Darwin Essays (Examples)

Darwin

Had the Enlightenment adequately prepared 19th century readers for Darwin's Origin of the Species? The Enlightenment view of the science of life was neatly summed up by Diderot in his Encyclopedia, in many ways a signature product of the Enlightenment's dedication to setting forth the foundations of human knowledge. As Diderot notes in his prefaratory comments, what we call biology falls under the heading of "Natural History":

The divisions of natural history derive from the existing diversity of the facts of nature, and the diversity of the facts of nature from the diversity of the states of nature. Either nature is uniform and follows a regular course, such as one notes generally in celestial bodies, animals, vegetables, etc.; or it seems forced and displaced from its ordinary course, as in monsters; or it is restrained and put to different uses, as in the arts. Nature does everything, either in…

Works Cited

Campbell, John Angus. Why Was Darwin Believed? Darwin's Origin and the Problem of Intellectual Revolution. Configurations 11.2 (2003) 203-237.

Cosans, Chris. Was Darwin a creationist? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48.3 (2005) 362-371.

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Sixth Edition. Project Gutenberg. Accessed 25 March 2012 at:  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2009/2009-h/2009-h.htm 

Diderot, Denis. "Detailed Explanation of the System of Human Knowledge." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Richard N. Accessed 25 March 2012 at:  http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0001.084

Darwin's Theory Of Evolution

The construct of irreducible complexity is a pivotal aspect of genetic theory and of Darwinian theory. Irreducible complexity is a nexus of the older science of biology from which Darwin built his theory and modern genetic engineering. Darwin's words for irreducible complexity, most commonly associated with his argument about the construction of the eye, were "Organs of extreme perfection and complication," and Darwin further explicates,

"Reason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a simple and imperfect eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to exist, each grade being useful to its possessor, as is certainly the case; if further, the eye ever varies and the variations be inherited, as is likewise certainly the case and if such variations should be useful to any animal under changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed…

Works Cited

Abalaka, M.E. & Abbey, F.K. (2011). Charles Darwin theory of evolution and modern genetic engineering. Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Opinion, 1(7):174-177. 12 December 2014. Web. Retreived from  http://innovativejournal.in/index.php/jpro/article/viewFile/685/592 

Bergman, G. Pangenesis as a source of new genetic information. The history of a now disproven theory. Rivista di Biologia, 99(3): 425-43. 2006, September-December. Web. Retreived from  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17299698 

Darwin, Charles. "Difficulties on theory." Chapter 6. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. (1st edition). 1859. Retrieved from http://friendsofdarwin.com/docs/origin-1/chapter-06/

Liu, Y. Darwin and Mendel: who was the pioneer of genetics? Rivista di Biologia, 98(2); 305-322. 2005. 12 December 2014. Web. Retreived from  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16180199

Darwin Comes of Age

o understand Robert Wright, it is first necessary to define evolutionary psychology, which is the foundation of Wright's theory. Evolutionary psychology contends that most, if not all, of human behavior can be understood by the interests of internal psychological mechanisms. hese internal mechanisms are adaptations, or products of natural selection that helped human ancestors survive and reproduce. Evolutionary psychology looks at the challenges early humans faced in their hunter-gatherer environments and the problem-solving they went through to meet those challenges. Based on these problem-solving adaptations, it then establishes the common roots of ancestral behavior and, especially related to Wright's book, how these common behavioral roots are observed and acted upon today. Human behavior, just like physical traits, has passed on from generation to the next. In their brains humans have specific knowledge that helps them adapt to the environment. he brain is subject to natural selection…

Though women today can better afford to economically take care of themselves, there is a throwback to the past. Even in the poorest societies, a father's social status translated into more advantages for the children. Although a modern woman can reflect on her wealth and independence and thus gauge her decisions accordingly, she still has to come to grips with the ingrained impulses from her early ancestral environment. In fact, women, says Wright, are not able to override their internal impulses. The tendency remains for them to place greater emphasis on a mate's financial prospects regardless of their income. As long as a society remains economically stratified, the challenge of reconciling lifelong monogamy with human nature will be significant.

This is despite the fact that most men are better off in a monogamous system and women are less better off. Wright gives the example of 2,000 people living in a monogamous society with each woman engaged to marry the man who shares her ranking. She'd like to marry a higher-ranking man, but they were taken by competitors. The men would like to marry up, too, but cannot for the same reason. If polygyny was legalized, at least one woman somewhat more desirable than average, with a rating of 400 for example, leaves male #400 and becomes a wife of a more successful lawyer, #40. Women thus become better off and most men worse off. Women have greater options; men have less. Polygyny would more evenly distribute the assets of men. However, monogamy gives men access to a supply of women that would otherwise be unattainable, even if it is only one. Monogamy is not a big plus for either side; it's a compromise for both men and women.

Wright, Robert. The Moral Animal. New York: Pantheon Books, 1994.

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Likewise the native' darker skin which shields them against the sun reveals them, in Darwin's eyes, as closer to nature. The fact that they speak a different language that is not of the Indo-European family like Darwin's English, or Romantic (presumably, he would not look down upon them if they spoke French rather than their native tongue) likewise is unscientifically judged upon the basis that Darwin finds it unpleasant to listen to. Strikingly, even though some of these natives have already picked up a few words of English and can mimic the body language of the crew, showing what might be called a quick linguistic intelligence, Darwin sniffs that all savages are good mimics, and complains about the difficulty of getting black and white answers from individuals who have shown remarkable efforts in rapid language acquisition!

