6) and therefore the characteristics of populations change over generations.
I'd also amend #5 to read
5) those which do are therefore able to pass their genes down to the next
generation, and with those genes, some of those variations.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
On 12/28/05, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Fellow Canuck and former student Jean-Marc from the real True North Strong and
Free asked about a good introduction to evolution for first-year students. Two
suggestions were the on-line sources Wikipedia and the TalkOrigins website.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that both have too many trees and not enough
forest. If that analogy's too obscure, what I mean is that they both do nicely
on the fine points of evolution without giving students the big picture. The
underlying idea of evolution is blindingly simple, logical, and powerful. It
goes something like this, although I'm sure it could be expressed with greater
elegance:
1) Organisms produce offspring in large numbers over time
2) The offspring vary in many ways, including (of particular relevance to
psychology), behaviour
3) There is competition within and across species for survival in a particular
evironment
4) Certain of the variations increase the effectiveness of reproduction in that
environment
5) those which do are therefore able to pass their genes down to the next
generation.
Or, in Darwin's famous phrase, 'One general law, leading to the advancement of
all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the
weakest die" (although I'd caution that "strongest" and "weakest" mean in terms
of reproductive success in a particular environment, not in terms of strength.
Those who produce the most babies win).
I would think that most introductory biology texts would have a section on
evolution which would provide that information and elaborate on it, something
which appears to be lacking in both Wikipedia and TalkOrigins. I'd browse a
few of those texts to find the best.
Stephen
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Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7
Canada
Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at
http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm
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