In The Blind Watchmaker, evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins provides arguments to support the validity of Darwin’s theories of mutation, cumulative evolution, and natural selection as the only plausible explanations for the evolution of living organisms. In Chapter 7, Dawkins discusses the main concepts of the “arms race” and the “Red Queen Hypothesis”, the concept that organisms must continuously adapt and evolve in conjunction in response to the different selection pressures organisms and the environment place on each other. Arms races can occur in a range of scenarios from within the same species between individuals in sexual conflict, to organisms of different species in a parasite/host relationship. Additionally, the role of coevolution plays a major role in the Red Queen Hypothesis. Extensive research in the field of biology provides supportive evidence for these evolutionary mechanisms, and clearly strengthens and supports Dawkins’ arguments, thereby demonstrating the legitimacy of Darwin’s work.
According to Dawkins, opponents of evolution debate the controversial mechanisms of coevolution and the reciprocal nature of individuals developing small, incremental improvements as an evolutionary response to another individual and/or selection pressure. Dawkins describes this exchange as an “evolutionary arms race” which may result in the competition between individuals of the same or different species to evolve in order to compete for resources, fight for survival, and/or reproduce. This arms race can be categorized into two subtypes consisting of a symmetric arms race and an asymmetric arms race (Dawkins, 1986). The symmetric arms race is defined as a competition between individuals attempting to exploit the same reso...
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Stoddard, M.C., & Stevens, M. (2011). Avian Vision and the Evolution of Egg Color Mimicry in the
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However, evidence such as fossils is more than enough to lend support and disprove any other theory to the development of species. Examples used by Root-Bernstein and McEachron also provide strong support to evolution. The authors detail how natural selection works in both insects and germs to create organisms better adapted to methods of control. Disease used to run rampant, until the creation of vaccines which led to many diseases becoming extinct. Root-Bernstein and McEachron note that the diseases that have survived to this day have been constantly mutating and evolving to become more resistant to any attempts at suppression. The same can be said for insects that have been consistently exposed to pesticides. The ones that survived the pesticides were able to reproduce and pass along a resistance to their offspring which in turn makes the species more resilient and better suited to their
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World introduces us to a futuristic technological world where monogamy is shunned, science is used in order to maintain stability, and society is divided by 5 castes consisting of alphas(highest), betas, gammas, deltas, and epsilons(lowest). In the Brave New World, the author demonstrates how society mandates people’s beliefs using many characters throughout the novel.
In Aldous Huxley's novel, "Brave New World" he introduces a character named, Bernard Marx an alpha part of the upper higher class who does not quite fit in. Bernard is cursed by the surrounding rumors of something going wrong during his conditioning that he becomes bitter and isolates himself from those around him in the World State. Huxley's character experiences both alienation and enrichment to being exiled from a society that heavily relies on technology and forms of entertainment with little to no morals.
An estimated one third of the world 's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In 2012 there were 9,975 cases of TB reported and of those cases 28% where Hispanic or Latino. This respiratory disease is the most common in the lungs (World Health Organization, 2014). The brain which causes tuberculosis meningitis, genitourinary TB, gastrointestinal TB, tuberculosis lymphadenitis, cutaneous TB, uterus ovarian TB and Osteo- articular skeletal bone and joints are also parts of the body that are affected (Article base, 2008). Symptoms of TB are chills, fever, night sweats, hemoptysis, cough lasting more than 3 weeks, chest pains, and weight loss (Tuberculosis, 2014). Transmission of TB is through a sneeze, a cough, speaking, or singing in which the person has the
Darwin: A Norton Critical Edition, Second Edition ; ed. by Philip Appleman; copyright 1979, 1970 by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
In 1859, a biologist named Charles Darwin postulated a scientific theory, which stated that all living organisms evolved through a process of natural selection. According to Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin claimed that the offspring of a particular species gradually evolved themselves genetically to resist the changes in the environment (573). The theory contended that the organisms could adapt to the changes in the environment through the survival of the fittest. Though this theory is regarded as a breakthrough in the field of biological evolution, it is interesting to explore how this seemingly scientific theory has been suitably modified, and intellectually applied to both negative and positive aspects of life.
Although it has been noticed that there is a significant decrease in tuberculosis prevalence, the disease is still a major concern to public health in the United States. Poor life style can increase the risks of TB infection among poor community. Schmidt (2008) stated that TB has been linked anecdotally with environmental risk factors that go hand-in-hand with poverty: indoor air pollution, tobacco smoke, malnutrition, overcrowded living conditions, and excessive alcohol use (Schmidt,
For Dawkins, evolution of a species is dependent upon the transmittance of this information to the next generation; the individual species is irrelevant (2). This theory is a departure from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which concentrates on the species. Species, to Dawkins, are "survival machines" whose purpose is to host these genes, as species are mortals and fleeting, whereas genes are not (2).
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection that can attack any part of the body, but it is normally found in the lungs (Huether, McCance, Brashers and Rote, 2008). TB is an infection caused by an acid-fast bacillus also known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Huether et al. 2008) It is one of the leading causes of death in Asia, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan (Huether et al. 2008). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the These countries show that in most cases the incidence rate is highest in young adults, and are usually the result of re-infection in recent infections. The spread of TB is attributed to the emigration of infected people from high-prevalent countries, substance abuse, poverty, transmission in crowd places, and the lack of proper medical care for the infected individuals (Huether et al. 2008).
Darwin states that this struggle need not be competitive in nature and also entails a species’ efficiency at producing offspring. Natural selection works not as an active entity that seeks and exterminates species that are not suited for their environment; instead, it retains variations that heighten a species’ ability to dominate in the struggle for existence and discards those that are detrimental or useless to that species. Stephen J. Gould explains the case of r-selection in which a species’ chances of survival are most reliant on its ability to reproduce rapidly and not on its structure being ideally suited for its environment. Gould’s example shows the beneficial results of perceiving natural selection not as something that changes a species in accordance with its environment but as something that preserves characteristics beneficial in the s... ...
Brave New World, a novel written by Aldous Huxley, can be compared and contrasted with an episode of The Twilight Zone, a fantasy, science-fiction television series, called “Number 12 Looks Just Like You.” Brave New World is a highly regarded and renowned work of literature as The Twilight Zone is considered one of the greatest television series of all time. Brave New World and The Twilight Zone’s episode “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” can be compared and contrasted on the basis of science, youth, and the government.
1) Chaplin, G. Jablonski, N. “The Evolution of Human Skin Coloration.” Journal of Human Evolution 39 (2000) 57-106