Was Darwin right or wrong about evolution?
Both Darwin's father and grandfather believed in the concept of evolution. Darwin's ideas were established before he went to the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. He went looking for evidence to support what he believed!
Evolution theory is that a series of incremental changes over a long period of time and many generations, would change an animal species into a completely different species.
No one disputes that changes within a species occur. Look at the variety of dog breeds that are in the world. Selective breeding can produce a different looking dog, but it will still be a dog! Darwin's finches already existed in a variety of colours and sizes but they were all finches.
Would anyone seriously suggest that the variety of of human beings around the world are of different species!
Darwin saw the way that the different finches responded to the drought and misinterpreted what he saw. Not surprising really, he did not have an understanding of basic genetics! He knew nothing of DNA but he did have preconceived ideas about evolution and he was looking for evidence to support these ideas!
Darwin and science?
Darwin was no doubt a clever man and knew the science that was understood in those days. How different would his ideas have been if he had today's knowledge of science! Would he still have supported evolution if he had known about DNA? Darwin actually believed that body cells just contained fluid!
Some of his other ideas were strange. He accepted Lamarck's theory of pangenesis for example.
Darwin made the basic mistake that so often occurs even with modern day scientists. He was looking for evidence to support his theories! It becomes easy to misinterpret what one sees if one already has preconceived ideas of what they expect to find.
Where did the DNA come from?
As already stated Darwin knew nothing about DNA. If he had done so then he would have known about the complex structure of life forms. He would have known about the huge complexity of cells for the different species and he would never have been able to formulate his hypothesis! No change can take place within a species without it being allowed for in the programming defined in the DNA.
Information and the human cell
The massive amount of information within the DNA of a cell defines the function of that cell. Could anyone really believe that all this information evolved from nothing by pure chance! Or did the DNA already have the programming for flight, wings, feathers, muscles, etc. for example, already defined in the DNA long before the first species took to the air? Believing in an almighty being who designed and created us and our universe is much more rational!
References:
What Darwin didn't know - Geoffrey Simmonds, M.D. - Harvest House publishers ISBN 0-7369-1313-0
Charles Darwin image: source Wikipedia - image in public domain