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Cave Art

Cave art

Cave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. Rock paintings are made since the Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years ago.

European rock paintings

Upper Paleolithic]] When Europeans first encountered the Magdalenian paintings of the Altamira cave, Cantabria, Spain some 150 years ago, they were considered to be hoaxes by academics. The new Darwinian thinking on evolution was interpreted as meaning that early humans could not have been sufficiently advanced to create art. Emile Cartailhac, one of the most respected prehistorians of the late nineteenth century believed they had been thought up by Creationists to support their ideas and ridicule Darwin's. Recent reappraisals and increasing numbers of discoveries have illustrated their authenticity and indicated the high levels of artistry of Upper Palaeolithic humans who used only basic tools. Cave paintings can also give valuable clues as to the culture and beliefs of that era. The age of the paintings in many sites remains a contentious issue, since methods like radiocarbon dating can be easily misled by contaminated samples of older or newer material, and caves and rocky overhangs are typically littered with debris from many time periods. The choice of subject matter can indicate date such as the reindeer at the Spanish cave of Cueva de las Monedas which imply the art is from the last ice age. The oldest cave is that of Chauvet, and is 32,000 years old. The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison, horses, aurochs, and deer, and tracings of human hands as well as abstract patterns, called Maccaroni by Breuill. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually schematic rather than the more naturalistic animal subjects. Cave art may have begun in the Aurignacian period (Hohle Fels, Germany), but reached its apogee in the late Magdalenian. The paintings were drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal. Sometimes the silhouette of the animal was incised in the rock first. Stone lamps provided some light. Abbé Breuill interpreted the paintings as being hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. As there are some clay sculptures that seem to have been the targets of spears, this may partly be true, but does not explain the pictures of beasts of prey such as the saber-toothed cat or the bear. An alternative and more modern theory, based on studies of more modern hunter-gatherer societies, is that the paintings were made by Cro-Magnon shamen. The shamen would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. This goes some way towards explaining the remoteness of some of the paintings (which often occur in deep or small caves) and the variety of subject matter (from prey animals to predators and human hand-prints). However, as with all prehistory, it is impossible to be certain due to the relative lack of material evidence and the many pitfalls associated with trying to understand the prehistoric mindset with a modern mind. Rock painting was also performed on cliff faces, but fewer of those have survived due to erosion. One well-known example are the rock paintings of Astuvansalmi in in the Saimaa area of Finland. In 2003, cave etchings also were discovered in Creswell Crags, Nottinghamshire, England. Well known cave paintings include those of:
- Lascaux, France
- La Marche, near Lussac-les-Chateaux, France
- Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave, near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France
- Altamira, near Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, Spain

African rock paintings

At Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg, South Africa, now thought to be some 3,000 years old, the paintings by the San people who settled in the area some 8,000 years ago depict animals and humans, and are thought to represent religious beliefs. Cave paintings are found in the Tassili n'Ajjer mountains in southeast Algeria also in Mesak Settafet and Tadrart in Libya and other Sahara region including: Ayr mountains, Niger and Tibesti, Chad.

Australian rock paintings

Significant early dasdhave also been found in Australia.

References


- Thomas Heyd and John Clegg, eds. Aesthetics and Rock Art. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, England and Burlington, VT, USA. 2005. ISBN 0-7546-3924-X
- Erich von Däniken, eds. Mysteries - The works of Erich von Däniken. Lange Communications Pte Ltd, Singapore. ISBN 981-05-3109-5 [www.evdaniken.com]

See also


- Rock art
- Parietal art
- Prehistoric art Category:Pre-historic art



Cave

Alternate meanings: Cave (disambiguation) This article is about natural caves; for artificial caves used as dwellings, such as those in north China, see yaodong. yaodong A cave is a natural underground void large enough for an adult human to enter. Some scientists stipulate that it must be large enough that some portion of it will not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like cliff cavities, rock shelters and sea caves. Speleology is the scientific exploration and study of all aspects of caves. The act of exploring a cave for recreation is called 'caving', 'potholing', or (only in the USA) 'spelunking'.

Cave types and formation

Caves are formed by geologic processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, tectonic forces and atmospheric influences.

Primary caves

Some caves are formed at the same time as the surrounding rock. These are called primary caves. geologic]
- Lava tubes are formed through volcanic activity. They are the most common primary caves. Lava flows downhill and the surface cools and solidifies. The lava now flows under this crust, until the eruption ends. If the liquid lava inside the crust flows out, a hollow tube remains. The most important lava tubes are found on Hawaii (Big Island). Kazumura Cave near Hilo is the longest and deepest lava tube of the world and also the eighth longest cave of the United States.
- Blister caves are also formed through volcanic activity.

Secondary caves

Secondary caves are formed inside the rock after the rock itself has formed by processes which removes material such as solution and erosion.
- Sea caves are very common at all coasts of the world, but as they are restricted to the zone where waves work on the rocks of the coast they are generally rather small. erosion, ca. 1920]]
- Ice caves occur in and under glaciers, formed by melting. They are also influenced by the very slow flow of the ice which tends to close the caves again.
- Solutional caves may form anywhere with rock which is soluble, and are most prevalent in limestone, but can also form in other material, including chalk, dolomite, marble, loess, ice, granite, salt, lava, sandstone, and gypsum. The most common process of cave formation is karstification, which is the solution of rocks by rain water.
  - Fracture caves are formed when layers of more soluble minerals such as gypsum dissolve out from between layers of less soluble rock. These rocks fracture and collapse in blocks.
- Talus caves are the openings between rocks that have fallen down into a pile, often at the bases of cliffs.
- Caverns are large caves (or large chambers in caves). Cave formation in limestone occurs because limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and groundwater charged with CO2 (carbonic acid) and naturally occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst and characterized by sinkholes, sinking streams, and underground drainage. Limestone solution is an important process in cave formation and the origin of the great majority of all caves on Earth. The reasons for this abundance are the facts that limestone is so common and the slowness of the solution process. If it were faster, the lifespan of limestone caves would be much shorter and their number much lower. sinking stream, South Wales]] Limestone caves are often adorned with calcium carbonate formations produced through slow precipitation, including the most common and well-known stalactites and stalagmites. These secondary mineral deposits in caves are called speleothems. The world's most spectacularly decorated cave is generally regarded to be Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA). Lechuguilla and nearby Carlsbad Caverns are now believed to be examples of another type of solutional cave. They were formed by acid rising from below, where reservoirs of oil give off sulfurous fumes, rather than by acidic water percolating from the surface.

