Dear Chuck,
I commented on the beautiful love trilogy from Torman in between pouring into your works today. I realized from his reply that perhaps he did not remember the importance of today, November 24, 150 years ago in 1859, when this seminal work of scientific literature was published! Maybe I was not very clear. I reckoned since I had been reading and listening to so much about you, I would simply write to you across the space -time continuum and let you know whats going on about 200 years after your birth. Chuck, (you knew that would happen to your name eventually right?? Evolution of course! ) my hero, I don’t even know HOW you came up with your ideas without the future knowledge of heredity. I think you would be both bewildered and delighted at modern biology today and someday I will write to you about my little field of study and know that you will probably see something profound in it that has been missing me by a mile. Let me work on that later.
Charles, I will admit that debate and dissension has not yet dissipated around your work. Regrettably, effective science education in our schools in the United States of America, is being undermined by efforts to introduce non-scientific concepts about evolution into science classrooms. Today, I am going to stand in your stead and try to reach out to some of those who may dissent and disagree, but who will perhaps think.
In everyday language a theory means a hunch or speculation. Not so in Science. In science, theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of a vital feature of nature that is supported by many facts gathered over time. Theories allow scientists, like me, to make predictions about as yet unobserved phenomena and test it.
A good example you will agree is gravity. After centuries of observation and experimentation, the basic facts of gravity are understood. The theory of gravity is an explanation of those facts. We then use the theory to make predictions about how gravity will function in different situations and circumstances. Such predictions get verified in countless experiments and observations further confirming and /or modifying the theory.
Thus the theory of Gravity and Evolution stands on a solid foundation of observation, experiment and confirming evidence.
Chuckie, does it feel nice to be relevant after so long? You have transcended time indeed! A first edition of your book sold at $172,000 just two hours ago today! For me, the discovery and understanding of the processes of evolution signifies one of the most powerful achievements in the history of science. All the bio-diversity that we observe on earth can be successfully explained by evolution and has been confirmed repeatedly through observation and experiment. In fact, it provides the foundation of modern biology. It has opened doors to entirely new types of medical, agricultural and environmental research. You would be proud of us and excited by it all. Just 200 years and look where we have come!
By the way Charlie, I have to tell you Shannon Hackett and Sushma Reddy are working on the largest DNA sample of bird species to construct the bird tree of life. Genetic tools (you don’t know about these …) have confirmed that your darling finches are not finches at all. Even though you were the observational scientist supreme, the tools of today like sophisticated algorithms and data which are not constrained by adaptations prove that the finches belong to the family of tanagers, which changes the narrative. As you know science throws up more questions than answers and allows even more hypotheses to be tested. Additional data matrices and or fossils perhaps will bear on additional questions dealing with bird tree of life that they are building. You know I have been hooked by Taxonomy , diversity and classification since I was 17, and realized why the Jaba bush (Hibiscus sp) and the silk cotton tree (Bombax sp) were in the same family Malvaceae. That is why I am still here hanging on. If it were easy it would be so boring.
Hibiscus sp Bombax sp
I sometimes write small scientific pieces on Open Salon on the internet. It would take too long to explain the internet to you. Suffice to say that you would have absolutely loved it!!!! To date my scientific pieces have mostly dealt with evolution and biology (are you surprised?). The other day there was an Open Call to answer “who do think is the sexiest man alive?” or something of the sort. Well I could not think of anyone other than my dear husband (wink!) and as you know I would not discuss that. Just today it hit me! It has always been you! With your observations, intellect and spunk to lay out your ideas and thoughts along with Wallace you are the ultimate sexy and you are certainly alive! The beard looks a bit unkempt but you had too much to do and so little time!!!!! On this “Thanksgiving” my heartfelt thanks goes out to you dear man, for being my guiding star! While on Galapagos Islands next year, I shall think of you fondly,
Traveler 1
PS: Happy belated 200th Birthday!
