1.

Tomany,evolutiongnawsattheirsenseofself.Ifevolutionoffersa
lesson,itseemstobethatwerenotonlyrelatedtoothercreatures,but,like
them,alsotheproductofblindandimpersonalevolutionaryforces.If
humansarejustoneofmanyoutcomesofnaturalselection,maybewe
arentsospecialafterall.Youcanunderstandwhythisdoesntsitwellwith
manypeoplewhothinkthatwecameintobeinginadifferentwayfrom
otherspecies,asthespecialgoalofadivineintention.Doesourexistence
haveanypurposeormeaningthatdistinguishesusfromothercreatures?
Evolutionisalsothoughttoerodemorality.If,afterall,wearesimply
beasts,thenwhynotbehavelikebeasts?Whatcankeepusmoralifwere
nothingmorethanmonkeyswithbigbrains?Nootherscientifictheory
producessuchangst,orsuchpsychologicalresistance.
Itsclearthatthisresistancestemslargelyfromreligion.Youcanfind
religionswithoutcreationism,butyouneverfindcreationismwithout
religion.Manyreligionsnotonlydeemhumansasspecial,butdeny
evolutionbyassertingthatwe,likeotherspecies,wereobjectsofan
instantaneouscreationbyadeity.Whilemanyreligiouspeoplehavefound
awaytoaccommodateevolutionwiththeirspiritualbeliefs,nosuch
reconciliationispossibleifoneadherestotheliteraltruthofaspecial
creation.ThatiswhyoppositiontoevolutionissostrongintheUnited
StatesandTurkey,wherefundamentalistbeliefsarepervasive.

2. Squidsandflatfishchangecolorandpatterntoblendinwiththeir
surroundings,becominginvisibletopredatorandprey.Batshaveradarto
homeinoninsectsatnight.Hummingbirds,whichcanhoverinplaceand
changepositioninaninstant,arefarmoreagilethananyhumanhelicopter,
andhavelongtonguestosipnectarlyingdeepwithinflowers.Andthe
flowerstheyvisitalsoappeardesignedtousehummingbirdsassexaids.
For,whilethehummingbirdisbusysippingnectar,theflowerattaches
pollentoitsbill,enablingittofertilizethenextflowerthatthebirdvisits.
3.

Whenwecometoinspectthewatch,weperceive...thatitsseveralpartsare
framedandputtogetherforapurpose,e.g.thattheyaresoformedandadjustedas
toproducemotion,andthatmotionsoregulatedastopointoutthehourofthe
day;that,ifthedifferentpartshadbeendifferentlyshapedfromwhattheyare,ifa
differentsizefromwhattheyare,orplacedafteranyothermanner,orinanyother
orderthanthatinwhichtheyareplaced,eithernomotionatallwouldhavebeen
carriedoninthemachine,ornonewhichwouldhaveansweredtheusethatisnow
servedbyit....Everyindicationofcontrivance,everymanifestationofdesign,
whichexistedinthewatch,existsintheworksofnature;withthedifference,on
thesideofnature,ofbeinggreaterandmore,andthatinadegreewhichexceeds
allcomputation.