In his account of the Beagle's voyage to the Straight of Magellan, he…

Works Cited

Darwin, Charles. The Voyage of the Beagle. E-text. 24 Sept 2007.  http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-voyage-of-the-beagle/index.html

While this is a future that is heralded by some as the next logical step in our own evolution -- why let it occur haphazardly and slowly if it can be accomplished through careful planning and design? -- others see this stance as full of dangerous hubris, and an insistence that humanity knows best despite the fact that it has shown itself time and time again willing to grossly misuse available technologies to detrimental ends. The synthetic creation of other "persons" and even the alteration of existing human beings is fraught with many ethical considerations, not the least of which is the fact that we simply don't know what we don't know -- the effects of such synthesis are likely to be surprising and unexpected, despite the best of intentions and the most careful planning.

This is no surprise to you, of course; you played your hand very close to…

Other possibilities using the techniques of synthetic biology are not so certain. AMny fear that such knowledge and capabilities will lead to the eventual genetic altering of mankind, and perhaps even the purposeful creation of an alternative being that will supplant humanity with a new race of "persons," possibly humanoid but in reality synthetically designed to be better than humans in their interactions with the world, use of resources, et cetera (Oxford 2008). While this is a future that is heralded by some as the next logical step in our own evolution -- why let it occur haphazardly and slowly if it can be accomplished through careful planning and design? -- others see this stance as full of dangerous hubris, and an insistence that humanity knows best despite the fact that it has shown itself time and time again willing to grossly misuse available technologies to detrimental ends. The synthetic creation of other "persons" and even the alteration of existing human beings is fraught with many ethical considerations, not the least of which is the fact that we simply don't know what we don't know -- the effects of such synthesis are likely to be surprising and unexpected, despite the best of intentions and the most careful planning.

This is no surprise to you, of course; you played your hand very close to your chest with evolution for years, fearing the effects it would have on society and on science. History has definitely shown that caution is prudent, and the way you lived your life is excellent evidence of this as well. Before folks go rushing off armed with your ideas, they ought to take a moment to get to know you, as well.

Sincerely,

The first and most serious is that any type of modification will produce a certain type of outcome. While it is true in the most general sense that helpful modifications are more likely to be retained, it is imperative to keep in mind that significant mutations to an organism are typically fatal, and that most genetic mutations that yield living organisms either cannot produce viable offspring or have an insignificant or slightly negative effect. Hence, pure quantity of variance within a species is meaningless, and the big decisions fall to fate: is species X capable of adapting to cataclysmic event Y? While the ability to adapt to diverse conditions is helpful, no significant change will occur in a species without significant pressure.

The reason is that only mild, phenotypic variation can take place in a large, breeding population. Significant alterations, as previously noted, are typically fatal or incidental. Even if…

agreement between William Harris and John Calvert's article "Intelligent Design: The Scientific Alternative to Evolution," Richard Dawkins' article "The Blind Watchmaker" and Philip Kitcher's article "Believing Where We Cannot Prove," it is that there is no consensus opinion regarding the answers to the questions of where do people come from or how did they get here. As such, answers to these questions are largely left up to the individual and his or her belief, which is generally associated with a finite number of viewpoints on this issue. Personally, it makes the most sense to this author that people are the result of a divine creation on the part of a powerful divinity. The emphasis that certain authors, philosophers and scientists place on who that divinity is and what specific form of such a creation took place to result in mankind is not important, and the fact in the previous sentence…

For example, the species on a single continent are more likely to be similar to one another, even if they live in vastly different environmental conditions, than species from two different continents. Darwin drew heavily upon his experience on the Beagle to suggest that ability to engage in migration was an important component of natural selection. Darwin drew upon examples of islands to help explain his ideas, using examples from his time on the Beagle. For example, he theorized that animals develop to fit certain ecological niches, and that animals of different types might fill those niches in different areas.

After discussing how geography has impacted biology, Darwin moves on to a discussion of how species are classified. He acknowledges that the science behind these classifications is imperfect, as it is based on resemblance. He states his belief that animals with similar traits share a common ancestor. In this way,…

Works Cited

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London. Odhams Press Limited, 1872.

He purported the theory that strength is the only acceptable or even desired quality in a human being and weakness in any form was a great failing, good will survive, and bad will fail. Ultimately, goodness will be replaced by strength; humility will be replaced by pride, the very basis of survival will be threatened by equality and the principle of democracy and power will replace justice in all aspects, and power will eventually be the judge of the destiny of humankind. The Church and religious heads of the time vehemently opposed these theories since they felt that this meant that human kind would be subjected to the theory of the 'survival of the fittest' wherein the weak become exterminated by the strong. (it's a Matter of life or Death)

Nietzsche's thoughts, though for the most part forgotten, do stay alive in 'Philosophical Investigations' by Wittgenstein, where Nietzsche's 'Theory of…

References

Aristotle: (384-322 B.C.E) Retrieved at  http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html . Accessed on 16 November, 2004

Aristotle's Taxonomy. 2000. Retrieved at  http://www.unbf.ca/psychology/likely/greeks/aristotle2.htm . Accessed on 16 November, 2004

Boeree, C. George. Darwin and Evolution. 2000. Retrieved at  http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/evolution.html . Accessed on 16 November, 2004

Chain of Being. Retrieved at  http://www.occultopedia.com/c/chain_of_being.htm . Accessed on 16 November, 2004

Noncoding DNA, also known as "junk DNA" describes portions of the DNA sequence that do not appear to have any presentable use -- they do not encode for proteins, etc. In fact, in a most eukaryote cells, a rather large percentage of the total genome is noncoding DNA, but this varies between species. However, it is now a misnomer to call this material "junk," because the more sophisticated we become at biochemistry, we find that many do have subtle biological functions, including the transcriptional and translational regulation of certain protein-coding sequences. esearchers also belive that other noncoding sequences have a likely, but unconfirmed function, as an inference from high levels of inherited tratis and natural selection processes (Masters, 2005, 163-5).

esearchers know that the amount of genomic DNA varies widely between organisms, as does the proportion of coding and non-coding DNA within these genomes. For instance, 98% of the human…

REFERENCES:

Barrows, E. (2001). Animal Behavior Desk Reference. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Mueller, Guo and Ayala. (1991). Density Dependent natural Selction and Trade-Offs in Life History Traits. Science, 253(1), 433-35.

