Pages

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Essentials: Typical Topics


I have been trying, or maybe better said avoiding, writing about evolution for about a year.  Evolution is one of the major themes of the book project I have been involved in and, as I’ve begun to describe through this blog, evolution can be a very touchy subject.  In many ways I’ve been lazy and unproductive with my writing responsibilities but I’ve also been paralyzed by fear of writing in the wrong way.  I know how challenging my journey with evolution has been and I want to be sure I build bridges and not barriers to understanding evolution well.
In some ways I started The Essentials series to force my hand toward some serious effort around evolution.  To aid in this endeavor I’ve decided to compile some of the classic themes that revolve around evolution then tackle them one by one.  I’m confident that the list that follows will not be exhaustive but it does represent some of the essentials, and certainly subjects that other writers have seen fit to bring to the forefront.  If there are topics that any of you readers think should be added to the list please add them via the comments section.
Typical Topics
·         Artificial selection in agriculture and domesticated animals demonstrates an analogous mechanism to natural selection – the engine that powers evolution.
·         The Earth is old. How old? Old.  Old enough for natural selection to occur. How do we know? There are several reliable methods for determining how old stuff is.
·         Evolution does require long time periods to occur but it can also be observed at accelerated time scales and even in experimental, laboratory settings.
·         DNA reveals incredible connections between organisms
·         Homologous structures provide morphological evidence for evolution.
·         Molecular and morphological “family trees” independently and incredibly reflect each other’s identity.
·         The fossil record. What does and doesn’t it contain and is it useful?
·     New topic: What is survival and who are the fittest? (Added 2-7-12)

No comments:

Post a Comment