Thefirstistheideaofevolutionitself.Thissimplymeansthataspecies
undergoesgeneticchangeovertime.Thatis,overmanygenerationsa
speciescanevolveintosomethingquitedifferent,andthosedifferencesare
basedonchangesintheDNA,whichoriginateasmutations.Thespeciesof
animalsandplantslivingtodaywerentaroundinthepast,butare
descendedfromthosethatlivedearlier.Humans,forexample,evolved
fromacreaturethatwasapelike,butnotidenticaltomodernapes.
5. Thesecondpartofevolutionarytheoryistheideaofgradualism.Ittakes
manygenerationstoproduceasubstantialevolutionarychange,suchasthe
evolutionofbirdsfromreptiles.Theevolutionofnewfeatures,likethe
teethandjawsthatdistinguishmammalsfromreptiles,doesnotoccurin
justoneorafewgenerations,butusuallyoverhundredsorthousands
evenmillionsofgenerations.True,somechangecanoccurveryquickly.
Populationsofmicrobeshaveveryshortgenerations,someasbriefas
twentyminutes.Thismeansthatthesespeciescanundergoalotof
evolutioninashorttime,accountingforthedepressinglyrapidriseofdrug
resistanceindiseasecausingbacteriaandviruses.
6. speciationsimplymeanstheevolutionofdifferentgroupsthatcant
interbreedthatis,groupsthatcantexchangegenes.Whatwewouldhave
seenhadwebeenaroundwhenthiscommonancestorbegantosplitis
simplytwopopulationsofasinglereptilianspecies,probablylivingin
differentplaces,beginningtoevolveslightdifferencesfromoneanother.
Overalongtime,thesedifferencesgraduallygrewlarger.Eventuallythe
twopopulationswouldhaveevolvedsufficientgeneticdifferencethat
membersofthedifferentpopulationscouldnotinterbreed.(Therearemany
waysthiscanhappen:membersofdifferentanimalspeciesmaynolonger
findeachotherattractiveasmatesor,iftheydomatewitheachother,the
offspringcouldbesterile.Differentplantspeciescanusedifferent
pollinatorsorfloweratdifferenttimes,preventingcrossfertilization.)
7. Itstandstoreasonthatifthehistoryoflifeformsatree,withallspecies
originatingfromasingletrunk,thenonecanfindacommonoriginfor
everypairoftwigs(existingspecies)bytracingeachtwigbackthroughits
branchesuntiltheyintersectatthebranchtheyhaveincommon.Thisnode,
asweveseen,istheircommonancestor.Andiflifebeganwithonespecies
andsplitintomillionsofdescendantspeciesthroughabranchingprocess,it
followsthateverypairofspeciessharesacommonancestorsometimein
thepast.Closelyrelatedspecies,likecloselyrelatedpeople,hadacommon
ancestorthatlivedfairlyrecently,whilethecommonancestorofmore
distantlyrelatedspecies,likethatofdistanthumanrelatives,livedfarther
backinthepast.Thus,theideaofcommonancestrythefourthtenetof
Darwinismistheflipsideofspeciation.Itsimplymeansthatwecan
4.

alwayslookbackintime,usingeitherDNAsequencesorfossils,andfind
descendantlineagesfusingattheirancestors.
8. Theideaofnaturalselectionisnothardtograsp.Ifindividualswithina
speciesdiffergeneticallyfromoneanother,andsomeofthosedifferences
affectanindividualsabilitytosurviveandreproduceinitsenvironment,
theninthenextgenerationthegoodgenesthatleadtohighersurvival
andreproductionwillhaverelativelymorecopiesthanthenotsogood
genes.Overtime,thepopulationwillgraduallybecomemoreandmore
suitedtoitsenvironmentashelpfulmutationsariseandspreadthroughthe
population,whiledeleteriousonesareweededout.Ultimately,thisprocess
producesorganismsthatarewelladaptedtotheirhabitatsandwayoflife.
9. ThewoolymammothinhabitedthenorthernpartsofEurasiaandNorth
America,andwasadaptedtothecoldbybearingathickcoatofhair
(entirefrozenspecimenshavebeenfoundburiedinthetundra).It
probablydescendedfrommammothancestorsthathadlittlehairlike
modernelephants.Mutationsintheancestralspeciesledtosomeindividual
mammothslikesomemodernhumanstobehairierthanothers.When
theclimatebecamecold,orthespeciesspreadintomorenortherlyregions,
thehirsuteindividualswerebetterabletotoleratetheirfrigidsurroundings
andleftmoreoffspringthantheirbaldercounterparts.Thisenrichedthe
populationingenesforhairiness.Inthenextgeneration,theaverage
mammothwouldbeabithairierthanbefore.Letthisprocesscontinueover
somethousandsofgenerations,andyoursmoothmammothgetsreplaced
byashaggyone.Andletmanydifferentfeaturesaffectyourresistanceto
cold(forexample,bodysize,amountoffat,andsoon),andthosefeatures
willchangeconcurrently.
10. processesotherthannaturalselectionthatcancauseevolutionarychange.
Themostimportantissimplerandomchangesintheproportionofgenes
causedbythefactthatdifferentfamilieshavedifferentnumbersof
offspring.Thisleadstoevolutionarychangethat,beingrandom,has
nothingtodowithadaptation.Theinfluenceofthisprocessonimportant
evolutionarychange,though,isprobablyminor,becauseitdoesnothave
themoldingpowerofnaturalselection.Naturalselectionremainstheonly
processthatcanproduceadaptation.
11. PAGE17,platetectonics
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