Distribution

Caves are sparse in South America, Africa, and Antarctica, but are found widely in Europe, Asia, and North America. The distribution of cave systems so far discovered is widely skewed toward countries where caving is popular (such as the United States, France, Italy, the UK etc.). It is likely that many more systems remain to be discovered, especially in China, which, despite containing around half the world's exposed limestone - more than 1,000,000 km2 - has hardly been explored underground. China

Cave inhabitants

Cave inhabiting animals can be categorized as troglobites (cave limited-species), troglophiles (species which can live their entire lives in caves, but also occur in other environments), trogloxenes (species which utilize caves, but must leave the caves to complete their life cycle) and accidentals. Some authors use separate terminology for aquatic forms (i.e., stygobites, stygophiles, stygoxenes). Of these animals, the troglobites are among the most extraordinary of organisms. Troglobitic species often show a suite of characters, termed troglomorphies, associated with their adaptation to subterranean life. Among these characters are a loss of pigment (often resulting in a pale or white coloration), loss of eyes (or at least of optical functionality), elongation of appendages, and an enhancement of other senses (such as ability to sense vibrations in water). Aquatic troglobites (or stygobites), such as the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, live in bodies of water found in the caves and are fed by detritus washed into the caves, and by the feces of bats and other cave inhabitants. Bats, like the Gray bat and Mexican Free-tailed Bat, are trogloxenes, and are commonly found in caves, but forage outside of the caves. Some species of cave crickets are classified as trogloxenes, as they roost in caves by day and forage above ground at night. Because of the fragile nature of the cave ecosytem, and the fact that cave regions tend to be isolated from one another, caves harbor a number of endangered species, such as, for example the Tooth cave spider, Liphistiidae Liphistius trapdoor spider and the Gray bat. Caves are visited by many surface-loving animals, including humans. These are usually relatively short-lived incursions, due to the lack of light and sustenance. Some tropical caves of southeast Asia are rich in [http://www.geocities.com/cavingliz/Cavefauna.html cave fauna] and some even have [http://www.geocities.com/cavingliz/Caveflora.html cave flora]

Records

Since new caves are continually being explored, the various records of cave dimensions need to be updated fairly frequently. The system with the greatest (by some distance) total length of passage is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) at 579km in length. This record is unlikely to be surpassed in the near future as the next most extensive known cave is the Optymistychna system in Ukraine, at 214km. As of 2005, the deepest known cave (measured from its highest entrance to its lowest point) is Voronya Cave (Abkhazia, Georgia), with a depth of 2,140m. This was the first cave to be explored to a depth of more than 2km. (The first cave to be descended below 1km was the famous Gouffre Berger in France). The Gouffre Mirolda - Lucien Bouclier cave in France (1733m) and the Lamprechtsofen Vogelschacht Weg Schacht in Austria (1632m) are the current second and third deepest caves. This particular record has changed several times in recent years. The deepest individual pitch (vertical drop) within a cave is 603m in the Vrtoglavica cave in Slovenia, followed by Patkov Gušt (553m) in the Velebit mountain, Croatia. The largest individual cavern ever discovered is the Sarawak Chamber, in the [http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/mulu.htm Gunung Mulu National Park] (Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia), a sloping, boulder strewn chamber with an area of approximately 600m by 400m and a height of 80m. For a list of the world's notable caves, see list of caves.

Archaeological and social importance

Throughout history, primitive peoples have made use of caves for shelter, burial, or as religious sites. Since items placed in caves are protected from the climate and scavanging animals, this means caves are an archaeological treasure house for learning about these people. Cave paintings are of particular interest. One example is the Great Cave of Niah, which contains evidence of human habitation dating back 40,000 years. Caves are also important for geological research because they can reveal details of past climactic conditions in speleothems and sediment layers. Caves are frequently used today as sites for recreation. Caving, for example, is the popular sport of cave exploration. For the less adventurous, a number of the world's prettier and more accessible caves have been converted into show caves, where artificial lighting, floors, and other aids allow the casual visitor to experience the cave with minimal inconvenience. Caves have also been used for BASE jumping and cave diving.

See also


- Mining
- Cavus
- Cave Research Foundation

External links


- [http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.1462.html About Gua Niah]
- [http://www.british-caving.org.uk/ British Caving Association (BCA)], UK
- [http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Speleology/Classification.html Classification of Caves] Very detailed list of cave types with links to further information
- [http://www.caves.org/ National Speleological Society (NSS)], US
- [http://www.pipeline.com/~caverbob/ NSS Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves] A website with numerous pages on cave world records, e.g., the longest and deepest caves; compiled by Bob Gulden
- [http://ogof.net/ Ogof Ffynnon Ddu] A virtual tour of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, the deepest cave in the UK
- [http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave.html The Virtual Cave] A site with exceptional photography by Dave Bunnell, the editor of the NSS News. Make a virtual caving trip!
- [http://www.herbert-thiess.de/Kapsia/Index.html Kapsia Cave - Exploration of a Sinkhole in Arkadia (Southern Greece)]
- [http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/ Journal of Cave and Karst Studies]
- [http://www.cavebooks.com CAVE BOOKS] Publisher and seller of books about caves.
- [http://www.geocities.com/cavingliz/MalaysianCaves.html Caves of Malaysia] Category:Subterranea Category:Landforms ms:Gua ja:洞窟

Rock (geology)

, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ]] Rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids. Rocks are classified by mineral and chemical composition; the texture of the constituent particles; and also by the processes that formed them. These indicators separate rocks into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed from molten magma, and are divided into two main categories: Plutonic rock and Volcanic rock. Plutonic rocks result when the magma cools and crystallises slowly within the Earth's crust, while Volcanic rocks result from the magma reaching the surface either as lava or fragmental ejecta. Sedimentary rocks are formed by deposition of either detrital or organic matter, or chemical precipitates (evaporites), followed by compaction of the particulate matter and cementation. The latter can occur at or near the earth's surface, especially in the case of carbonate-rich sediments. Metamorphic rocks are formed by subjecting any rock type (including previously-formed metamorphic rock) to different temperature and pressure conditions than those in which the original rock was formed. These temperatures and pressures are always higher than those at the earth's surface, and must be sufficiently high so as to change the original minerals into other mineral types or else into other forms of the same minerals (e.g. by recrystallisation). The transformation of one rock type to another is described by the geological model called the rock cycle. The Earth's crust (including the lithosphere) and mantle are formed of rock.

