Science, Evolution, and Creationism (2008) / Chapter Skim
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1 Evolution and the Nature of Science
1 Evolution and the Nature of Science
Pages 1-16
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From page 1... ...
But it also had lungs, a flexible neck, and a sturdy fin skeleton that could support its body in very shallow water or on land. Earlier scientific discoveries of fossilized plants and animals had already revealed a considerable amount about the environment in which this creature lived.
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But Arctic Circle in north paleontologists had not found fossils of the transitional animals between shalcentral Canada, for low-water fishes and limbed animals. fossils when they learned that it con The team that discovered the new fossil decided to focus on far northern tained sedimentary Canada when they noticed in a textbook that the region contained sedimentary rocks deposited dur- rock deposited about 375 million years ago, just when shallow-water fishes ing the period when were predicted by evolutionary science to be making the transition to land.
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The discovery of Tiktaalik strongly supports that prediction. Indeed, the major bones in our own arms and legs are similar in overall configuration to those of Tiktaalik.
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the molecule's threedimensional structure In sexually reproducing species, where each parent contributes only one-half determine a protein's of its genetic information to its offspring (the offspring receives the full amount specific function in of genetic information when a sperm cell and an egg cell fuse) , the DNA of the cells or organisms.]
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Furthermore, knowledge of the evolutionary history Using a new technology known as a DNA micro of the SARS virus gave scientists important informaarray, within 24 hours the researchers had identi- tion about the disease, such as how it is spread. fied the virus as a previously unknown member of Knowing the evolutionary origins of human pathoa particular family of viruses -- a result confirmed gens will be critical in the future as existing infectious by other researchers using different techniques.
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Over the next few millennia, people around cation of wheat is a good example. the world used similar processes of evolution By recovering seeds from dif- ary change to transform many other ferent archaeological sites and wild plants and animals into the noticing changes in their char- crops and domesticated animals acteristics over the centuries, we rely on today.
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As members of the subgroup mate among themselves, they accumulate genetic differences compared with the rest of the species. If this reproductive isolation continues for an extended period, How long could it take to produce 1,000 generations?
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Though each new species resembles the species from which it arose, a succession of new species can diverge more and more from an ancestral form. This divergence from an ancestral form can be especially dramatic when an evolu tionary change enables a group of organisms to occupy a new habitat or make use of resources in a novel way.
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From page 9... ...
Successive fossil forms tend to have larger brains and more specialized sense organs, jaws and teeth adapted for more efficient chewing and eating, a gradual movement of the limbs from the sides of the body to under the body, and a female reproductive tract increasingly able to support the internal development and nourishment of young. Many of the biological novelties seen in mammals may be associated with the evolution of warm-bloodedness, which enabled a more active lifestyle over a much larger range of temperatures than in the cold-blooded reptilian ancestors.
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In this way, the sophistication and scope of scientific explanations improve over time, as subsequent generations of scientists, often using technological innovations, work to correct, refine, and extend the work done by their predecessors. 10 Science, Evolution, and Creationism
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Moon and other planets long before the activities The formal scientific definition of theory is of spacecraft and astronauts confirmed them. The quite different from the everyday meaning of evolutionary biologists who discovered Tiktaalik the word.
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Religious faith, in contrast, does not depend only on empirical evidence, is not necessarily modified in the face of conflicting evidence, and typically involves supernatural forces or entities. Because they are not a part of nature, supernatural entities cannot be investigated by sci ence.
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From page 13... ...
In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies -- which was neither planned nor sought -- constitutes in itself a signifi cant argument in favor of the theory." -- Pope John Paul II, Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, October 22, 1996.
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From page 14... ...
We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achieve ment rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as 'one theory among others' is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children.
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From page 15... ...
A Catholic Scientist Looks at the National Human Genome Evolution," at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Research Institute at the National January 31, 2006. Available at http://chem.tufts.
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