Posts Tagged ‘HMS Challenger’
Scientific American, the Imaginary Mermaid Zone
June 26th, 2011
In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin used “imaginary illustrations” to develop his case for natural selection: “In order to make it clear how, as I believe, natural selection acts, I must beg permission to give one or two imaginary illustrations.”
The use of imaginary tales can be traced back to Greek mythology. Thales of Miletus (640–545 BC) reasoned that “all things are water,” and that the Earth rests on water and life originates from water. Anaximander (610–546 BC), a student of Miletus, extended his theory by claiming the “life had evolved from moisture”; and that “man developed from fish”—the origin of the mermaid myth. Continue Reading
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Critique, a Darwinian Legacy
January 30th, 2011
At the time of the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859, the topic of evolution was “in the air”, according to Charles Darwin, all 1,250 printed copies of the book were sold on the first day. The Origin of Species delivered a state of evolution critique on other popular theories.
In the nineteenth century, critiques on theories of evolution raged all the way into the chambers of the British Parliament. To resolve the debate the Parliament commissioned of the HMS Challenger, the largest international expedition ever convened, with the task of finding Darwin’s theoretical “innumerable” transitional links.
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With over 1,000 references, Darwin’s life, climaxing with the search for a natural law of evolution, is investigated in the context of the scientific evidence since discovered in the fossil record, embryology, molecular biology and genetics. Darwin The and Now is a historical chronicle of the rise and fall of Darwinism.