Ricklefs and Whiles. (2007). The Economy of Nature: Data Analysis Update. New York: Macmillan.

Although this theory totally impacted the world, Darwin's second book the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) began a major debate, especially between religion and science. As he stated in the conclusion of his book, "The main conclusion here arrived at, and now held by many naturalists who are well competent to form a sound judgment is that man is descended from some less highly organized form."

He even theorized that intelligence and emotion could develop through natural selection.

However, he also stressed the difference between humans and lower animals. Man has a conscience and moral sense. In Chapter 4 he states: "any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man."

In many…

Books Cited:

Darwin, C. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. (1859) Retrieved January 5, 2007  http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/origin.html 

Darwin, C. Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). Retrieved January 5, 2007.  http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/charles_darwin/descent_of_man/ 

Desmond, a. And Moore, J. (1991) the Life of a Tormented Evolutionist: Darwin

New York: Warner.

Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the Search for Hidden Universes," Richard Panek argues that both Einstein and Freud cut across the barriers of science in their time and, through scrupulous observation not only did they produce a revolution in their respective fields of research but, most importantly, they prompted a "revolution in thought" by using as instruments of research not so much mathematical formulas, but more, the tool of imagination which conjures a new, different world for the XX st century.

The notion of the "invisible century" expresses just that. It is not necessary an era of invisible technologies, but one in which questions are answered by triggering flows of speculations based on information or facts which cannot be physically proven yet there is no doubt about their validity. The term "invisible century" points to a historical environment in which one can answer questions such as "what are dreams," "what…

Bibliography

1. Richard Panek. 2005. The Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the Search for Hidden Universes. Penguin.

2. Eric Hobsbawm. 1988. The age of capital 1845-1875. Random House Inc.

3. Buchwald, Diana Kormos. 2004. Into the unknown: the invisible century: Einstein, Freud and the search for hidden universes. Nature, August 5, section Books and Arts.

4. Kohn, Marek. 2005. Chalk and cheese. The Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the search for hidden universes by Richard Panek. New Statesman, March 21.

" (Dafler, 2005) Dafler relates that for more than thirty years children who were 'half-caste' "were forcibly removed from their families, often grabbed straight from their mother's arms, and transported directly to government and church missions." (Dafler, 2005) This process was termed to be one of assimilation' or 'absorption' towards the end of breeding out of Aboriginal blood in the population. At the time all of this was occurring Dafler relates that: "Many white Australians were convinced that any such hardship was better than the alternative of growing up as a member of an 'inferior' race and culture." (2005) it is plainly stated in a government document thus:

The destiny of the natives of Aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and [the commission] therefore recommends that all efforts be directed towards this end." (eresford and Omaji, Our…

Bibliography

Dafler, Jeffrey (2005) Social Darwinism and the Language of Racial Oppression: Australia's Stolen Generations ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 62, 2005.

Erich Fromm Foreword to a.S. Neill SummerHill (New York, 1960).

Hawkins, Social Darwinism; Shibutani, Tamotsu and Kwan, Kian M. Ethnic Stratification: A Comparative Approach. New York: The Macmillan Company (1965).

Jacques Ellul, the Technological Society (New York, 1967), 436.

Leahey's approach is similar to Robinson's in that it allows Freud to be part of a systematic line, but different in that Leahey sees the process as a combination of far more players.

3. Can you think of any other psychologist from 100 years ago who is still as well-known today? What do you think are some of the important contributions of Freud? Why do you think psychologists are not so impressed with these contributions?

Often, it seems as if it is pioneers who are well-remembered in the sciences, or at least those who engender radical or controversial theories. Freud, as founder of the psychoanalytic school and theories of the unconscious mind was, of course, thrown into popularity with his work on sexual desire as a primary motivator of humans. Since Victorian society was so repressed, Freud's ideas resonated more precisely because of that repression. Additionally, Freud was at the…

Bacon's work is less centered on the individual himself as the center of reality and of the mechanism of understanding reality. His rational explanation of the world focuses on nature. His preface of Novum Organum gives some interesting details about his perception of the Nature as the common denominator of understanding reality, the basic premise and concept of all subsequent understanding. Similar to the understanding of Nietzsche and Darwin related solely on the individual, Nature is also very difficult to pinpoint, shouldn't be dogmatized through its unpredictability and capacity to remain a differentiated entity.

Bacon proposes a method that includes "determining certain degrees of certainty" and, a definite element of rationality, using the mind as the main instrument of identifying and understanding the reality surrounding us, although the senses are also something that should be taken into consideration into the equation of understanding reality. Thus, through Nature, using his mind…

As we can see, the absence of a Supreme Being from the discussion around understanding the reality around us leads to the necessity of finding another point of reference. In some cases, this point of reference is the individual (Nietzsche, Darwin), in others, it is the existing society (Plato) or nature itself (Bacon). It is from different perspectives that all these writers and philosophers attempt to understand and describe the same surrounding realities. The differences most likely comes from the different instruments used.

