Scientific Advancements of the 19th and 20th Century and Their Impact Many important breakthroughs in the realm of science were made during the eighteen and nineteen hundreds; but not all of them had their predicted outcome. All scientific achievements have pros and cons; and these are no exception. Though created for the greater good, these scientific accomplishments did not always have their anticipated effect. A pristine example of this is Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. It was first published in 1848 in London anonymously. The influential document was co-written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, each in their late twenties at the time. It claimed that life was a constant struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, or
…show more content…
His name was Charles Darwin, and in 1859 he published his scientific discoveries titled “On the Origin of Species”. In his book, Darwin wrote about the way animals evolved over time, by a process called natural selection. Natural selection is based off the idea that some organisms are more “fit” than others, and so nature chooses the most fit of a species to live, and the “unfit” to die. It is inferred that the fit organisms go on to reproduce and that is how certain traits of different animals came to be, as Darwin argued that all animals came from a single common ancestor. Darwin’s theory of evolution caused much argument and is surrounded in controversy to this day. However, it also caused widespread curiosity and it caused many people to question their existence and our purpose as human beings. Despite this, Darwin’s theory caused many unforeseen consequences. Imperialist powers also used this as an excuse to invade “lesser countries”, being applied in the form of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism was the idea that humans too participated in the “survival of the fittest”, and that some groups of people were dominant to others. As such it served as a motive for widespread imperialization and abuse of human rights. The Nazis also used social darwinism as justification for being “the dominant race”. The result of this was none other than the Holocaust, in which millions of innocent people were massacred. All this coming from a book just a hair over five hundred
His name was Charles Darwin, and in 1859 he published his scientific discoveries titled “On the Origin of Species”. In his book, Darwin wrote about the way animals evolved over time, by a process called natural selection. Natural selection is based off the idea that some organisms are more “fit” than others, and so nature chooses the most fit of a species to live, and the “unfit” to die. It is inferred that the fit organisms go on to reproduce and that is how certain traits of different animals came to be, as Darwin argued that all animals came from a single common ancestor. Darwin’s theory of evolution caused much argument and is surrounded in controversy to this day. However, it also caused widespread curiosity and it caused many people to question their existence and our purpose as human beings. Despite this, Darwin’s theory caused many unforeseen consequences. Imperialist powers also used this as an excuse to invade “lesser countries”, being applied in the form of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism was the idea that humans too participated in the “survival of the fittest”, and that some groups of people were dominant to others. As such it served as a motive for widespread imperialization and abuse of human rights. The Nazis also used social darwinism as justification for being “the dominant race”. The result of this was none other than the Holocaust, in which millions of innocent people were massacred. All this coming from a book just a hair over five hundred