In the universe, evolution is the slow gradual process of change from one form to another, as in the evolution of the universe from its earlier stages to its present state, or in the evolution of life on Earth. [1] The basic theory of evolution was put forward in 1859 by English naturalist Charles Darwin in his Origins of Species, wherein he outlined the view that evolutionary change is the process of natural selection acting on randomly occurring variations. [2]

From a thermodynamic evolution perspective, one can analyze the "process of change from one form to another" from a thermodynamic systems point of view, in which daily solar heat input actuates Carnot engine cycles according to which systems dynamically migrate or transform subtly, within each cycle, in structure, in the direction of free energy minimums due to the regulatory actions of the combined law of thermodynamics. From a sub-atomic or chemical point of view, one can study the process of form change through the logic of coupled chemical reactions, such as are evident in molecular evolution tables. [3]


Human evolution
The following evolution timeline video and diagram shows evolution lineage from the hydrogen atom to the human molecule:

Public acceptance of evolution (2005) [5]

Public acceptance
The doctrine that all species, including man, are descended from other species was first promulgated by French naturalist Jean-Baptista Lamarck in 1801. [4] This doctrine of evolution, as of 2005, has an average sixty-two percent public acceptance. [5] In the United States, the theory of creationism is believed over that of evolution (by a 60/40 difference).

See also
● Thermodynamic evolution
● Thermodynamics of Evolution (famous Ilya Prigogine article)

References
1. Clark, John O. E. (2004). The Essential Dictionary of Science. New York: Barnes & Noble Books.
2. Darwin, Charles. (1859). On the Origin of Species - by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray.
3. Thims, Libb. (2007). Human Chemistry (Volume One), (preview), (ch. 5: "Molecular Evolution", pgs. 121-146). Morrisville, NC: LuLu.
4. Darwin, Charles, Marcus, Hans. (1926). The Origin of Species (An Historical Sketch: on the Progress of Opinion on the Origin of Species, pgs. 4-17). Plain Label Books.
5. (a) Miller, Jon D., Scott, Eugenie C., Okamoto, Shinji. (2006). “Public Acceptance of Evolution”, Science 11, Aug. Vol. 313, pgs. 765-66.
(b) Anon. (2006). “Did Humans Evolve? Not Us, Say Americans”, The New York Times, Aug. 16.

Further reading
● Broda, Engelbert. (1975). The Evolution of the Bioenergetic Processes. Pergamon Press.
● Hamilton, H.J. (1977). “A Thermodynamic Theory of the Origin and Hierarchical Evolution of Living Systems.” Zygon, 12: 289-335.
● Patterson, John. (1984). “Evolution and Thermodynamics”, in Scientists Confront Creationism (ch. 6, pgs. 99-116) by Laurie R. Godfrey. W. W. Norton & Co.
● Campbell, J.H. (1988). “Evolution as Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: Halfway There?” In: B.H. Weber, D.J. Depew and J.D. Smith (Eds.), Entropy, Information and Evolution, pgs. 257-84, (Cambridge: MIT Press).