Darwin, Charles. 1871. Descent of Man. On the Internet at  http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/charles_darwin/descent_of_man/ chapter_01.html.Last retrieved on September 17, 2008

Bacon, Francis. 1620. Novum Organum. On the Internet at  http://history.hanover.edu/texts/Bacon/novorg.html.Last  retrieved on September 17, 2008

TED Talks

Ideas worth Spreading

Nina Jablonski breaks the illusion of skin color (TED2009, 2009)

Nina Joblonski opens by commenting on Darwin's pigmentation and his upbringing. She further speaks of his voyage on the Beagle and his interest in the pigmentation of humans. Darwin did not believe that there was any correlation to skin pigmentation and climate. However, Joblonski points out that if Darwin had access to NASA satellites that he may have come to a different conclusion. One of NASA's satellites has capabilities to monitor the Earth's radiation close to the surface. As a result, researchers today have been able to study skin pigmentation and the exposure to solar radiation and find that there is a perfect gradient and strong correlation between the two.

Therefore, skin color is a product of evolutionary forces as human adapted to their environments and their skin adapt to the levels of radiation that…

morning Here information seventh unit term. Once complete, left final paper. Unit 7: Scientific Revolution e've reached end journey. The Scientific Revolution represents development thinking world.

Attitudes during the Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution and the age of classical science have had a severe impact on society and made it possible for it to experience great progress as a consequence of the fact that technology had advanced significantly. Humanity was especially ignorant up to this point and technology actually made it possible for the masses to look at the world from a different perspective. People learnt that a lot of things they previously believed to be impossible were actually possible and joined the rest of the world in a struggle to achieve progress. The Scientific Revolution basically represents the moment when the social order started to experience massive reform as a result of technological advancements.

One of the first steps…

Works cited:

McClellan, James E. III and Dorn, Harold, "Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction," (JHU Press, Apr 14, 2006)

"The Age of Classical Science," Retrieved August 25, 2012, from the infoplease Website:  http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860978.html 

"The Scientific Revolution," Retrieved August 25, 2012, from the infoplease Website:  http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860977.html

East Asia, 1800-1912

Even with the fact that it would be absurd to claim that Charles Darwin is responsible for the spread of Imperialism, it would only be safe to say that he played an important role in making particular influential bodies in feeling justified as they were conquering other peoples and imposing their power in these areas. orld powers such as the British Empire and Spain were inspired to look at the world as an environment consisting out of communities who were superior and communities who were inferior. As a consequence, it seemed that only those who were superior were worthy to survive while others needed to make place for evolution.

The fact that the British Empire was one of the greatest powers in the world during the nineteenth century and that Darwin issued a series of theories during the period enabled the English to look at life from…

Works cited:

Hawkins, Mike, "Social Darwinism in European and American Thought, 1860-1945: Nature as Model and Nature as Threat," (Cambridge University Press, 13.03.1997)

"The New Imperialism," Retrieved Southern Utah University Website:  http://www.suu.edu/faculty/ping/pdf/TheNewImperialism.pdf

loodlines and Racism.

Discuss Spriro, Defending the Master Race

The book Defending the Master Race by Madison Grant viewed history through an entirely racial lens. Rather than conceptualizing history as a series of clashes between different civilizations or class struggles, Grant characterized history as a series of divisive exchanges between persons of different 'racial' status. What is so interesting from a modern perspective is that many of the 'races' perceived by the author, such as the Macedonian race or the Gothic race, do not exist within our current conception of what defines 'race.' This highlights how, rather than being a static construction that exists outside history, race is a culturally-constructed notion.

Grant even speaks of the 'American race,' which he sees as fundamentally Nordic. This notion is particularly odd, given that America is such a diverse country. America is a nation of immigrants, with the exception of the indigenous tribes…

Bibliography

Crossland, David. "Lebensborn children break silence." Der Spiegel. 7 Nov 2006.

Jackson, John P. & Nadine Weidman. Race, racism and science. New Brunswick: Rutgers

University Press, 2005.

Spiro, Jonathan Peter. Defending the master race. University of Vermont Press, 2008.

and, through the scientific study of modern, cognitive science, the idea that 'I' am doing the thinking in a way that is separate from my body and that this can be rationally deducted, simply by thinking and without scientific experimentation would be confounded.

However, those using empiricism as their main philosophical view of the world have also been able to twist the empiricism to use science's supposed rationalism and objectivity to justify tyranny of 'the best,' as in the case of eugenics, and the notion of 'survival of the fittest,' which suggests that the 'best' (morally, racially, and ethically) thrive and should be allowed to triumph over the 'weak.' In reality, Darwin's actual theory merely supports the idea that those best suited to an environment survive, not that survivors are innately better or superior creatures (a mutated moth that can blend in with a coal-blackened environment is not 'better' than…

This type of evolutionary thinking will challenge the initial creationist act as well. Many creationist currents, including the Christian one, believe that human life was also created through divine intervention, so any kind of such approach where life actually evolved to form the human being along the way takes away the special characteristics of human kind, as perceived by Christianity, for example. So, evolutionism virtually challenges the entire theological belief on the history of Earth and its inhabitants.

4. Logical positivism is based on general skepticism towards mythology, theology or metaphysics and on the idea that all true facts can and have to be verified in order to become veridical. In this sense, besides empiricism and materialism, verificationism is also one of the pillars on which logical positivism is based.

