The-Trail-That-Rocked-The-World

TheTrailThatRockedTheWorldAbouttheauthor•Johnscopes(1900-1970)onceaschool-teacherinDayton,Tennessee.Principleofthe“monkeytrail”.Laterbecameageologistforanoilcompany.Background•Foranumberofyearsaclashhadbeenbuildingupbetweenthefundamentalistsandthemodernists.•FundamentalismwasstronginTennessee'sandstatelegislaturehaspassedalawprohibitingtheteachingof“anytheorythatdeniesthestoryofcreationastaughtintheBible”.•TheexistsofDarwin'sevolution.•JohnScopestaughtthestudentsevolutionwhichwasconsideredagainstthelaw.Darwin'sTheoryofEvolution•SummaryofDarwin'sTheoryofEvolution•Aspeciesisapopulationoforganismsthatinterbreedsandhasfertileoffspring.•Livingorganismshavedescendedwithmodificationsfromspeciesthatlivedbeforethem.•Naturalselectionexplainshowthisevolutionhashappened:•Moreorganismsareproducedthancansurvivebecauseoflimitedresources.•Organismsstruggleforthenecessitiesoflife;thereiscompetitionforresources.•Individualswithinapopulationvaryintheirtraits;someofthesetraitsareheritable--passedontooffspring.•Somevariantsarebetteradaptedtosurviveandreproduceunderlocalconditionsthanothers.•Better-adaptedindividuals(thefitenough)aremorelikelytosurviveandreproduce,therebypassingoncopiesoftheirgenestothenextgeneration.•Specieswhoseindividualsarebestadaptedsurvive;othersbecomeextinct.Naturalselection•Naturalselectioncanchangeaspeciesinsmallways,causingapopulationtochangecolororsizeoverthecourseofseveralgenerations.Thisiscalledmicroevolution.“•Butnaturalselectionisalsocapableofmuchmore.Givenenoughtimeandenoughaccumulatedchanges,naturalselectioncancreateentirelynewspecies,knownasmacroevolution.Itcanturndinosaursintobirds,amphibiousmammalsintowhalesandtheancestorsofapesintohumans.Modernunderstanding•Naturalselectionguidestheevolutionaryprocess,preservingandaddingupthebeneficialmutationsandrejectingthebadones.Mutationsarerandom,butselectionforthemisnotrandom,Pobinersaid.•Butnaturalselectionisn'ttheonlymechanismbywhichorganismsevolve,shesaid.Forexample,genescanbetransferredfromonepopulationtoanotherwhenorganismsmigrateorimmigrate,aprocessknownasgeneflow.Andthefrequencyofcertaingenescanalsochangeatrandom,whichiscalledgeneticdrift.Controversy•Despitethewealthofevidencefromthefossilrecord,geneticsandotherfieldsofscience,somepeoplestillquestionitsvalidity.Somepoliticiansandreligiousleadersdenouncethetheoryofevolution,invokingahigherbeingasadesignertoexplainthecomplexworldoflivingthings,especiallyhumans.•Schoolboardsdebatewhetherthetheoryofevolutionshouldbetaughtalongsideotherideas,suchasintelligentdesignorcreationism.•Mainstreamscientistsseenocontroversy.Alotofpeoplehavedeepreligiousbeliefsandalsoacceptevolution,Pobinersaid,adding,therecanberealreconciliation.•Evolutioniswellsupportedbymanyexamplesofchangesinvariousspeciesleadingtothediversityoflifeseentoday.Ifsomeonecouldreallydemonstrateabetterexplanationthanevolutionandnaturalselection,[thatperson]wouldbethenewDarwin,Richmondsaid.Myunderstanding•Darwin'serawasinthemiddleandlate19thcentury.Itwasthepreviousstagewhenhecameoutofignoranceandadvocatedscience,whichprovidedtheideologicalbasisforDarwintoestablishtheevolutionofnaturalselectionideologicallyandrationally.Histravelsasayoungmanaccumulatedalotoffactsforhim,whichtriggeredhisthinkingabouttheevolutionofspeciesandeventuallyformedacompletesystem.Itisundeniablethatthetheoryofevolutionwasdefectiveduetotheunderdevelopedscienceatthattime,butwiththecontinuousprogressofscience,evolutionhasdevelopedintomoderncomprehensiveevolution.•Infact,theonlypurposeofopposingevolutionistoelicitgod.Nowthosewhoopposeevolutionhavebeenverysubtle,nottosaygodmade,butintelligentdesign,butthequestionofhowspeciescanariseisonlytwopossibilities,oneisnaturalevolution,theotheriscreation.Evenifourlifeonearthwascreatedbyaliens,wherethealienscamefromisstillaquestionofevolutionorcreation.Therefore,consideringlifeintheuniverse,therearestillonlytwopossibilities:naturalevolutionandcreation.Thankyou