Stephen Jay Gould in his article "The Evolution Of Life On Earth" aims to clarify the misconception of natural selection as the sole reason for evolution. Yet, he emphasizes on the presence of other causes and the complex unforeseeable nature of the universe that cannot be explained in one theory. Even though the article is concerned with a deep scientific subject and factual information, we see the usage of description in every sentence. Description has an intrinsic role in this article where the uniqueness and the beauty of the language rely on the strong descriptive construction. It employs the power of the language and the readers' senses to bring life to the subject. It also simplifies the article's content by liking the described event …show more content…
In his introduction, he compares between God, Darwin and other creators presenting the difference as: "Some creators announce their inventions with grand éclat. God proclaimed, "Fiat lux," and then flooded his new universe with brightness. Others bring forth great discoveries in a modest guise." "Grand éclat" represent brilliance and glory as well as "Fiat lux'" which is a phrase from the Latin Bible means "let there be light". Together with "God proclaimed" picture the creator for us glowing like a God surrounded by light. Considering Darwin as an equal for God is a controversial statement that evokes different reaction among the scientific and the religious community, especially the church which is in great disagreement with the Darwinian theory. The debating introduction raises suspicion and questions by the readers such as " how effective is the theory of natural selection?" "Why is the author considering Darwin as a God, how important is his discovery?" and so on. Therefore, the introduction pulls the attention of the readers and generates tension and curiosity in them to explore the article further.
The author also uses descriptive comparison to clarify the misunderstanding of natural selection. He points out to this stating: "Need not be viewed as overt combat, guns blazing.Tactics for reproductive success include a variety of non-martial activities." The words
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In contradict, "Beautifully" and "Simple" reflects to something naturally aesthetic and uncomplicated. Also, to assure the durability of the theory of natural selection through the years, Gould states: "Theory that has held up remarkably well, under intense and unrelenting scrutiny and testing, for 135 years." His choice of the strong words "Intense," ''Unrelenting," "Scrutiny" reveal the strictness and extremeness of the examinations and inspections to which the theory has yielded. The readers' minds register the intensiveness of the tests and the long period "135 years' concluding that natural selection is a strong and rigid theory.
Writers can use description to manipulate the strength of their statements and explain their point of view. To demonstrate the limited explanation provided by the theory of natural selection, the author writes, "But the actual pathway is strongly undetermined by our general theory of life's evolution." He used "Pathway" which normally shows direction and specification yet "Undermined" oppositely creates a sense of no control and no direction. Then, he described the theory as "General" which suggests lack of details and focus limited to the main features and elements
In Charles Darwin’s life he had helped make a significant advancement in the way mankind viewed the world. With his observations, he played a part in shifting the model of evolution into his peers’ minds. Darwin’s theory on natural selection impacted the areas of science and religion because it questioned and challenged the Bible; and anything that challenged the Bible in Darwin’s era was sure to create contention with the church. Members of the Church took offense to Darwin’s Origins of Species because it unswervingly contradicted the teachings of the book of Genesis in the Bible. (Zhao, 2009) Natural selection changed the way people thought. Where the Bible teaches that “all organisms have been in an unchanging state since the great flood, and that everything twas molded in God’s will.” (Zhao, 2009) Darwin’s geological journey to the Galapagos Islands is where he was first able to get the observations he needed to prove how various species change over t...
To infer God’s existence by ‘Argument from Design’, Rachel has taken the example of amazing things that are present in nature around us such as eye, the most complicated part of body system, the way eye is attached to the human body and the phenomenon by which it performs it function is astounding and such types of creations cannot be occurred randomly by chance. Although, it is only the creation of some intelligent designer. Whereas, in the case of evolution and intelligent design, the author put forward the “Theory of Natural Selection” given by Darwin. In this theory, Darwin stated that evolution occurred among the species due to the changes in their environmental conditions and to adopt these changes, certain changes take place among the specific characteristics of the species in response to such environmental conditions. Therefore, through the process of natural selection, organisms passed their newly adapted characteristics to their off springs and then new generations born with such characteristics which help them to survive and reproduce in altered environmental conditions.
In Dawkins’ novel, he aims to prove how the explanation is not a religious answer but a biological and cumulative natural selection. According to Dawkins, the theory of Darwinism is what changed the mystery of our...
