EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION
   in modern times the theory of evolution was first advanced by Charles BONNET (1720-1793) who argued that an embryo already contains all the parts of the mature organism. Charles LYELL (1797-1874) speculated on the evolution of land animals in 1832 and his work influenced Charles DARWIN (1809-1882), who wrote The Origin of Species (1859). Prior to that, Herbert SPENCER in 1852 had defined a general theory of evolution from lower to higher forms of life and organization. What Darwin did was new; he described some of the processes by which new species developed and generalized these as NATURAL SELECTION. In the development of SOCIAL DARWINISM, the generalized natural history provided images for social action and change and came to justify ruthless competition on the basis of "natural selection" and "the survival of the fittest."

Concise dictionary of Religion. 2012.

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  • ÉVOLUTION — Le terme évolution a désigné et désigne encore plusieurs concepts; il sera pris ici dans le sens d’évolution biologique, défini précisément plus loin. Dans cette acception, il est d’un emploi relativement récent. Ni Lamarck ni Darwin ne s’en sont …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Evolution —     Evolution (History and Scientific Foundation)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Evolution (History and Scientific Foundation)     The world of organisms comprises a great system of individual forms generally classified according to structural… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Evolution — ist die Veränderung der vererbbaren Merkmale einer Population von Lebewesen von Generation zu Generation. Diese Merkmale sind in Form von Genen kodiert, die bei der Fortpflanzung kopiert und an den Nachwuchs weitergegeben werden. Durch Mutationen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Evolution — Évolution Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Evolution — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Evolution puede referirse a: Evolution (película), una película dirigida por Ivan Reitman. Evolution (software), antes conocido como Novell Evolution, un gestor de información personal y de trabajo en grupo para… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Evolution — Почтовый клиент …   Википедия

  • Evolution — Sf Entwicklung erw. fach. (18. Jh.) Entlehnung. Unter dem Einfluß von frz. évolution entlehnt aus l. ēvolūtio das Aufrollen, Aufwickeln (einer Buchrolle) , zu l. ēvolvere (ēvolūtum) auseinanderwickeln, entwickeln , zu l. volvere drehen, rollen… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Evolution — Ev o*lu tion ([e^]v [ o]*l[=u] sh[u^]n), n. [L. evolutio an unrolling: cf. F. [ e]volution evolution. See {Evolve}.] 1. The act of unfolding or unrolling; hence, any process of growth or development; as, the evolution of a flower from a bud, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • evolution — UK US /ˌiːvəˈluːʃən/ noun [U or C] ► a gradual process of change and development: the evolution of sth »The evolution of modern management began in the last decades of the nineteenth century. evolution from sth to/into sth »As CEO he has overseen …   Financial and business terms

  • evolution —     Evolution generally describes any gradual process of change. It is used more specifically to describe any theory that explains biological diversity through gradual change derived from initial commonality. There have been many theories of this …   Christian Philosophy

  • evolution — 1620s, an opening of what was rolled up, from L. evolutionem (nom. evolutio) unrolling (of a book), noun of action from evolvere (see EVOLVE (Cf. evolve)). Used in various senses in medicine, mathematics, and general use, including growth to… …   Etymology dictionary

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