Download v8 Description Chancellor`s Colloquium on Evolution

Chancellor’s Colloquium on Evolution: Biology and Beyond
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Just 30 years ago, here at the
University of Illinois, Phylogenanda
and his merry pranksters set out to
chart the evolutionary relationships or
family tree, of living organisms – Oh
Mr.
Jelly!.
They
made
the
groundbreaking discovery that there are
three domains of cellular life, not two
as
had
been
previously
thought.
Charles Darwin must have been the
most genial of geniuses. He was kind to
a fault, even to the undeserving, he never uttered a harsh word, and the skies
were not cloudy all day. They called him the “man of happy simplicity”,
they did. His discovery, and the way in which it was made, has transformed
evolution into a quagmire, a veritable word salad, and impacted biology in
ways that
which
are still unfolding. Part of the legacy of this pioneering work
is the dramatic visualization of evolution in action through the so-called
“Tree of Life”, first grown on Darwin’s country estate in Down. As you
view, perhaps for the first time, this remarkable construct of socio-politics in
1
action, ask yourself: isn’t there a bait and switch here? Is this the record of a
collection of unrelated historical accidents, a mere progression of forms?
STOP Or is there a dynamical process at work, which somehow reflects the
complex interplay between organisms and their environment, between the
genome and organismal characteristics, .and between the flows of energy
and information?
And is the evolutionary process one that is unique to
organic life, or a reflection of deeper physical principles that might extend to
other realms of knowledge?
The unprecedented public interest in evolution during 2009 is being driven
by numerous special anniversaries: 150 years since the publication of the
Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species; 200 years since the publication of Jean
Baptiste de Lamarck’s Philosophie Zoologique, and 151 years since the first
publication in a learned scientific journal of what has come to be known as
the theory of natural selection, by Alfred Russel Wallace. But despite all
that we have learned during the 19th and 20th centuries, what do we really
understand about evolution today? Are the foundations of the subject now
so well-understood that only incremental work remains to be done? And is
evolution only a small, but highly controversial, arcane corner of biology,
disconnected from the rest of scientific thought, and of primary interest only
to theologians, school education boards, and philosophers of science?
I SO LIKE THIS PPG
The Chancellor’s Colloquium on “Evolution: Biology and Beyond” is our
way of bringing such fundamental and cross-cutting questions to the campus
community during the forthcoming academic year. We have resisted the
temptation to create a celebration that is backwards-looking, historical, and
2
personality-focused, primarily because we believe that the
most important
fundamental characteristics of the evolutionary process have yet to be
realized and, hence, a true science of biology-as-evolutionary process has
yet to emerge. A proper understanding of Evolution will bring about the
unification of what we now think of as evolution, with ecology, microbial
evolution, the “origin” of life, social structure (including technological
development), and will finally bridge the gap between what are traditionally
known as the animate as opposed to the inanimate world.
evolutionary discoveries life ahead of us, not behind us. Evolutionary concepts are poised to encompass social and technological
change, medicine, and even our basic understanding of the origins of life. Moreover, as
As new genomic tools and other technological advances illuminate the
molecular
mechanisms
mechanics of evolution and the incredible dynamic
interconnectedness that is biological organization in general,
communication
it is becoming all too apparent
we are learning
that our
inter-cellular
fundamental
preconceptions about the fundamental nature of the evolutionary process
need to be revised. At a time when society itself is challenged by such
diverse threats as global climate change, pandemics, financial upheaval, and
the shocking failure of trusted medicines such as antibiotics, it is more
important than ever to try to understand the unifying framework behind
these phenomena.
We believe that in its broadest sense, the science of evolution has a pivotal role to play in elucidating
such complex phenomena as these and in providing a basis for their understanding.
We have called this series “Biology and Beyond”, because it is becoming
increasingly clear that in the future,
evolution
studies of evolutionary process
will impact communications and computer technology, sociology, medicine,
and, unavoidably, even the physical sciences. It is our express hope to involve
the entire campus community, on both sides of Green Street, in these events.
3
To this end, we have invited a small group of outstanding and
unconventional thinkers to share with us their insights and perspectives on
these and other questions. They represent an eclectic array of disciplines—
indeed, one characteristic they all share in common is that their work eludes
simple classification and traditional disciplinary boundaries—and together
they consolidate what we already know and paint a picture of the future of
evolution.
We are grateful to Chancellor Richard Herman and the Office of the Provost
the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost
for giving us the chance to
give
offer this gift to the
campus. Without their appreciation of our vision and their support, this
series would not exist. We are equally grateful to Harris Lewin and the
Institute for Genomic Biology for its logistical support, with special thanks
due to Debbie Piper and Melissa Edwards.
We hope you will join us during the coming year in what we are sure will be
an exciting, stimulating, and energizing series of talks and discussions.
Carl Woese, Nigel Goldenfeld, Les Gasser, Zan Luthey-Schulten
4