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
References:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/darwin/home.jsp
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/darwin/darwin.jsp
Update: Read National Geographic Books' The Darwin Experience: The Story of the Man and his Theory of Evolution may be one of the last such volumes ever produced, given the rate at which e-books are gobbling up market share. If you want to browse through Darwin's life or read On the Origin of Species, you can do that online.
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Comments
Very good job.
Enjoyed this very much.
Rated.
Rated.
for my money, the dozen or people who transformed classical physics with quantum theory were much more consequential in shaping modern life. but there was not just one, and their work was so far outside the ambit of religious know-nothings as to not inspire public controversy.
I have been drowning myself in Darwin today just for his sake....
It had been sitting on the shelf next to the toilet in the guest bathroom of a family in Oxford. Their son in law recognized the volume while visiting a Darwin exhibit and noted the similarity to the one at his in laws. It had been purchased for a few shillings 40 or 50 years ago. Merry Christmas!
I do agree that nothing happens in this world based upon one person. Not even in politics. Gandhi gets the lion's share of India's independence effort which obviously could not have happened without the strong shoulders of those who came before him ...and started INC etc etc etc. Which is why I get shocked when I hear the narrowness of viewpoints even in healthcare. The knowledge about medicine and health is so obviously cumulative through the ages... its just shocking. Thank you for tarrying....
It is also interesting that despite his discoveries he remained a believer, as did Einstein, Gödel and many others. It is also of interest that after a fervent childhood of belief, I was agnostic, Until my research into evolution made me a believer once again. To me it confirmed my idea that The Almighty would have to first be a Scientist, and that the universe was ignited into a precise projection in which the quantum delivered the ignition which acted as a chain reaction which like a set-up of domino's falling upon each other to create a new reality of material content.
Great piece, T1!
The Galapagos huh? That is really exciting.
:)
Rated.
it is not Chance, don't try to feed me that...
Traveller, you will love the Galapagos. My daughter and her husband went there for their honeymoon, this time last year.
If your query is about origin of life itself then remember that
as much as it is a necessary precursor for biological evolution, you need to understand that evolution occurred once organisms appeared and investigating how this happens does not depend on understanding exactly how life began. Having said that, I agree that it is an important aspect to try and understand. There is much research going on in the field about the exact origin of life itself and little consensus. Self replicating molecules like RNA have been discovered and assembly of simple cells investigated.
I have commented elsewhere:
The universe came into existence about 13.5 billion years ago with a big bang (theories actively pursued by hypothesis driven investigation). Earth came into existence about 4.5 billion years ago. Prokaryotes are supposed to have inhabited the earth 3-4 billion years ago. Other microorganisms some 500 to 600 mill years ago. The first animals came to land some 250 to 300 mill years ago. There have been at least 4 major extinction periods in earth history alone where life was almost eliminated. Life however perseveres. About 1 million years ago, humans arrived on the scene, and were among the first animals to be able to think of the past and the future and started to ask questions. Why are we here? What is our purpose? What happens when we die?How did it all start?
For me, the cumulative knowledge gathered over time and space through the years of existence is what makes my 70-90 odd years (if I live that long) on the planet worth it. If I can understand a portion of that I consider myself lucky to have been part of it all.
I don't think one can "teach", belief anymore than one can teach another how to hit a baseball or paint. I accept the concept of reincarnation. It is the only justifiable way to explain differing longevity. But let use the argument I did with the physics department chair a cosmologist who married one of my students. At the reception out at his home within Fermi labs, we discussed it, in this way.
I stated the first law of physics:
"Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Agreed?"
"yes," he said.
"Before the Big Bang, there was Nothing, not even space?"
"Agreed?"
"yes!"
"Now the story goes that debris, dust and gasses gathered, compressed into a Singularity, a point, of immense density, a virtual gigantic Black Hole of sorts. Then it imploded, exploded, expanded and filled the space it created. Right"
"Right!" He said.