See also


- Geology
- Petrology
- List of minerals
- List of rocks
- List of stone
- Quarrying
- Rock formations
- Megalith
- Riprap

External links


- [http://www.geol.lsu.edu/henry/Geology3041/2IgneousClassify/IgneousClassFlow.htm Classification of Igneous Rocks] Category:Geology Category:Rocks ja:岩石 ms:Batu th:หิน

Upper Paleolithic

The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. Modern humans (i.e. Homo sapiens sapiens), emerged around 100,000 years ago and began migrating out of Africa during the Middle Paleolithic period. Until around 40,000 years ago, the lifestyle of the humans changed little from that of their predecessors. But then, relatively suddenly, they began to produce regionally distinctive cultures, using new technologies, more efficient hunting techniques and having a more refined aesthetic sensibility. This shift from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is called the Upper Paleolithic Revolution. The Neanderthals continued to use Mousterian stone tool technology. Australian_Aborigine are believed to have settled in Australia between 100,000 and 40,000 years ago and hold the oldest known human culture. The earliest remains of organised settlements in the form of campsites, some with storage pits, are encountered in this period. These were often located in narrow valley bottoms, possibly in order to make hunting passing herds of animals easier. Some sites may have been occupied year round though more generally they seem to have been used seasonally with peoples moving between them to exploit different food sources at different times of the year. Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing with industries based on fine blades rather than simpler and shorter flakes. Burins and racloirs attest to the working of bone, antler and hides. Advanced darts and harpoons also appear in this period. Artistic work also blossomed with Venus figurines, cave painting, petroglyphs and exotic raw materials found far from their sources suggest emergent trading links. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and specialised tool types. This probably contributed to increasing group identification or ethnicity. These group identities produced distinctive symbols and rituals which are an important part of modern human behaviour. The reasons for these changes in human behaviour have been attributed to the changes in climate during the period which encompasses a number of global temperature drops, meaning a worsening of the already bitter climate of the last ice age. These may have reduced the supply of usable timber and forced people to look at other materials whilst flint becomes brittle at low temperatures and may not have functioned as a tool. It is also argued that the appearance of language made these behavioural changes possible. The complexity of the new human capabilities hints that humans were less capable of planning or foresight before 40,000 years and that speech changed that [http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/anthropology(NoLastWordOnLanguageOrigins.htm].

External links

[http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/uprevolution.htm The Upper Paleolithic Revolution] Category:Periods and stages in archaeology Category:Pleistocene

Europe

:This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation). Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula or subcontinent, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. It is conventionally considered a continent, which, in this case, is more of a cultural distinction than a geographic one. It is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south by the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Caucasus. Europe's boundary to the east is vague, but has traditionally been given as the Ural Mountains and Caspian Sea to the southeast: the Urals are considered by most to be a geographical and tectonic landmark separating Asia from Europe. :See also Continent, Bicontinental country, and Table of European territories and regions. Table of European territories and regions Table of European territories and regions Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2.1% of the Earth's surface, and is only larger than Australia. In terms of population, it is the third-largest continent (Asia and Africa are larger) with a population of more than 700,000,000, or about 11% of the world's population.

Etymology

Africa.]] In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europé (Greek: Ευρωπη; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north. The Greek term Europe has been derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops) -- broad having been an epitheton of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian erebu meaning "sunset" (see also Erebus). From the Middle Eastern vantagepoint, the sun does set over Europe, the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is sometimes thought to have derived from the Akkadian word asu, meaning "sunrise", and is the land to the east from a Mesopotamian perspective.

History

Europe has a long history of cultural and economic achievement, starting as far back as the Palaeolithic, although this is true for the rest of the Old World as well. The recent discovery at Monte Poggiolo, Italy, of thousands of hand-shaped stones, tentatively carbon-dated to 800,000 years ago, may prove to be of particular importance. The origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece, though numerous other distinct influences, in particular Christianity, can also be credited with the spread of concepts like egalitarianism and universality of law. The Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers. During this time, isolated monastic communities in Ireland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific knowledge. In the 15th century Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. After the age of discovery, the ideas of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tensions within Europe on top of the tensions already existing due to competition within the New World. The most famous of these conflicts was when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French empire that soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble. The Industrial Revolution started in the United Kingdom in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture, much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communist nations in Eastern Europe and capitalist countries in Western Europe. Around 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern bloc disintegrated.

Geography and extent

Eastern bloc Geographically Europe is a part of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern boundary with Asia. The southeast boundary with Asia isn't universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba river can serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues with the Caspian Sea, and then the Araxes river in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean, but Iceland, much farther away than the nearest points of Africa and Asia, is also often included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. At times "Europe" is defined with greater regard to political, economic, and other cultural considerations. This has led to there being several different Europes that are not always identical in size, including or excluding countries according to the definition of Europe used. Almost all European countries are members of the Council of Europe, the exceptions being Belarus, and the Holy See (Vatican City). The idea of the European continent is not held across all cultures. Some non-European geographical texts refer to the continent of Eurasia, or to the European peninsula, given that Europe is not surrounded by sea. In the past concepts such as Christendom were deemed more important. In another usage, Europe is increasingly being used as a short-form for the European Union (EU) and its members, currently consisting of 25 member states. A number of other European countries are negotiating for membership, and several more are expected to begin negotiations in the future (see Enlargement of the European Union).

Physical features

In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas. The two largest of these are "mainland" Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas (Iberia, Italy and the Balkans) emerge from the southern margin of the mainland into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains. Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in the western British Isles and continuing along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway. This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off. Due to the few generalisations that can be made about the relief of Europe, it is less than surprising that its many separate regions provided homes for many separate nations throughout history.