For a fact, proposition or idea to be cognitively meaningful, it has to be able to follow a particular path…

revolutionary thinkers held widely disparate viewpoints regarding war. Charles Darwin's viewpoint was based on the assumption that war was a manifestation of humans' "struggle for existence." In his book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1882) Darwin explained that natural selection was behind the development of certain human social qualities, namely sympathy, courage, and fidelity. Thus in a fight between two primitive human tribes, the tribe that had the most sympathetic, courageous, and secure warriors was most likely to succeed. ar was thus seen as being essential towards the diffusion of such noble qualities throughout the world.

Karl Marx's view towards war was that it was an essential aspect of the Communist revolution. In the Communist Manifesto (1848) he laid out the steps that would lead towards this revolution. The first step was that an inevitable "class struggle" would occur between workers and capitalists. This would…

Works Cited

Darwin, Charles. The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. 1882. Retrieved April 16, 2005 from British Library Online at: http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin2/texts.html

Grassie, William. "The fateful question in Freud's Civilization and its discontents." 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2005 from Temple University's Intellectual Heritage Website at:

http://isc.temple.edu/ih/IH52/Revolutions/Freud/FreudSet.htm

Zelnick, Stephen. "An introduction to the Communist Manifesto." N.d. Retrieved April 16, 2005 from Temple University's Intellectual Heritage Website at:

Anthro

"On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species" is a paper written in 1855 by the pioneering evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel allace. The article outlines a theory of evolution that predates Darwin's Origin of Species. In fact, allace's paper predated a letter that he wrote to Charles Darwin and which was a source of inspiration for the latter's work. allace wrote "On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species" in Sarawak, Borneo, but inside the article mentions the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin developed his theories. Islands may evolve peculiar variations of species due to their geographic isolation from continental masses. allace was well travelled and mentions a number of different geographic zones that are relevant to his research on biological evolution including zones in the Americas, Europe, and also Asia.

"On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species" discusses the…

Works Cited

Wallace, Alfred Russel. "On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species" Retrieved online:  http://www.esp.org/books/wallace/law.pdf 

Wells, H.G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. 1986.

The Argument- The theory of evolution was developed out of the work of 19th century botanist and explorer, Charles Darwin and his book On the Origin of Species. Essentially, it is a scientific theory that postulates that organisms change over time based on pressures from the environment that cause genetic mutations within the organism. Over time, these changes are more adapted to a specific environment, more of that organism live longer and reproduce more, thus causing those traits to become even more entrenched in the population. Life then, is part of a gigantic tree in which primitive organisms, over millions and millions of years, evolved into higher beings due to the product of two opposing forces: variation in traits (common or rare) and natural selection (which traits aid survival) (Understanding Evolution).

Creation Science is a branch of creationism that has resurfaced in American education after several Supreme Court decisions defined…

In his theory of evolution, Darwin argued that evolution occurred because of natural selection, wherein the determining principle is, "survival of the fittest." That is, in a given population and a given environment, certain individuals have certain characteristics that would make survive and thrive. As thriving happens, adaptation occurs, wherein the individual ensures that s/he is able to cope with the changes, state, and dynamics of his/her environment. This theory of evolution enforced the idea of competition and the concept of survival, concepts that became more relevant to societies as they became immersed in the industrialized economy and the eventual dominance of the capitalist economy, which is motivated also by the spirit of competition and 'survival of the fittest.'

The Victorian ethos was created and developed in the context of the emerging industrialization of economies in the 19th century. The Victorian ethos held that society is in progress, and that…

Polygenism, which posits that humans stem from a diversity of races and, therefore, have distinctions, is the converse of monogenism that posits that all of humanity is from one undifferentiated origin.

Whilst it is true that we each have our distinct cultural background and that these cultural backgrounds can be, occasionally, hugely different in values, practices, ways of thinking, opening, beliefs and so forth, monogenism, such as Christianity, nonetheless believes that we descend from one single set of parents i.e. Adam and Eve and have all been created by God. Banton sees 'race as descent' as the differences between races that could have likely occurred through moral (i.e. social / cultural) or physical (i.e. genetic or behavioral) causes. These differences exist. Monogenists believe that men came from the same source and had acquired these differences later due to environmental and correlated changes, whilst polygenists believe that men were different to…

References

Banton, M. The Idiom of Race in Black, Les & John Solomos, 2009. Theories of Race and Racism, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.

Jackson, J., Race, Racism, and Science: Social Impact and Interaction, Rutgers University Press, 2005

Billy Bob bought 100 shares of Stock in Ben's Barbeque, Inc. For $37.50 per share. He sold them in January, 2004 for a total of $9,715.02. What is Billy Bob's annual rate of return?

Since Billy Bob held the investment for 54 years, the annual rate of return is best calculated using the compound rate of return formula:

(Future Value / Present Value) ^ (1 / n) -- 1, where n = number of years.

Filling the data into the above formula:

Billy Bob's return on his investment in Ben's Barbeque is 1.78% per year.

Yellow Fruit Company's bonds are currently selling for $1,157.75 per $1,000 par-value bond. The bonds have a 10% coupon rate and will mature in 10 years. What is the approximate yield to maturity of the bonds?

ANSWE:

Using the following formula:

c (1 + r)-1 + c (1 + r)-2 + . . . +…

References

Block, S. And Hirt, G. (2005). Foundations of Financial Management, Eleventh Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Mayo, H. (1982). Finance. New York, NY: CBS College Publishing.