"First question: Assuming that this is true, as science does, that: "Matter can neither be created nor destroyed." and that
"Before the Big Bang, there existed, NOTHING, NOT EVEN SPACE."
"Then where did the dust, debris and gases come from?"
They looked first at each other and then at me, one of them ran to get a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck, and they roared, "we have a budding new physicist among us!"
I think the key is in the quantum, where the origins of Universal spontaneous, yet evolved matter come to be.
Austrailopithicus Africanus
Cro Magnum
etc etc
I noted with some interest the excitment around the new missing link, that may not be that at all.
And I am about as Christain as I can be.
Yep...love both, but understand that there is some wiggle in making the two work together....ok..a TON of wiggle. : )
Thanks for sharing you passion with us!!!
1) Relethford JH. Genetic evidence and the modern human origins debate. Heredity. 2008 Jun;100(6):555-63. Epub 2008 Mar 5.
From the Department of Anthropology, State University of New York College at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY 13820, USA. relethjh@oneonta.edu
A continued debate in anthropology concerns the evolutionary origin of 'anatomically modern humans' (Homo sapiens sapiens). The evidence points to an African origin of modern humans dating back to 200,000 years followed by later expansions of moderns out of Africa across the Old World. What is less clear is what happened when these early modern humans met preexisting 'archaic human' populations outside of Africa. At present, it is difficult to distinguish between a model of total genetic replacement and a model that includes some degree of genetic mixture.
2) Templeton AR. Haplotype trees and modern human origins. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2005;Suppl 41:33-59.
A haplotype is a multisite haploid genotype at two or more polymorphic sites on the same chromosome in a defined DNA region. An evolutionary tree of the haplotypes can be estimated if the DNA region had little to no recombination. Haplotype trees can be used to reconstruct past human gene-flow patterns and historical events, but any single tree captures only a small portion of evolutionary history, and is subject to error. Genetics provides many insights into human evolution, but those insights need to be integrated with fossil and archaeological data to yield a fuller picture of the origin of modern humans.
3) Fagundes NJ, Ray N, Beaumont M, Neuenschwander S, Salzano FM, Bonatto SL, Excoffier L.Statistical evaluation of alternative models of human evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 6;104(45):17614-9. Epub 2007 Oct 31.
An appropriate model of recent human evolution is not only important to understand our own history, but it is necessary to disentangle the effects of demography and selection on genome diversity.A Bayesian analysis of the data under this best supported model points to an origin of our species approximately 141 thousand years ago (Kya), an exit out-of-Africa approximately 51 Kya, and a recent colonization of the Americas approximately 10.5 Kya. We also find that the African replacement model explains not only the shallow ancestry of mtDNA or Y-chromosomes but also the occurrence of deep lineages at some autosomal loci, which has been formerly interpreted as a sign of interbreeding with Homo erectus.
4) RA Foley and M Mirazo´n Lahr; The base nature of Neanderthals. Heredity (2007) 98, 187–188. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800953
Evolutionary biology is by its nature comparative, but a key question in many studies is what should provide the comparative framework. In human evolutionary genetics, our closest living relative, the chimpanzees, have provided the closest comparison,but now there is a possibility that Neanderthals – closer to us, in evolutionary terms, by more than 4 million years – could provide a better framework.
The best estimate for the demographic split (i.e. the point beyond which no gene flow would have occurred) between the ancestors of modern humans and those of Neanderthals is 370 000 kyr.
Thank you Prof for getting me hooked this late at might to this most fascinating story. There goes my sleep!!!
I added an update with links to books and writings. I marvel at the hypotheses- driven scientific observations of this giant who put two and two together and came up with this monumental work which has survived the test of time. Intellectual capacity has no boundaries and my curiosity is endless. Thanks for the visit.
A)- I see as the evolution of the Human genome.
B)-My silly formulae on the Creation of the universe.
It begs to be asked what is considered creative if not "On The Origin of Species"????