Biodiversity

Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Scandinavia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe, except for different natural parks. The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is forest. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinarides, Carpathians, Apennines) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems. Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's original forests disappeared through the centuries of colonisation, Europe still has over one quarter of the world's forests - spruce forests of Scandinavia, vast pine forests in Russia, chestnut rainforests of the Caucasus and the cork oak forests in the Mediterranean. During recent times, deforestation has been stopped and many trees were planted. However, in many cases conifers have been preferred over original deciduous trees, because these grow quicker. The plantations and monocultures now cover vast areas of land and this offers very poor habitats for European forest dwelling species. The amount of original forests in Western Europe is just two to three per cent (in the European part of Russia five to ten per cent). The country with the smallest forest-covered area is Ireland (eight per cent), while the most forested country is Finland (72 per cent). In "mainland" Europe, deciduous forest prevails. The most important species are beech, birch and oak. In the north, where taiga grows, a very common tree species is the birch tree. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted, which are very well adapted to its arid climate. Another common species in Southern Europe is the cypress. Coniferous forests prevail at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary and as one moves north within Russia and Scandinavia, giving way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland—the steppe—extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into taiga to the north. Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected the distribution of European fauna. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The woolly mammoth and aurochs were extinct before the end of the Neolithic period. Today wolves (carnivores) and bears (omnivores) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the brown bear lives primarily in the Balkan peninsula, in the North and in Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In the far North of Europe, polar bears can also be found. The wolf, the second largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans. Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of snakes (vipers, grass snake...), different birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey) Important European herbivores are snails, amphibians, fish, different birds, and mammals, like rodents, deers and roe deers, boars, and living in the mountains, marmots, steinbocks, chamoises among others. Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly phytoplankton. Important animals that live in European seas are zooplankton, molluscs, echinoderms, different crayfish, squids and octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales. Some animals live in caves, for example proteus and bats.

Demographics

Almost all of Europe was possibly settled before or during the last ice age ca. 10,000 years ago. Neanderthal man and modern man coexisted during at least some of this time. Roman road building helped with the interbreeding of the native Europeans' genetics. In contemporary times Europe has one of the lowest inbreeding rates in the world because of an extensive transport network paired with open borders. Europe passed well over 600 million people before the turn of the 20th century, but now is entering a period of population decline, for a variety of social factors.

Territories and divisions

Political divisions

Independent states

interbreeding on this map.]] :See also: Table of European territories and regions The following independent states have territory in Europe: 2 Azerbaijan and Georgia lie partly in Europe according to the usual definition which consider the crest of the Caucasus as the boundary with Asia.
3 Kazakhstan's European territory consists of a portion west of the Ural and Emba Rivers.
4 The name of this state is a matter of international dispute. See Republic of Macedonia for details.
5 Those territories of Russia lying west of the Ural Mountains are considered as part of Europe.
6 State union of Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
7 European Turkey comprises territory to the west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
2, 3, 5, 7 See Countries in both Europe and Asia for details.

Dependent territories

The European territories listed below are recognised as being culturally and geographically defined. Most have a degree of autonomy. In the list below, each territory is followed by its legal status.
- Faroe Islands (autonomous region of Denmark)
- Gibraltar (UK overseas territory)
- Guernsey (British crown dependency)
- Jersey (British crown dependency)
- Man, Isle of (British crown dependency)
- Svalbard (autonomous region of Norway) Note that this is not a list of all dependencies of all European countries. Dependencies located on other continents are not listed.

Unilaterally seceded territories

Following are breakaway regions of independent states. These regions have declared and de facto achieved independence, but this is not recognised de jure by their home state or by the other independent states.
- Abkhazia (from Georgia)
- Nagorno-Karabakh (disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan)
- South Ossetia (from Georgia)
- Transnistria (from Moldova)

Territories under United Nations administration


- Kosovo and Metohia (province of Serbia)

Table of European territories and regions

Notes:
1 Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 2-6, 8, 9) may be in one or both of Europe and Asia.
2 Armenia is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Western Asia (as per UN categorisations/map).
3 Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
4Cyprus is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for de jure Greek-administered portion only.
5Georgia is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
6Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe.
7Netherlands population for July 2004; Amsterdam is the de facto capital, while The Hague is the country's administrative seat.
8Russia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia; population and area figures are for European portion only.
9Turkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only, including all of Istanbul.

Linguistic and cultural regions

The sub-division in several linguistic and cultural regions is much less subjective than the geographical sub-division, since they correspond to people's cultural connections. There are three main groups:

Germanic Europe

Germanic Europe, where Germanic languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. The main religion of the region is Protestantism, even if there are also some countries with Catholic majority (particularly Austria). This region consists of: United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands, German-speaking Switzerland, the Flemish part of Belgium, the Swedish-speaking municipalities of Finland, and the South Tyrol part of Italy.

Latin Europe

Latin Europe, where the Romance languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to south-western Europe, with the exception of Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. The major religion is Catholicism, except in Romania and Moldova. This area consists of: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium and French speaking Switzerland, and Italian and Romansh speaking Switzerland as well.

Slavic Europe

Slavic Europe, where Slavic languages are spoken. This area corresponds, more or less, to Central and Eastern Europe. The main religions are Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism, with large Muslim populations in some parts formerly ruled by the Ottoman Empire. This area consists of: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Others

Outside of these three main groups we can find:
- The Celtic nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall (within the United Kingdom); the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency); the Republic of Ireland; Brittany (within France). These are all nations where a Celtic language is spoken, or was spoken into modern times, and there is a degree of shared culture (see Pan Celticism). Also considered Celtic nations, by some, are both Galicia (Spain) and Asturias, (within Spain), whose own Celtic language died out several hundred years ago.
- Greece, the only country of "Hellenic Europe".In Hellenic Europe we can consider also the Greek Cypriot community It is sometimes associated with the Latin countries, due to the geographical and cultural ties to the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes to the Slavic-Orthodox part of Europe due to the importance or Orthodoxy in Greece.
- Armenia has a language that constitutes a separate branch of Indo-European family of languages. The Armenian language is spoken in Armenia and other European countries with Armenian communities (such as France, Greece, Belgium, Russia, Germany etc.).
- Ibero-Caucasian, a group that includes ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus region (both North and South). Ibero-Caucasian languages are not linked to the Indo-European languages. This group includes Georgians, Abkhaz, Chechens, Balkars, and a number of other smaller ethnic groups that reside in the Caucasus.
- Turkey, having an Altaic language not of Indo-European origin, and mainly a Muslim country, unlike the main regions' different versions of Christianity.
- Hungary, having a language related to Finnish and Estonian. Due to its location Hungary is normally grouped with Central or Eastern European countries.
- Finland and Estonia, whose languages are related to Hungarian. Despite this connection (not a close one), Finland and Estonia are normally associated with northern European countries (of an even farther connection).

