Evolution in the world
Why does evolution matter now?
Essay by Tomina Zhugleva
Evolution may seem like a topic relevant only to Darwin and a few scientists. In reality, evolution is a topic that touches your life every day. The cereal you eat for breakfast comes from a grain that has evolved to its current state after generations of artificial selection by humans. If you get a flu shot, the reason you have to get one every year is that viruses constantly evolve, and a vaccine that works this year may not work next year. If you wash your hands with antibacterial soap, you kill some bacteria, but other bacteria have mutations that make them resistant to the agent used in the soap. Evolution is going on all around you all the time, and if you want to help make decisions to protect the environment and ensure a healthy future and a plentiful food supply, you need to understand how it works.
Darwin defined this term as "descent with modification." It is the change in a lineage of populations between generations. In general terms, biological evolution is the process of change by which new species develop from preexisting species over time; in genetic terms, evolution can be defined as any change in the frequency of alleles in populations of organisms from generation to generation.
Why does evolution matter now?
In 1998, a farmer sprayed his crops with the newest pesticide on the market and harvested a tremendous crop. In the summer of 1999, using the same chemical, he found that the corn borer insect ruined about one-eighth of his crop. The harvest of 2000 was a disaster. The farmer used the same chemical as always, but the pest decimated two-thirds of his crop. Believe it or not, this farmer's story can be explained by evolution .
A natural phenomenon repeatedly confirmed by observation. An explanation of one or more phenomena in nature that can be tested by observations, experiments, or both.
In order to be considered scientific, a hypothesis must be falsifiable, which means that it can be proven to be incorrect.
The philosophical theory that there are fundamental non-material "ideas," "plans," or "forms" underlying the phenomena we observe in nature. It has been historically influential in classification.
A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that typically incorporates many confirmed observations, laws, and successfully verified hypotheses.
Essay by Tomina Zhugleva
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Последна модификация: Friday, 8 May 2009, 05:07 PM
