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Evolution
PCB 4674
Introduction to evolution
“Nothing in biology makes sense,
except in the light of evolution”
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Is there intelligent life
on earth?
Have they discovered
evolution yet?
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Psalms 8:4
The point I want to make now is that all
attempts to answer that question before 1859
are worthless and that we will be better off if
we ignore them completely.
GG Simpson
History is more less bunk.
Henry Ford
characteristics of organisms can only be fully
understood in light of their history - the same
for evolution
2 fundamental principles of biology:
all life subject to physical & chemical processes
all life evolved
‘evolution’ Latin ‘evolvere’,
to unfold, unroll, to reveal or manifest hidden
potentialities
‘evolution’ Latin ‘evolvere’,
to unfold, unroll, to reveal or manifest hidden
potentialities
descent with modification
‘evolution’ Latin ‘evolvere’,
to unfold, unroll, to reveal or manifest hidden
potentialities
descent with modification
change in the properties of populations of organisms, or
groups of such populations, over the course of
generations
Evolutionary biology has applications in:
health sciences
agriculture
natural products
conservation & environmental management
understanding ourselves
The Darwinian revolution is both a scientific and a
philosophical revolution, and neither revolution
could have occurred without the other… If I were to
give an award for the single best idea anyone has
ever had, I’d give it to Darwin, ahead of Newton
and Einstein and everyone else. In a single stroke,
the idea of evolution by natural selection unifies the
realm of life, meaning, purpose, with the realm of
space and time, cause and effect, mechanism and
physical law.
DC Dennett
Darwin’s dangerous idea: evolution and the
meanings of life
The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the
strong … But time and chance happen to them all.
Eccl 9:11