See also


- Eurasia
- Culture of Europe
- Economy of Europe
- Geography of Europe
- History of Europe
- Politics of Europe
- Transport in Europe
- Eurozone
- European Union
- Euroregion
- Europium

Lists and tables


- General
  - Table of European territories and regions
- Demographics
  - Area and population of European countries
  - European Union Statistics
  - The most populous metropolitan areas in Europe
  - The most populous urban areas of the European Union
- Economy
  - Economy of the European Union
  - Financial and social rankings of European countries
  - GDP of European Countries
- Political
  - Alternative names of European cities
  - Date of independence of European countries
  - International Organisations in Europe (table of membership)
- Other
  - List of Europe-related topics

External links


-
- [http://www.democracyineurope.com Democracy in Europe]
- [http://www.holidayhomeseuro.com European holiday homes]
- [http://phoenicia.org/europa.html Europa, the Phoenician Princess] - overwhelmed Zeus with love
- [http://www.europestartpage.com EUROPEstartpage.com, travel and city guide to Europe]
- [http://www.limitlesseurope.com LimitlessEurope.com : information guide to Europe]
- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=13266 Europe at Night] at NASA Earth Observatory
- [http://www.geog.tamu.edu/~prout/GVmidtermTwo.html Regions of Europe]
- [http://p086.ezboard.com/balbanau Evropa / Europa / Europe]
- [http://www.eufpc.org EUFPC European Foreign Policy Council]
- [http://www.itmaps.com/?modul=map Map of Europe]
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/index.html Physical Map of Europe]
- [http://www.parks.it/europa/Eindex.html Parks in Europe] - National parks, nature parks, reserves and other protected areas. Category:Continents als:Europa roa-rup:Evropa zh-min-nan:Europa ko:유럽 ms:Eropah ja:ヨーロッパ simple:Europe th:ทวีปยุโรป

Altamira (cave)

Altamira (Spanish for 'high view') is a cave in Spain famous for its cave paintings. It is located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain, 30 km west of the city of Santander. In 1879, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola was led by his daughter to discover that the cave contains Upper Paleolithic drawings and polychrome rock paintings depicting wild mammals and human hands. The paintings are listed on UNESCO's inventory of the human cultural heritage. The cave is 270 meters long, and consists of a series of twisting passages and chambers. The main passage varies from two to six meters high. The cave was formed through collapses following early karstic phenomena in the calcerous rock of Mount Vispieres. Archeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of Upper Solutrean (c. 18,500 years ago) and Lower Magdalenean (between c. 16,500 and 14,000 years ago) artifacts. The cave was occupied only by wild animals in the long period between these two occupations. The site was well positioned to take advantage of the rich wildlife that grazed in the valleys of the surrounding mountrains as well as permitting the occupants to supplement their diet with food from nearby coastal areas. Around 13,000 years ago a rockfall sealed the cave's entrance preserving its contents until its eventual discovery which was caused by blasting from nearby quarrying disturbing the fallen rocks. Human occupation was limited to the cave mouth although paintings were created throughout the length of the cave. The artists used charcoal and ochre or haematite to create the images, often scratching or diluting these dyes to produce variances in intensity and creating an impression of chiaroscuro. They also exploited the natural contours in the cave walls to give a three-dimensional effect to their subjects. The Polychrome Ceiling is the most impressive feature showing a herd of bison in different poses, two horses, a large hind and a possible wild boar. This art is dated to the Magdelenean occupation and as well as animal subjects also included abstract shapes. Solutrean images include images of horses, goats and handprints created from the artist placing his hand on the cave wall in spraying paint over it leaving a negative image of his palm. Numerous other caves in northern Spain contain Palaeolithic art but none is as advanced or well-populated as Altamira. The cave was excavated by de Sautuola and then by Herminio Alcade del Río in 1902-04, the German Hugo Obermaier in 1924-25 and finally by Joaquín González Echegaray in 1981. Altamira was closed to the public in 1977 as the paintings were being damaged by visitors' damp breath and only limited access is now possible. Instead, a replica cave and museum were built nearby in recent years, reproducing the cave and its art. The replica allows a more comfortable view of the polychrome paintings of the main hall of the cave, as well as a selection of minor works. It also includes some sculptures of human faces that are not visitable in the real cave. There are other earlier replicas in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid), and in Japan. Some of the polychrome paintings at Altamira Cave are well known in Spanish popular culture. The logo used by the autonomous government of Cantabria to promote tourism to the region is based on one of the bisons in this cave. Bisonte (Spanish for 'Bison'), a Spanish brand of cigarrettes of the 20th century, also used a Paleolithic style bison figure along with its logo. Spanish comic character and series Altamiro de la Cueva, created in 1965 are a clear consequence of the fame of Altamira Cave. This funnies tell the adventures of a group of prehistoric cavemen, depicted as modern people, but dressed in pieces of fur, a bit like the Flintstones.

See also


- Lascaux, Franco-Cantabric art

External links


- [http://www.iberianature.com/material/altamira.html The story of Altamira] Category:Limestone caves Category:Archaeological sites Category:Geography of Spain Category:World Heritage Sites in Spain

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame as the originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection and sexual selection. He developed his interest in natural history while studying first medicine, then theology, at university. Darwin's five-year voyage on the Beagle brought him eminence as a geologist and fame as a popular author. His biological observations led him to study the transmutation of species and develop his theory of natural selection in 1838. Fully aware of the likely reaction, he confided only in close friends and continued his research to meet anticipated objections, but in 1858 the information that Alfred Russel Wallace now had a similar theory forced early joint publication of Darwin's theory. His 1859 book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (usually abbreviated to The Origin of Species) established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific theory of diversification in nature. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, continued his research, and wrote a series of books on plants and animals, including humankind, notably The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His last book was about earthworms. In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to William Herschel and Isaac Newton.

