Natural Beauty. Inherent Curiosity Remains As A Foundation

Famine, disease, odor, anger are all experienced while on a voyage to the new world in the seventeenth century. In Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith’s The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown, the authors’ chronicle the struggles and adventures of the Virginia Company in England. When reading this novel, the main points that stood out most to me was that colonization of America presented a lucrative enterprise and companies will go to great extremes to access the available wealth. The authors of The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown changed my view on early American colonization in regards to the interactions between natives and Europeans, the abuse of religion, and the harsh conditions settlers endured.

This book has been molded to be a breakdown of how various fields in science have progressed over centuries as mankind has advanced. The book starts off introducing the idea that the telling of natural history has changed numerous times as humans have evolved. We also learn to agree that our knowledge has been shaped by the tools available and the perceptions of its users. In the earliest stages of life, Muehlbauer states “…observers of the natural world had only their senses to work with, and were limited to visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory descriptions perceived by the unaided

Evolution is the key thread running throughout this text, signifying its importance to the author and readers. It is emphasized greatly because that is how we understand ourselves, our past, present and even the future. Through evolution we have discovered when the first organisms came around and how modifications led to the first fish to migrate to land about 375 million years

There are many differences present between species in the animal kingdom. There are also many variations of breeds, mutations within the same species, behavior, etc. Neil Shubin’s “Your Inner Fish” focuses on the similarities rather than differences of behaviors, variation in animal psychology, and morphology because of habitat. This book emphasizes three types of evidence. The first are the similarities between body parts of living creatures to compare common ancestry. The second are the indications from microbiology to also compare common ancestry. Finally, the details provided of the “missing link” between amphibians and fish.

Embryological Evidence – similarities in early embryos can indicate they came from a common ancestor.

With a writing style that is enabled by an obvious adoration of the subject, Neil Shubin explores the predecessors of the human species in his book Your Inner Fish. Shubin draws upon his unique background as a paleontologist, embryologist, and geneticist to trace defining phenotypical traits that are inherent to humans to even the simplest of organisms. He delves into the difficult details of evolution that have long remained mysteries until recent years, specifically analyzing the transition from water to land, the rise of vision, basic body plans and scent. The magic of the book is that although these discoveries required the brightest minds of the past two centuries, Shubin unwraps them in a delightful manner that is interesting to both high school student and university professor. Your Inner Fish is meant to be persuasive, to educate and formulate opinions. By tracking these seeming complexities of human development, Shubin attempts to persuade a broad audience in the veracity of the common ancestor.

The study of science is defined as that which deals with the workings of the physical world we are able to observe and measure. The origin of life, however, is a topic that science has long grappled with, despite the impossibility of observing or proving any origins theory in a strictly scientific manner. Today, the widely accepted theory of life’s beginning is the theory of Evolution by mutation and natural selection, or Neo-Darwinism. Most people in our modern society accept this theory at face value because it is popular with the majority of scientists, but it must always be taken into account that our origins cannot be proven scientifically and that, in fact, the theory of Evolution is not the only or even the most logical theory

Different organisms that have similar basic structures, but can be used for different purposes are evidence for a common ancestor. These are called homologous structures. An example is the pentadactyl limb, which is the basic structure found in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The basic structure is formed of:

Over the past few centuries, humans have been questioning and debating over what makes evolution true. In Jerry Coyne’s work, Why Evolution is True, he noted two kinds of evidence from Darwin’s theory of evolution. The first evidence includes the six testable predictions of evolution: evolution, gradualism, speciation, common-ancestry, natural selection, and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change. The second evidence that Coyne noted in his work is the retrodiction. In Coyne’s work, Why Evolution is True, a retrodiction is the facts and data that are not necessarily predicted by the theory of evolution but it makes sense only in the light of the theory of evolution. Retrodiction uses present theories to explain events that happens in the past. Since evolution is a slow process, theories could not be tested. Therefore, we explain the existence of vestigial structures and how humans share a common ancestor with fish through the theory of evolution. Throughout the text, examples of retrodiction are the imperfect adaptation of a panda’s thumb and gill slits in the beginning stages of a human embryo. Common ancestry is proven by the existence of fossils and these evidences proves that evolution is true.

Although Darwin’s (1809-1882) work in evolutionary observation might appear radically different from those focused on other areas, the theories he developed from these observation lead to such groundbreaking publishing’s as The Origin of Species. These intern caused an upset within the then accepted norms of philosophy and religion, had a profound impact on the academia, and further

Philosopher Elliott Sober’s argument regarding Darwin’s theory and 20th century perspectives on Intelligent Design supports that evolutionary theory does not involve the existence of God, but rather is trying to determine how life in the universe started and how organisms have evolved overtime. During his argument, he made statements that were beneficial to his argument of Darwin’s theory and 20th century perspective on Intelligent Design. Prof. Sober first defines evolutionary theory and explained that Darwin tried to point out that present species trace back to common ancestors and that evolutionists try to trace-back where species originated from, rather than trying to start up from the few start-up species. His statements are beneficial

We are intrinsically connected to other animals. Through embryology we know that our limbs initially develop in a similar configuration as 380-million-year-old fish Eusthenopteron: “with elbows and knees facing in the same direction” (Shubin, p. 43). Additionally, in primitive creatures there are genetic links. A mixture of genes similar to Pax 6 and Pax 2 (the genes that control eye and ear development in humans) is found in box jellyfish, which helps explain why a lot of human birth problems arise in both the eyes and ears (Shubin, p. 172). Though today we look very dissimilar to these creatures, we share evolutionary roots.

Among these are the biochemical pathways that we use to create vitality, our standard four-letter DNA code, and how that code is perused and deciphered into proteins. This lets us know that each species backtracks to a solitary normal predecessor, a progenitor who had those regular characteristics and passed them on to its relatives. Be that as it may, if development implied just continuous hereditary change inside an animal varieties, we 'd have stand out species today a solitary exceedingly advanced relative of the principal species. However we have numerous: well more than ten million species occupy our planet today, and we know of a further quarter million as fossils. Life is different. How can this assorted qualities emerge from one hereditary structure? This requires

The atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere all bear witness to a Designer. Tradition bears witness, for even Epicurus himself is attributed with the following; ‘it is profane to apply to the gods the beliefs of the vulgar’ (Bacon, 2005). To be certain, Darwinian evolution is a vulgar belief. It leads to, as C.S. Lewis contended, The Abolition of Man. The Scriptures have spoken on the matter. Tradition has spoken through the examination of Earth Science, as well as certain histories of Christian and Hellenistic thought on the matter. May reason have a final say in the matter through application of understanding the history of the world, as well as continued enjoyment in the experiences of living for the fullest

Several elements of mythology are present in the story, “Rip Van Winkle”, written by Washington Irving. This story takes place in the Catskill Mountains where Rip Van Winkle wanders off in hopes of fleeing his, “shrew”, of a wife. Rip encounters peculiar men who offer him a strange brew and he finds himself waking 20 years in the future. Each of these elements, the setting, mysterious characters, and the strange environments show the different characteristics of a mythological story. As the story opens, the reader finds the setting to be on the Hudson River looking at the Catskill Mountains.