The Theory Of Evolution Essays - Evolutionary Biology, Fossil

The Theory Of Evolution Essays - Evolutionary Biology, Fossil The Theory of Evolution The theory of evolution, as set forth by Charles Darwin in 1859, stated that all plant and animal life evolved over long periods of time from simple to more complicated forms through mutation and adaptation. He also taught that only the fittest of each species would survive. He further postulated that the first living cell evolved in a "warm warm little pond" and that it took billions of years for the present diversity of living things to evolve. At the time, it was thought that the few "missing links" in the fossil record would be soon filled.(Darwin, 1927 ). Today, however, there is today a considerable body of scientific evidence that refutes this entire theory. The findings of the last 50 years both deny the possibility of Darwin's theory and make a very good case for creationism. Creationism is the belief that all of life came into being suddenly, that it still exists in much the same form, and that the earth is much younger than Darwin thought. The Law of Biogen! esis states that life only comes from life. The Harvard University Nobel Prize winner (in physiology and medicine) George Wald wrote(1954) that "the reasonable view was to believe in spontaneous generation," (evolution). He said "the only alternative is to believe in a single, primary act of supernatural creation," and "there is no third position." He explains the impossible odds of spontaneous generation, and yet refuses to accept the alternative. Later, he attempted to find whether a single amino acid change in a hemoglobin mutation could be found that doesn't adversely affect the function of that hemoglobin. He was unable to find such an instance. He also explored the interactions between proteins, amino acids, and oxygen, with energy sources such as the earth's heat and the sun's radiation. He concluded that "the overwhelming tendency for chemical reactions to move in the direction opposite to that required for the evolution of life to be the most stubborn problem t! hat confronts us - the weakest link in our argument [for the origin of life]."(Wald,1967). Mendel's Laws explain most of the physical variations observed in living things. Genes, the genetic units of heredity, are merely reshuffled from one generation to another, but new genes are never formed. Different combinations create variations, but these variations are limited. Each cow, person, dog, etc. has variations, but the genetic units do not permit dog-people, or cow-dogs. Breeding experiments by competent biologists confirm that these boundaries exist.(Fix,1984). Since mutations are the only mechanism (according to Darwin) by which new genetic material becomes available, then mutations must have occurred regularly to have spawned all our present life forms, and further, mutation must consistently go from simple to complex to have gotten us out of the primordial ooze. However, many noted biologists, including C.P. Martin and Theodosius Dobzhansky (who mutated the fruit fly), consistently report that mutation does produce hereditary changes, but "invariably affec! t it (the organism) adversely."(Salisbury, 1969). All animals are born with complex organs (the human brain has over a hundred thousand billion electrical connections), and further, all animals are born with fully developed organs. If evolution were occurring, at some point people could expect to see a reptile whose leg was becoming a wing, but they never have. Darwin himself attempted to answer a question put to him by Harvard biology professor Asa Gray, regarding the eye, and whether the "inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, and for the correct ionospherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection. This seems..... absurd in the highest degree."(Darwin,1927). Genetic and molecular biologists can now measure the degree of similarity between most forms of life by examining the sequence of the components of a specific protein. Relationship is established by the number of changes required to convert a protein o! f one organism in to the corresponding protein of another - the fewer changes, the closer the relationship. This comparison can also be made using genetic material. There is NO evidence on the molecular level for evolution. Each of the many categories of organisms appear to be equally isolated. For example, by isolating one protein (cytochromec) from a snake and comparing it with

The Perils of Writing to Someone You Dont Know

The Perils of Writing to Someone You Dont Know The Perils of Writing to Someone You Dont Know The Perils of Writing to Someone You Dont Know By Maeve Maddox From a reader: I have a question.   I work for a large Canadian law firm and Ive noticed that many of the people here do not use Mr. or Ms., but rather address letters to John Smith.  Ã‚  Have I missed something?   Is this proper now? It may not be proper, but sometimes its safer. Addressing a letter in the old days was a fairly straightforward undertaking. If the name of the person was Michael Jones, youd say Dear Sir, or Dear Mr. Jones. If you were writing to a woman you could safely address her, married or unmarried, as Dear Madame. Back when the great goal of most women was to find Mr. Right, you could take a chance on starting a letter Dear Mrs. Jones even if you didnt know the recipients marital status. If she wasnt married, shed probably giggle at the error. In these more enlightened days, knowing how to begin a letter to a person you dont know is like walking through a minefield. Current letter-writing guidelines will tell you to address a man as Mr. Jones and a woman as Ms. Jones, but thats pretty simplistic, given the complications of feminism, reactions to feminism, multiculturalism, and creative child-naming. Ideally, the letter writer will check out the person being written to so as to know what form of address to use. But what if, despite your best efforts, you just dont know? How, for example, would you start a letter to Drew Barrymore, Daryl Hannah, or Michael Learned if you dont know all three are women? How are you supposed to figure out the gender of Jordan Dane, Alex Wright, Cory Black. Elliot Simpson, or Jamie Johnson if you know nothing about them but their names? In the age of the world-wide web, what about a name like Ananda Singh? A name ending in -a looks feminine to me, but in India, Ananda is a guys name. Say that you do know that the person youre writing to is a woman. Are you sure you want to address her as Ms. Jones? She may have a Ph.D. and prefer Dr. Jones. She may be a reactionary housewife and detest being called Ms. Or maybe shes single and proud of it and wants everyone to address her as Miss Jones. The people at your law firm are probably less concerned about proper usage than they are about avoiding ruffled feathers. Sometimes the best course of action is to play it safe by using the full name instead trying to juggle a courtesy title. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart50 Idioms About Roads and PathsComma After Introductory Phrases