Life

Early life

Isaac Newton Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, on February 12, 1809, at his family home, the Mount House. He was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor Robert Darwin and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood). He was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin on his father's side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's side, both from the prominent English Darwin–Wedgwood family which supported the Unitarian church. His mother died when he was only eight. When he went to the nearby Shrewsbury School the next year, he lived there as a "boarder". In 1825 after spending the summer as an apprentice doctor, helping his father with treating the poor of Shropshire, Darwin went to Edinburgh University to study medicine, but his revulsion at the brutality of surgery led him to neglect his medical studies. He learned to stuff birds from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave, who told him exciting tales of the South American rainforest. In Darwin's second year he became active in student societies for naturalists. He became an avid pupil of Robert Edmund Grant, who pioneered development of the theories of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and of Charles' grandfather Erasmus concerning evolution by acquired characteristics. Darwin took part in Grant's investigations of the life cycle of marine animals on the shores of the Firth of Forth which found evidence for homology, the radical theory that all animals have similar organs and differ only in complexity, and in March 1827 made a presentation to the Plinian society of his own discovery that the black spores often found in oyster shells were the eggs of a skate leech. He also sat in on Robert Jameson's natural history course, learning about stratigraphic geology and learning how to classify plants when assisting with work on the extensive collections of the Museum of Edinburgh University. In 1827 his father, unhappy that his younger son had no interest in becoming a physician, shrewdly enrolled him in a Bachelor of Arts course at Christ's College, University of Cambridge, to qualify as a clergyman. This was a sensible career move at a time when Anglican parsons were provided with a comfortable income, and when most naturalists in England were clergymen who saw it as part of their duties to "explore the wonders of God's creation". At Cambridge, Darwin preferred riding and shooting to studying. Along with his cousin William Darwin Fox, he became engrossed in the craze at the time for the competitive collecting of beetles, and Fox introduced him to the Reverend John Stevens Henslow, professor of botany, for expert advice on beetles. Darwin subsequently joined Henslow's natural history course, becoming his favourite pupil and coming to be known as "the man who walks with Henslow". When exams began to loom, Darwin focused more on his studies and received private tuition from Henslow, whose subjects were mathematics and theology. Darwin became particularly enthused by the writings of William Paley, including the argument of divine design in nature. In his finals in January 1831, he performed well in theology and, having scraped through in classics, mathematics and physics, came tenth out of a pass list of 178. Residential requirements now kept Darwin at Cambridge until June. In keeping with Henslow's example and advice, he was in no rush to take holy orders. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt's Personal Narrative, he planned to visit the Madeira Islands to study natural history in the tropics with some classmates after graduation. To prepare himself, Darwin joined the geology course of the Reverend Adam Sedgwick, a strong proponent of divine design, then in the summer went with him to assist in mapping strata in Wales. Darwin was surveying strata on his own when his plans to visit Madeira were dashed by a message that his intended companion had died, but on his return home he received another letter. Henslow had recommended Darwin for the unpaid position of gentleman's companion to Robert FitzRoy, the captain of HMS Beagle, on a two-year expedition to chart the coastline of South America which would give Darwin valuable opportunities to develop his career as a naturalist. His father objected to the voyage, regarding it as a waste of time, but was persuaded by Josiah Wedgwood II to agree to his son's participation. This voyage became a five-year expedition that would lead to dramatic changes in many fields of science.

Journey on the Beagle

Josiah Wedgwood II, Darwin began to theorise about the wonders of nature around him.]] The Beagle survey took five years. Darwin spent two-thirds of this time exploring on land. He studied a rich variety of geological features, fossils and living organisms, and met a wide range of people, both native and colonial. He methodically collected an enormous number of specimens, many of them new to science. This established his reputation as a naturalist and made him one of the precursors of the field of ecology, particularly the notion of biocoenosis. His extensive detailed notes showed his gift for theorising and formed the basis for his later work, as well as providing social, political and anthropological insights into the areas he visited. On the voyage, Darwin read Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, which explained geological features as the outcome of gradual processes over huge periods of time, and wrote home that he was seeing landforms "as though he had the eyes of Lyell": he saw stepped plains of shingle and seashells in Patagonia as raised beaches; in Chile, he experienced an earthquake and noted mussel-beds stranded above high tide showing that the land had been raised; and even high in the Andes, he was able to collect seashells. He theorised that coral atolls form on sinking volcanic mountains, an idea he saw confirmed when the Beagle surveyed the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. In South America he discovered fossils of gigantic extinct mammals including megatheria and glyptodons in strata which showed no signs of catastrophe or change in climate. At the time, he thought them similar to African species, but after the voyage Richard Owen showed that the remains were of animals related to living creatures in the same area. In Argentina two species of rhea had separate but overlapping territories. On the Galápagos Islands Darwin found that mockingbirds differed from one island to another, and on returning to Britain he was shown that Galápagos tortoises and finches were also in distinct species based on the individual islands they inhabited. The Australian marsupial rat-kangaroo and platypus were such strikingly unusual animals that he thought "An unbeliever... might exclaim 'Surely two distinct Creators must have been [at] work'." He puzzled over all he saw, and while in the first edition of The Voyage of the Beagle he explained species distribution in light of Charles Lyell's ideas of "centres of creation", in later editions of this Journal he foreshadowed his use of Galápagos Islands fauna as evidence for evolution: "one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends." Three native missionaries were returned by the Beagle to Tierra del Fuego. They had become civilized in England over the previous two years, yet their relatives appeared to Darwin "savages" little above animals. Within a year, the missionaries had reverted to their harsh and primitive way of life, yet they preferred this and did not want to return to civilization. This experience and his detestation of the slavery and other abuse he saw elsewhere such as ill treatment of natives by English settlers in Tasmania persuaded him that there was no moral justification for the mistreating of others based on the concept of race. He now thought that humanity was not as far removed from animals as his clerical friends believed. While on board the ship, Darwin suffered from seasickness. In October 1833 he caught a fever in Argentina, and in July 1834, while returning from the Andes down to Valparaíso, he fell ill and spent a month in bed. From 1837 onwards Darwin was repeatedly incapacitated with episodes of stomach pains, vomiting, severe boils, palpitations, trembling and other symptoms. These symptoms particularly affected him at times of stress, such as when attending meetings or dealing with controversy over his theory. The cause of Darwin's illness was unknown during his lifetime, and attempts at treatment had little success. Recent speculation has suggested that in South America he caught Chagas disease from insect bites, leading to the later problems. Other possible causes include psychobiological problems.