Science and religion have historically possessed a tumultuous relationship based upon the fact that the latter claims to hold the ultimate answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, while the former claims to hold the means to discovering many of these answers. Consequently, for much of human history they have been viewed as being analogous avenues to gaining knowledge of the world, merely attacked from different directions; science must eventually prove with reason what is already accepted upon faith. However, a number of scientific observations and interpretations have come into direct conflict with established doctrines of the western, Christian Church. These scientific theories have caused many to question the validity of their faith, and many others to question the validity of science. Usually, the conflicts originate from formalized interpretations of Christianity rather than upon the fundamental basis of faith. In other words, science can neither prove nor disprove the…

Works Cited:

1. Burke, James. The Day the Universe Changed. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

2. Cahn, Steven M. Classics of Western Philosophy: Fifth Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1999.

3. McClellan, James E., III and Harold Dorn. Science and Technology in World History: an Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

living things are characterized by the following seven characteristics namely mobility, respiration, excretion, sensitivity or response to external stimulus, growth, feeding, and reproduction. Though there may be variations between animal and plant kingdom (ex, plants take in carbon dioxide and prepare their own food), these characteristics are commonly observed among all living things.

iology is a very broad field that encompasses the study of characteristics of living things. It includes botany, zoology and all other sub-disciplines that range from microbiology to evolution and ecology.

Evolution is the branch of biology that deals with the study of natural development of living organisms and the changes in them over time. Evolution refers to the heritable changes that occur in a population over a period of time. All the diversity that is observed currently in plant and animal kingdom can be ascribed to evolution over a long period of time.

Atoms are the…

Bibliography

1) Mark Rothery, "Cells," Accessed on Sep 20th 2005, Available from http://www.mrothery.co.uk/cells/cellnotes.htm

Biopsychology

Nature and nature psychology explains the behavior of man and the origin of individual differences and their personalities. Nature and nature theories explain the origin of individual differences and type development of personality. In the history of developmental psychology, heredity- environment issue has been identified as the central touchstone of theoretical differences between nature and nurture. Darwin's theory of evolution has impact on notions of human origin and their abilities. In this theory the environment does the selecting on organisms and not vice versa; natural selection dictates that organisms will survive best in the environments they find themselves. Nature- nurture discussions imply that Darwin's evolutionary theory is nature driven, while it contains an interaction of both nature and nurture. Galton (a psychologist) uses twins in his studies to differentiate between nature and nurture. The study shows that twins had little variation on their similarities despite exposure to different environments.…

Maldive Shark, by Herman Melville. Specifically, it will contain answers to the following questions: How do the shark and pilot fish define the organization of nature? What influence might Darwin have had on such a view? Also, explain the "friendship" between the creatures. If beauty exists, what is it for? What is the benefit of life?

THE MALDIVE SHARK

The shark and the pilot fish work in tandem. The shark leaves the pilot fish alone, because the pilot fish leads the shark to prey, and the pilot fish lives near the shark in safety because it knows the shark will not harm it. This could be called a form of "team work," and Darwin would see it as such, and part of nature's plan in the natural selection process, which illustrates "survival of the fittest." The pilot fish adapted to survive by helping the shark. In nature, many plants and…

socal and cultural mpacts of establshng an eco-Toursm enterprse n Joao Pessoa, Brazl. The man focus of the dssertaton s on the followng areas:

An analyss of eco-toursm development

An assessment of the opportuntes - regonal, domestc, nternatonal

An evaluaton of the projects feasblty

An examnaton of the socal-cultural mpact of the eco-toursm

Brazl has a sanctuary of the fnest natural resources ("fauna & flora") n the world, and therefore toursm s n ascendence, and demands for md-class hotels are on the ncrease. The development of eco-toursm n specfc areas s antcpated due to partnershp wth local bankng ntutons; local government nterest and regulatons; and a general growth of awareness of the tenson between the tourst dollar, the envronment and local cultures.

Research Methods

Prmary research (ntervews and questonnares) wll be conducted to analyze the feasblty of the project. Secondary research wll be carred out, n the form of a…

i) Adventurers set out to discover other lands (e.g., Captain Cook) ii) People traveled for scientific research (e.g., Darwin) iii) People traveled for business (trade) iv) People traveled in order to visit friends and family (social), v) People traveled for leisure (relaxation) vi) People travel as Eco-Travelers (learners).

The development of tourism has influenced people and society, and has created thousands of organizations, at many levels: national and international, governmental or non- governmental. Tourism has thus led to the creation of million of jobs worldwide, in what is today is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Tourism has led people to confront different attitudes and to admire eclectic cultures. In addition, to be able to understand these cultures, society at large has had to adapt to the pluralism of cultures by learning languages other than their own, different types of gastronomy and music, and also by adopting a greater tolerance of different religions.

Accordingly to Kaluf (2001), the development of tourism has been worldwide, and has been sustaining a growth of 20% over last five years: 5% in mass tourism and an incredible 15% in

" Turkle claims that "our fragile planet needs our action in the real," which is exactly what the little girl was trying to point out. Her appreciating the animatronic animals more than the real ones is a product of technology saturation.

Technology has become an annoyance: we all experience the "sense of encroachment of the device" on our personal time and it is difficult to cut ourselves off from the world. Yet technology is a blessing. Turkle points out that the shy and inhibited are hiding behind their virtual selves. Indeed they are: to their advantage. Many readers would agree that technology has allowed the shy and socially awkward to engage socially with others without having to sweat or take anxiety medication.

Being constantly connected with the world is a choice we make. Technology is not deadening us to the world, as Turkle implies. Quite the opposite: technology is enhancing…

But this sense of a death of nationalism, or one's personal belief is different than Nietzsche's statement because no ideology has kind of hold Christianity did upon the world when Nietzsche wrote in 19th century Europe.

Response 2

Do you think we reached a point where we no longer need God?

