The nineteenth century saw the dawn of many scientific theories and discoveries, from fields such as geology, chemistry, and medicine. Of the theories that had the most impact on society, Charles Darwin's theory of Natural Selection had one of the largest impacts due to the way it opposed nearly everything Victorian England believed in. For an entire population to be told that creationism was most likely untrue and that humans evolved from lower primates over a period of millions of years was very upsetting or unbelievable. Like all new scientific theories, Darwin had to face hefty opposition from the scientific world that was still questioning evolution and development through the works of people such as Lamarck and Chambers. Given that Darwin's theory opposed modern Christian beliefs, he also faced opposition from religious groups as well as from the scientific community. Charles Darwin faced opposition from all angles concerning his Origin of the Species and many of those in conflict with him presented valid arguments to his theory.
The body of this paper will cover the most outspoken opponents to Darwin's research and explain why the opponents felt that Darwin was mistaken. One of the most surprising opponents was the geologist Adam Sedgwick who was a friend and colleague of Darwin's at Cambridge. Sedgwick's response to Origin includes such phrases as "more pain than pleasure, parts I laughed at till my sides were almost sore, and utterly false and grievously mischievous." Another major challenger to Darwin's theory was Jean Louis Agassiz, who felt that most of Darwin's opposition was coming from outside of the scientific community. He was the discoverer of ice ages and a leading expert in the world of ichthyology, and openly opposed Darwin through popular media in America instead of through scientific journals. Other people who attempted to discredit Darwin and will be covered include George Douglas Campbell, Richard Owen, and Fleeming Jenkin.
Description of Exchange Theory The basic concept of exchange theory emphasizes cost and beneficial relationships between the interactions of people and their social environment. Exchange theory attempts to explain human behavior under the content of a balanced-equal ratio within the distribution ...