Career in science, inception of theory

Chagas disease While Darwin was still on the voyage, Henslow carefully fostered his former pupil's reputation by giving selected naturalists access to the fossil specimens and printed copies of Darwin's geological writings. When the Beagle returned on October 2, 1836, Darwin was a celebrity in scientific circles. He visited his home in Shrewsbury and his father organised investments so that Darwin could become a self-funded gentleman scientist. Darwin then went to Cambridge and persuaded Henslow to work on botanical descriptions of modern plants he had collected. Afterwards Darwin went round the London institutions to find the best naturalists available to describe his other collections for timely publication. An eager Charles Lyell met Darwin on 29 October and introduced him to the up-and-coming anatomist Richard Owen. After working on Darwin's collection of fossil bones at his Royal College of Surgeons, Owen caused great surprise by revealing that some were from gigantic extinct rodents and sloths. This enhanced Darwin's reputation. With Lyell's enthusiastic backing Darwin read his first paper to the Geological Society of London on January 4, 1837, arguing that the South American landmass was slowly rising. On the same day Darwin presented his mammal and bird specimens to the Zoological Society. The Mammalia were taken on by George R. Waterhouse. Though the birds seemed almost an afterthought, the ornithologist John Gould revealed that what Darwin had taken to be wrens, blackbirds and slightly differing finches from the Galápagos were all finches, but each was a separate species. Others on the Beagle including FitzRoy had also collected these birds and had been more careful with their notes, enabling Darwin to find which island each species had come from. In London Charles stayed with his freethinking brother Erasmus and at dinner parties met inspiring savants who thought that God preordained life by natural laws rather than ad hoc miraculous creations. His brother's lady friend Miss Harriet Martineau was a writer whose stories promoted Malthusian Whig Poor Law reforms. Scientific circles were buzzing with ideas of transmutation of species controversially associated with Radical unrest. Darwin preferred the respectability of his friends the Cambridge Dons, even though his ideas were pushing beyond their belief that natural history must justify religion and social order. On February 17, 1837, Lyell used his presidential address at the Geographical Society to present Owen's findings to date on Darwin's fossils, and pointed out the inference that extinct species were related to current species in the same locality. At the same meeting Darwin was elected to the Council of the Society. He had already been invited by FitzRoy to contribute a Journal based on his field notes as the natural history section of the captain's account of the Beagles voyage. He now plunged into writing a book on South American Geology. At the same time he speculated on transmutation in his Red Notebook which he had begun on the Beagle. Another project he started was getting the expert reports on his collection published as a multivolume Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, and Henslow used his contacts to arrange a Treasury grant of £1,000 to sponsor this. Darwin finished writing his Journal around 20 June when King William IV died and the Victorian era began. In mid-July he began his secret "B" notebook on transmutation, and developed the hypothesis that where every island in the Galápagos Archipelago had its own kind of tortoise, these had originated from a single tortoise species and had adapted to life on the different islands in different ways. Under pressure with organising Zoology and correcting proofs of his Journal, Darwin's health suffered. On September 20, 1837 he suffered "palpitations of the heart" and left for a month of recuperation in the country. He visited Maer Hall where his invalid aunt was being cared for by her spinster daughter Emma Wedgwood, and entertained his relatives with tales of his travels. His uncle Jos pointed out an area of ground where cinders had disappeared under loam and suggested that this might have been the work of earthworms. This led Darwin to the idea for a talk which he gave to the Geological Society on 1 November, on the unusually mundane subject of worm casts. He had avoided taking on official posts which would take valuable time, but by March Whewell had recruited him as Secretary of the Geological Society. Illness prompted Darwin to take a break from the pressure of work and he went "geologising" in Scotland. In glorious weather he visited Glen Roy to see the phenomenon known as "roads" which he (incorrectly) identified as raised beaches. Glen Roy Fully recuperated, he returned home to Shrewsbury. Scientifically pondering his career and prospects he drew up a list with columns headed "Marry" and "Not Marry". Entries in the pro-marriage column include "constant companion and a friend in old age ... better than a dog anyhow," while listed among the cons are "less money for books" and "terrible loss of time." The pros won out. He discussed it with his father then went to visit his cousin Emma on July 29, 1838. He did not get around to proposing, but against his father's advice he told her of his ideas on transmutation. While his thoughts and work continued in London over the autumn he suffered repeated bouts of illness. On 11 November he returned and proposed to Emma, once more telling her his ideas. She accepted, but later wrote beseeching him to read from the Gospel of St. John a section on love and following the Way which also states that "If a man abide not in me...they are burned". He sent a warm reply which eased her concern, but she would continue to worry that his lapses of faith could endanger her hope that they would meet in an afterlife. Darwin considered Malthus's argument that human population increases more quickly than food production, leaving people competing for food and making charity useless. He later formulated this in the terms of his biological theory as: "Man tends to increase at a greater rate than his means of subsistence; consequently he is occasionally subjected to a severe struggle for existence, and natural selection will have effected whatever lies within its scope." (Descent of Man, Ch.21) He related this to the findings about species relating to localities, his enquiries into animal breeding, and ideas of Natural "laws of harmony". Towards the end of November 1838 he compared breeders selecting traits to a Malthusian Nature selecting from variants thrown up by "chance" so that "every part of newly acquired structure is fully practised and perfected", and thought this "the most beautiful part of my theory" of how species originated. He went house-hunting and eventually found "Macaw Cottage" in Gower Street, London, then moved his "museum" in over Christmas. He was showing the stress, and Emma wrote urging him to get some rest, almost prophetically remarking "So don't be ill any more my dear Charley till I can be with you to nurse you". On January 24, 1839 he was honoured by being elected as Fellow of the Royal Society and presented his paper on the Roads of Glen Roy.