On one hand, it is possible to see humanity's ability to engage in scientific discovery as proof of the glory of rationality as opposed to following the 'herd' of faith. But science can also confirm that human beings are not very important in the grand scheme of things, unlike most religions which are concerned with human choice and fate. Darwin's discovery that humans are descendents of primates, Mendel's realization that a great deal of our behavior is determined by our genes, even the discovery that the universe does not revolve around the earth shows us that much of our…

Evolution be Taught in Schools?

Introduction / Thesis (Part One)

The debate between those that believe in creationism -- or "intelligent design," a refined offshoot of the creationism theory -- and those who believe in the science of evolution, spilled over into the schools in the United States many years ago. Conservative Christians and others who are in denial vis-a-vis Charles Darwin's research and theory argue that at the very least their religious-based theories should be placed side-by-side in public school textbooks. Scientists, biologists, teachers, scholars and others who accept the empirical nature of scientific evolution have battled to keep creationism and intelligent design (ID) out of the science textbooks -- with some degree of success albeit in certain conservative communities and states politicians and school board members have overruled logic by those insisting that ID be part of science textbooks. Some objective scholarship sees this debate as another example…

Works Cited

Antolin, Michael F., and Herbers, Joan M. (2001). Perspective: Evolution's Struggle for Existence in America's Public Schools. International Journal of Organic Evolution, 55(12),

2379-2388.

Armenta, Tony, and Lane, Kenneth E. (2010). Tennessee to Texas: Tracing the Evolution

Controversy in Public Education. The Clearing House, 86(3), 76-79.

African-American Fixation and Modern Superiority in Sports

Sports are significant in many ways to any individual of the society and their values can notarize any political ideology. Sports have often been considered as a missionary tool of liberation, as anti-hegemonic. Fascists, communists, liberal marketers and filibusters have always revered sports. Even political group of dissidents has also vituperated sports, paradoxically. Sports have marked itself as the most powerful form of human expression during all of man's time. Sadly, sports fail to serve the United States ideology in any ways people decided to define democratic values during this, the American Century, when we became the most powerful purveyors of sports in all history (Gerald Early, Performance And Reality Race, Sports and the Modern orld).

Race does not comprise of a system consisting of the privileged or discredited abilities. It is rather an entirety of clashing rumination of what it means to…

Works Cited

Gerald E. 17 Aug. 1998. Performance And Reality Race, Sports and the Modern World.

The Nation, Sports: A View From Left To Right.

The African-American Sports Fixation. Available on the address http://istsocrates.berkeley.edu/~africam/sportsfix.pdf. Accessed on 14 Mar. 2003.

Black Children Still Victimized By Savage Inequalities. Available on the address  http://www.blackcommentator.com/13_education.html . Accessed on 14 Mar. 2003.

FACIAL EXPESSION & EMOTION

Psychology

From the perspective of many psychologists, there is no set formal definition for emotion. We know that emotion is universal insofar as all humans experience and express emotion. There have been many studies, specifically over the past several decades that demonstrate that some emotions are expressed universally across time and culture. Just because there is not a universal definition for emotion, does not mean that there are not working definitions of what is emotion is, as a means to do the job in the meantime, until the global psychological field comes to a more overall agreement. On a very basic level, emotion is an affective change from a person's previous emotional state as a result of a huge spectrum of stimuli. There are a number of physical representations of emotion in the human body. Emotion occurs on a neurological level. Emotions show up in parts…

References:

Abelson, R.P., & Sermat, V. (1962). Multidimensional scaling of facial expressions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(6), 546-554.

Adolphs, R. (2002). Recognizing Emotion From Facial Expressions: Psychological and Neurological Mechanisms. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 1(1), 21 -- 62.

Browndyke, PhD, J.N. (2002). Neuropsychosocial Factors in Emotion Recognition: Facial Expressions. Telepsychology Solutions, Web, Available from: www.neuropsychologycentral.com. 2012 December 04.

Dimberg, U., Thuberg, M., Elmehed, K. (2000). Unconscious Facial Reactions to Emotional Facial Expressions. Psychological Science, 11(1), 86 -- 90.

Action

Men: First Class deals with a plethora of socio-political issues that ultimately pertain to the concept of freedom. The basis for the plot of the movie is the Cuban Missile Crisis and the role that an unknown, manipulative power of mutants played in almost staging -- and narrowly averting -- a nuclear war in the early part of the 1960s. hat is of particular interest about this aspect of the film was that the historical epoch rendered within it was a turbulent time for African-Americans, who sought Civil Rights throughout the United States during the years prior to and after those depicted in the movie. Although none of this history manages to infiltrate the plot of the film, it is still noteworthy to analyze the way African-American characters are utilized within this movie in a context that is decidedly removed from the greater social struggles that characterized their race…

Works Cited

X:Men: First Class. Dir. Matthew Vaughn. Perf. Michael Fassbender, January Jones, James McAvoy. 20th Century Fox., 2011. Film.

Evolution Is True

What Is Evolution?

This chapter highlights the six elements that make up evolution: 1) growth/evolution; 2) gradualism; 3) speciation; 4) shared origins; 5) natural selection; and 6) nonselective evolutionary change mechanisms (Coyne, 2009). Of these, the foremost is the evolution concept itself, which implies genetic modification of any given species with time. To elaborate, over a number of generations, species of animals may transform into a rather different animal because of DNA modifications whose origins lie in the mutation process within the body. The gradualism concept constitutes the second element of the theory of evolution. Over several generations, a significant evolutionary transformation occurs in the species (e.g., reptiles' transformation into birds). The subsequent elements may be considered two halves of one coin. It is an incredible and unbelievable fact that although innumerable living species exist, each and every one has a few common basic characteristics, including the…

References

Coyne, J. A. (2009). Why evolution is true. Penguin

Neuner, K. (2012). Why Evolution Is True - Notes & Review. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from  https://vialogue.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/why-evolution-is-true-notes-review/ 

Vecchi, D. (2009). Review - Why Evolution is True. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from  http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=4953

By coming into contact with nature cultures such as the Native American tribes, religions in the Western world were no longer the same. eligious fundamentalism became the basis for many of the often violent interactions between the different cultures, religions, and ways of life. This was the basis for later violence against all who did not agree with the religious norm, for example in events such as the Salem Witch Trials.

