Swamping argument
Encyclopedia
Swamping argument is an objection against Darwinism
made by Fleeming Jenkin
. He asserts that accidentally appeared profitable variety can't be preserved by natural selection
in population, but should be 'swamped' with ordinary traits. Later, population genetics
helped to overcome this logical difficulty.
Jenkin published his article 'The Origin of Species' in journal «North British Review» in June 1867.
Darwin agreed that a variation originating in a single individual would not spread across a population, and would invariably be lost. In the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species he responded:
Darwin concluded that natural selection must instead act upon the normal small variations in any given characteristic across all the individuals in the population.
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
made by Fleeming Jenkin
Fleeming Jenkin
Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin was Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, remarkable for his versatility. Known to the world as the inventor of telpherage, he was an electrician and cable engineer, economist, lecturer, linguist, critic, actor, dramatist and artist...
. He asserts that accidentally appeared profitable variety can't be preserved by natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
in population, but should be 'swamped' with ordinary traits. Later, population genetics
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
helped to overcome this logical difficulty.
Jenkin published his article 'The Origin of Species' in journal «North British Review» in June 1867.
Darwin agreed that a variation originating in a single individual would not spread across a population, and would invariably be lost. In the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species he responded:
Darwin concluded that natural selection must instead act upon the normal small variations in any given characteristic across all the individuals in the population.
Exrernal links
- Bulmer, Michael. Did Jenkin’s swamping argument invalidate Darwin’s theory of natural selection? // The British Journal for the History of Science (2004), 37:3:281-297 Cambridge University Press