[1] This problem with the theory of evolution was addressed by Stephen Jay Gould and other evolutionists. They postulated the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution, which does not predict the numerous fossils predicted by the orthodox theory of evolution.
In Mivart’s Genesis of Species, the author highlights the inconsistencies of Darwin’s natural selection theory. He supports his assertion by emphasizing how species placed in similar environments acquire different traits, questioning the long-term advantages of these evolved traits, and noting the logical inconsistencies of how traits can span in all directions.
He explores the theories that a rise in temperature could have made the reptiles of old infertile, or that the dinosaurs ate flowering plants that acted as drugs, causing the beasts to overdose. He goes on to examine a third theory, that of an asteroid hitting the earth and causing a cloud of smoke and dust to cover the sun, dropping temperatures and killing not only the dinosaurs, but much of the life that was present on the Earth at the time. Gould himself leans toward the last theory, citing evidence and research to back his point. All of this, he delivers with an air of humor, saying things such as “How can we possibly decide whether the hypothesis of testicular frying is right or wrong?” (par 21). While the theory of infertility of dinosaurs comes from the idea of rising heat, Gould’s wording here brings to mind a funny image rather than a worldwide epidemic. Using humor again, Gould says “If you talk just about asteroids, dust, and darkness, you simply tell stories no better and no more entertaining than fried testicles or terminal trips” (par 26). Not only does he cast aside the first two theories as useless frivolities, he sets the stage for proving why the asteroid theory is better, using humorous language to do so. A humorous essay such as Gould’s is fun to read, while keeping a basis in
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... ...
The authority of the theory of evolution can be characterized by defining what qualifies as a scientific theory. Although there are several perspectives regarding what science is, they are based on the same premises. Karl Popper, a philosopher of science, claims that the process of “conjectures and refutations” is the method of science (46). In this process, a
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 Life of the Cosmos, Lee Smolin’s main criticism for the Weak Anthropic Principle is that it does not give a prediction that can be falsified by observation. Smolin applies this same criticism toward its postulates and asserts cosmological natural selection as a superior concept (Smolin 203-204). My paper will explain Smolin’s criticism toward the Anthropic Principle and its postulates while comparing them to cosmological natural selection. I will then argue that Smolin’s criticism of the Anthropic Principle is valid but misleading and his assertion of cosmological natural selection is only better scientifically; not in application.
MAS Ultra School Edition. Wednesday, February 6th, 2014. Internet Stefoff, Rebecca. The. “Charles Darwin: And the Evolution Revolution.”
Charles Darwin has five parts to his theory of natural selection, firstly the “Geometric increase” which claims that “all living things reproduce in great numbers”, meaning that species may survive but not all will survive because, the resources used for survival for instance ,food will not be enough for all living things. “The struggle for existence” because there is a limited number of resources and can only sustain some and not all, not all living things will survive, however the question lies in which living being will survive?. “Variation” is the third part of natural selection which claims that within those living things there are variations within them that will determine whic...
In conclusion, it is possible for science and religion to overlap. Although Gould’s non-overlapping magisterial claims that creationism doesn’t conflict with evolution, it doesn’t hold with a religion that takes the biblical stories literally. Moreover, I defended my thesis, there is some overlap between science and religion and these overlaps cause conflict that make it necessary to reject either science or religion, by using Dawkins’ and Plantinga’s arguments. I said earlier that I agree with Dawkins that both science and religion provide explanation, consolation, and uplift to society. However, there is only conflict when science and religion attempt to explain human existence. Lastly, I use Plantinga’s argument for exclusivists to show that such conflict means that science and religion are not compatible. It demands a rejection t either science or religion.
The purpose behind this essay is to explain the differences in modern evolution and post evolution. I will break down the importance of microevolution and macroevolution and how meiosis can be considered a part of evolution. I will explain the evolution of Vertebrates and mammals all while explaining the definition of species according to biological species and recognition species concept. This essay should bring out the true definition and explanation of evolution and all the concepts that go with it like the evolutionary process and explaining the definitions of “jerks” and “creeps” as explained in our film The Book of Life: Genetics and evolution.
At one point, we were primitive species that gradually changed over a great period of time, creating a selection of new species through a process known as natural selection. Coyne first describes the theory of evolution as a species that go through genetic change over time. Mutations of these species are based on changes made in the DNA, as many species can evolve into something much different over the course of many generations. (Coyne