Today, this same fundamentalism insists that every word in the Bible or other religious documents should be taken literally. According to this view, the story of creation simply could not agree with Darwinism. The long American history of using religion as a basis for many actions, both good an bad, plays an important role in this.

However, it is also true that there is an increasing trend within Christianity to return to the earlier point-of-view, accepting both Darwinism and…

Reference

McGrath, a.E. (1999) Science & Religion: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

hile the winner gets a huge amount of money for supposedly being the strongest human, in fact, the strongest human is merely the one that uses the greatest amount of self-centered cunning and brute strength. If one is going to define humanity, especially in the post-Darwinian age, then it would seem that humanity, to be set apart, would depend on altruistic feelings and use of intelligence rather than selfish feelings and use of brute force alone. In this respect, there is little to separate the producers of TV reality shows from Dr. Moreau, and, by extension, little to separate the participants from the man-beasts. hile it is certainly a cynical viewpoint, it would seem that those who participate in the reality shows might be assumed to be as dimly aware of their condition as the man-beasts after their reversion to the more animal state.

Graff compares Dr. Moreau to Mary…

Works Cited

Bergonzi, Bernard. The Early H.G. Wells: A Study of the Scientific Romances. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester UP (1961).

Graff, Ann-Barbara. "Administrative Nihilism': Evolution, Ethics and Victorian Utopian Satire." Utopian Studies 12.2 (2001): 33+. Questia. 27 Sept. 2005  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001049071 .

Hillegas, Mark. The Future as Nightmare: H.G. Wells and the Anti-Utopians. New York: Oxford UP (1967).

Sirabian, Robert. "The Conception of Science in Wells's the Invisible Man." Papers on Language & Literature 37.4 (2001): 382. Questia. 27 Sept. 2005  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000917120 .

Nonetheless, an argument from common sense can be made based on our own observational context. For example, neurologically speaking, there is a wealth of evidence to illustrate that genes have an immense impact on the final structure of the brain, and thus on behavior. Schizophrenia is an obvious example of this.

Logically, though, there is also abundant support for Dawkins' thesis. oughly, an argument can be shown to be logically viable if its conclusions can be reasonably drawn from its suppositions based on the available evidence. This is abundantly the case in the Selfish Gene, wherein Dawkins (1976) draws on all the existing evidence on evolutionary theory and the development of life, including the mechanism of natural selection (p. 48) and DNA as the molecule of choice for genetic propagation (pp. 22-23). The evidence that Dawkins provides is, quite simply, sufficient to support his argument that the gene should be…

References

Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hergenhahn, B.R. (2005). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. 5th ed. Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.

Minimizing Poverty Is a Government Initiative

The Progressive Era

Poverty reduction has remained a central debate in periodical democratic societies. Schemes have been established to enable citizens to be economically viable either at paid-employment or self-employment level. Activists, philosophers, and politicians have suggested technical, liberal, and legal approaches towards poverty eradication. In fact, most of the debate in relation to the field of poverty examines whether poverty is a natural phenomenon associated with human beings. As this report will identify, fighting poverty is a double-edged sword since, after all, poverty is not the only member of the league. Close players include capitalism and politics. The commencing research proves that reducing poverty is a sequential process that requires considerate participation from all stakeholders. The research will principally cite Darwin's Social Darwinism theory, the 1933-1936 national initiative New Deal and Johnson Lyndon Economic Opportunity Act.

Social Darwinism vs. Progressivism

Introduction

There are…

References

Claeys, G. (2000). The "Survival Of The Fittest" And The Origins Of Social Darwinism. Journal of the History of Ideas, 61(2), 223.

Davies, G. (1992). War On Dependency: Liberal Individualism And The Economic Opportunity Act Of 1964. Journal of American Studies, 26(02), 205.

Hausman, W.J. (2007). Jason Scott Smith. Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956. Enterprise and Society, 8 (2), 459-461.

Johnston, R.D. (2013). Review Class Unknown: Undercover Investigations of American Work and Poverty from the Progressive Era to the Present Pittenger Mark New York University Press New York. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998), 106 (2), 347-349.

Selfish Gene

The main theme used by Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene" is that of doubt. For example, as Dawkins speaks about how due to the results of teaching, people have come to assume that traits inherited genetically are fixed and cannot be modified (Dawkins, 3). Even though genes may program one to be selfish, one is not necessarily forced to comply with the traits he or she inherited, all the time. It would also be somewhat difficult for one to learn how to be unselfish, if he or she was not in the first place, genetically modified, to be unselfish (Dawkins, 3).

Unlike all animals, man is largely influenced by the environment or culture, and other influences that have been inherited from his ancestors. Some would argue that culture is such an important influence to man in that whether or not one has selfish genes, it does not matter…

Works cited

Gray, John. "The Closed Mind of Richard Dawkins." 2014. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. No. 199. Oxford university press, 2006.

Feynman, Richard. "The Uncertainty of Science"

Dobbs, David. "Why It's Time to Lay the Selfish Gene to Rest -- David Dobbs -- Aeon." Aeon Magazine. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.