Life originated in “a warm little pond,” Charles Darwinwrote to Joseph J. Hooker, the founder of geographical botany within Darwin’s circle of colleagues. How, where, and when the first species get started, however, completely escaped Darwin. In contemplating the origin of life dilemma, Darwin noted in his autobiography –
“The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us, and I, for one, must be content to remain an agnostic.”
The “mystery of the beginning” has continued into the twenty-first century. With the development of modern technologies, however, scientists now have unparalleled opportunities. Many individuals and organizations have launched origin of life initiatives to solve “the hardest question in science.”
Scientists last week proposed new evolutionary relationships among all 9,993 of the world’s known living bird species. In a letter published in the prestigious Nature journal, scientists reported on the use of DNA-sequence data to create a radiating phylogenetic tree, a revolutionary new bird tree of life (pictured left).
Walter Jetz (pictured right), an evolutionary biologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, was the leading author of the letter entitled “The global diversity of birds in space and time.” In an interview with science writer Virginia Gewin for Nature News, Jetz explains –
“This is the first dated tree of life for a class of species this size to be put on a global map.”
Darwin, Then and Now chronicles who Darwin was, how he developed his theory, what he said, and what scientists have discovered since the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859.
The book traces the rise and fall of evolution as a scientifically valid theory. With over 1,000 references from Darwin and scientists, Darwin Then and Now retraces how this once popular theory is increasingly recognized as only a philosophy since the theory has yet to be scientifically validated.