Darwin Day

The issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN India January 2008, Volume 4 Number 1 is a special issue devoted to

The evolution of evolution

The url of the periodical is http://www.sciam.co.in/

Some interesting matter from this is reproduced below:

INTRODUCTION

Darwin's Living Legacy

by Gary Stix

When 26-year old Charles Darwin sailed to Galapagos in 1835 onboard Beagle, he misclassified as grosbeaks some of the birds in his collection which are now known as Darwin's finches. After his return to England, ornithologist and artist John Gould recognised them as different species of finches.

--- Evolution before and after Darwin ---

• 10- 546 BC.: Greek philosopher Anaximander suggests that all life-forms evolved from fish in the sea and went through a process of modification once they were established on land.
• 1735: Carl Linnaeus publishes the first volume of Systema Naturae, which laid the foundations for taxonomy. Later he suggested that plants descend from a common ancestor.
• 1809: Darwin is born in Shrewsbury, England, into the comfort of a wealthy family.
• 1830: Charles Lyell publishes Principles of Geology, a formative influence on Darwin's thinking about the gradualism of natural processes as can be witnessed in the Grand Canyon.
• 1831: Darwin leaves on a five-year around-the-world journey on the HMS Beagle.
• 1838: Charles Darwin formulates the theory of natural selection, which is not published for more than 20 years.
• 1859: On the Origin of Species sells out as soon as it is published.
• 1865 Czech monk Gregor Mendel publishes his research on inheritance, but the importance of his work is not recognised for 35 more years.
• 1871: In The Descent of Man, Darwin ties the human lineage to primate ancestors, provoking outrage in some quarters and the caricaturing of his image.
• 1882: Darwin dies.
• 1925: The Scopes Monkey trial in Tennessee tries a teacher based on a law that made it illegal to teach any theory that denies divine creation.
• 1936 - 1947: The modern synthesis combines Darwin's theory with Mendelian genetics.
• 1953: James D. Watson and Francis Crick discover the of DNA, making it possible to study the molecular biology of evolution.
• Mid-2000s: Genetic analyses have shown evidence of relatively recent human evolution -- dating back several thousand years.
• 2009: Darwin Day mars the naturalist's birthday on February 12 and will be observed with dozens of events in at least 10 countries. Stay abreast of what's happening at http://www.darwinday.org/.
  

LINK:
The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online can be accessed at http://darwin.online.org.uk/

SOURCES OF VARIATION
From Atoms to Traits
by David M. Kingsley
Charles Darwin saw that random variations in organisms provide fodder for evolution. Modern scientists are revealing how that diversity arises from changes to DNA and can even add up to complex creatures or even cultures.

The article observes:

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, a prominent scientist of Charles Darwin's era doubted the theory laid out in On the Origin of Species. Because Darwin could not explain the cause of trait variations. the idea that nature selected advantageous variants seemed incomplete. In his personal copy of the book, Herschel wrote "D. recognises an unknown cause of slight individual differences -- but claims of 'natural selection' the character of a 'sufficient theory' in regard to the results of those differences.

The adaptation of sticklebacks is also mentioned.
LINKS:

Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads. HHMI 2005 Holiday Lectures on Science. Sean B. Carroll and David M. Kinsley. Webcast or DVD available at http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/evolution

FUTURISM

What Will Become of Homo sapiens?
by Peter Ward
Contrary to popular belief, humans continue to evolve. Our bodies and brains are not the same as our ancestors' were -- or will be

KEY CONCEPTS

• People commonly assume that our species has evolved very little since prehistoric times. Yet new studies using genetic information from populations around the globe suggest that the pace of human evolution increased with the advent of agriculture and cities.
• If we are still evolving, what might our species look like in a millennium should we survive whatever environmental and social surprises are in store for us? Speculation ranges from the hopeful to the dystopian.
  
  

--- The Editors

In short, humanity's future could take one of several routes, assuming we do not go extinct:

Stasis. We largely stay as we are now, with minor tweaks, mainly as races merge.

Speciation. A new human species evolves on either this planet or another.
Symbiosis with machines. Integration of machines and human brains produces a collective intelligence that may or may not retain the qualities we now recognise as human

EDUCATION
The Latest Face of Creationism
by Glenn Branch and Eugenie C. Scott
Creationists who want religious ideas taught as scientific fact in public schools continue to adapt to courtroom defeats by hiding their true aims under ever changing guises
--- It's Your Move ---

[time line]

• Late 1910s and early 1920s: As high school attendance rises, more American students become exposed to evolution.
• 1925: Butler act in Tennessee outlaws the teaching of human evolution. Teacher John T. Scopes is prosecuted and convicted under the law, although the conviction is later overturned on a technicality.
• 1958: Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BCSC) is founded with funds from a federal government concerned about science education in the wake of Sputnik. BSCS's textbooks emphasise evolution, which was largely absent from textbooks after the Scopes trial; commercial publishers follow suit.
• 1968: Supreme Court rules in case of Epperson v. Arkansas that laws barring the teaching of evolution in public schools are unconstitutional. Teacher Susan Epperson was involved.

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