 20 years.

She said “The Origin of Species” is extremely well written and provides an excellent example of the forwarding of a scientific theory.

“The book is a highly integrated persuasive writing that ties many observations in science,” she said. “It presents many observations and much knowledge that was known, then seeks a common explanation and understanding of the mechanisms behind those observations.”

The Graves Series will resume Tuesday, March 2, with Chadron judge Russ Harford’s presentation, “Criminal Justice from Different Perspectives.” The session will begin at 7 p.m. in room 108 of the library.