Marriage and children

Royal Society On January 29, 1839, Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood at Maer in an Anglican ceremony arranged to also suit the Unitarians. After first living in Gower Street, London, the couple moved on September 17, 1842 to Down House in Downe (which is now open to public visits, south of Orpington). The Darwins had ten children, three of whom died early. Many of these and their grandchildren would later achieve notability themselves (see Darwin–Wedgwood family)
- William Erasmus Darwin (December 27, 1839–1914)
- Anne Elizabeth Darwin (March 2, 1841–April 22, 1851)
- Mary Eleanor Darwin (September 23, 1842–October 16, 1842)
- Henrietta Emma "Etty" Darwin (September 25, 1843–1929)
- George Howard Darwin (July 9, 1845–December 7, 1912)
- Elizabeth "Bessy" Darwin (July 8, 1847–1926)
- Francis Darwin (August 16, 1848–September 19, 1925)
- Leonard Darwin (January 15, 1850–March 26, 1943)
- Horace Darwin (May 13, 1851–September 29, 1928)
- Charles Waring Darwin (December 6, 1856–June 28, 1858) Several of their children suffered illness or weaknesses, and Charles Darwin's fear that this might be due to the closeness of his and Emma’s lineage was expressed in his writings on the ill effects of inbreeding and advantages of crossing.

Development of theory

1858 Darwin was now an eminent geologist in the scientific élite of clerical naturalists, settled with a private income. He had a vast amount of work to do, writing up his findings and theories, and supervising the preparation of the multivolume Zoology, which would describe his collections. He was convinced by his theory of evolution, but for a long time had been aware that transmutation of species was associated with the crime of blasphemy as well as with Radical democratic agitators in Britain who were seeking to overthrow society; thus, publication risked ruining his reputation. He embarked on extensive experiments with plants and consultations with animal husbanders, including pigeon and pig breeders, trying to find soundly based answers to all the arguments he anticipated when he presented his theory in public. When FitzRoy's account was published in May 1839, Darwin's Journal and Remarks was a great success. Later that year it was published on its own, becoming the bestseller nowadays known as The Voyage of the Beagle. In December 1839, as Emma's first pregnancy progressed, Darwin suffered more illness and accomplished little during the following year. Darwin tried to explain his theory to close friends, but they were slow to show interest and thought that selection must need a divine selector. In 1842 the family moved to rural Down House to escape the pressures of London. Darwin formulated a short "Pencil Sketch" of his theory, and by 1844 had written a 240-page "Essay" that expanded his early ideas on natural selection. Darwin completed his third Geological book in 1846. Assisted by his friend, the young botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, he embarked on a huge study of barnacles. In 1847, Hooker read the "Essay" and sent notes that provided Darwin with the calm critical feedback that he needed. Darwin feared putting the theory out in an incomplete form, as his ideas about evolution would be highly controversial if any attention was paid to them at all. Other ideas about evolution — especially the work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck — had been soundly dismissed by the British scientific community, and were associated with political radicalism. The anonymous publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation in 1844 created another controversy over radicalism and evolution, and was roundly attacked by Darwin's friends who stressed that no reputable scientist would want to be associated with such ideas. To try to deal with his illness, Darwin went to a spa in Malvern in 1849, and to his surprise found that the two months of water treatment helped. In his work on barnacles he found "homologies" that supported his theory by showing that slightly changed body parts could serve different functions to meet new conditions. Then his treasured daughter Annie fell ill, reawakening his fears that his illness might be hereditary. After a long series of crises, she died and Darwin lost all faith in a beneficent God. He met the young freethinking naturalist Thomas Huxley who was to become a close friend and ally. Darwin's work on barnacles (Cirripedia) earned him the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1853, establishing his reputation as a biologist. He completed this study in 1854 and turned his attention to his theory of species.

Announcement and publication of theory

biologist Darwin found an answer to the problem of how genera forked in an analogy with industrial ideas of division of labour, with specialised varieties each finding their niche so that species could diverge. He experimented with seeds, testing their ability to survive sea-water to transfer species to isolated islands, and bred pigeons to test his ideas of natural selection being comparable to the "artificial selection" used by pigeon fanciers. In the spring of 1856, Lyell read a paper on the Introduction of species by Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist working in Borneo. Lyell urged Darwin to publish his theory to establish precedence. Despite illness, Darwin began a 3-volume book titled Natural Selection, getting specimens and information from naturalists including Wallace and Asa Gray. In December 1857 as Darwin worked on the book he received a letter from Wallace asking if it would delve into human origins. Sensitive to Lyell's fears, Darwin responded that "I think I shall avoid the whole subject, as so surrounded with prejudices, though I fully admit that it is the highest & most interesting problem for the naturalist". He encouraged Wallace's theorising, saying "without speculation there is no good & original observation". Darwin added that "I go much further than you". His manuscript reached 250,000 words, then on 18 June 1858 he received a paper in which Wallace described the evolutionary mechanism and requested him to send it on to Lyell. Darwin did so, shocked that he had been "forestalled". Though Wallace had not asked for publication, Darwin offered to send it to any journal that Wallace chose. He put matters in the hands of Lyell and Hooker. They agreed on a joint presentation at the Linnean Society on 1 July of On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. Darwin's infant son died and he was unable to attend. The initial announcement of the theory gained little immediate attention. It was mentioned briefly in a few small reviews, but to most people it seemed much the same as other varieties of evolutionary thought. For the next thirteen months Darwin struggled with ill health to produce an abstract of his "big book on species". Receiving constant encouragement from his scientific friends, Darwin finally finished his abstract and Lyell arranged to have it published by John Murray. The title was agreed as On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, and when the book went on sale to the trade on November 22, 1859, the stock of 1,250 copies was oversubscribed. At the time "Evolutionism" implied creation without divine intervention, and Darwin avoided using the words "evolution" or "evolve", though the book ends by stating that "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved". The book only briefly alluded to the idea that man, too, would evolve in the same way as other organisms. Darwin wrote in deliberate understatement that "light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history".

Reaction

1859 Darwin's book set off a public controversy which he monitored closely, keeping press cuttings of thousands of reviews, articles, satires, parodies and caricatures. Reviewers were quick to pick out the unstated implications of "men from monkeys", though a Unitarian review was favourable and The Times published a glowing review by Huxley which included swipes at Richard Owen, leader of the scientific establishment Huxley was trying to overthrow. Owen initially appeared neutral, but then wrote a review condemning the book. The Church of England scientific establishment reacted against the book, and Darwin's old Cambridge tutors Sedgwick and Henslow expressed their disappointment in him, though the book was well received by a younger generation of professional naturalists. Then