{"id":4841,"date":"2019-02-12T06:22:51","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T13:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secularhub.org\/blog\/?p=4841"},"modified":"2019-02-12T12:16:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T19:16:06","slug":"happy-birthday-mister-darwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secularhub.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/happy-birthday-mister-darwin\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Mister Darwin!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Robert Darwin<\/a> was born 210 years ago today, which seems like a long time to most humans.\u00a0 That time is about a microsecond in the geologic time scale<\/a> (GTS) that expresses the history of our planet.\u00a0 Would Darwin be impressed by how far our understanding of life has evolved?<\/p>\n

\"Darwin's<\/a>In 1837, Darwin wrote in his notes (see image) “I think case must be that one generation should have as many living as now. To do this and to have as many species in same genus (as is) requires extinction . Thus between A + B the immense gap of relation. C + B the finest gradation. B+D rather greater distinction. Thus genera would be formed. Bearing relation” (next page begins) “to ancient types with several extinct forms.”<\/p>\n

To be fair, it is likely this thought had occurred to other people before this time, but were never published.\u00a0 It took Darwin, twenty-two years to gather evidence and develop the idea and the courage to publish his most famous work\u00a0On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life<\/strong><\/em><\/a> published on November 22, 1859.\u00a0 In 1844, Darwin wrote<\/a> to Joseph Dalton Hooker<\/a>, \u201cAt last gleams of light have come, & I am almost convinced (quite contrary to opinion I started with) that species are not (it is like confessing a murder<\/strong>) immutable. Heaven forfend me from Lamarck<\/a> nonsense of a \u201ctendency to progression\u201d \u201cadaptations from the slow willing of animals…\u201d<\/p>\n

Darwin opened up a can of worms or should I say bacteria with his theory which is still being debated today.\u00a0 Although the debate today is much different than in Darwin’s time.\u00a0 So like life, knowledge evolves as well.\u00a0 The tree of life looks much different than Darwin’s first drawing.<\/p>\n

\"Modern<\/a>What strikes me about this modern version of the tree of life is the dominance of bacteria. Bacteria are colored blue, eukaryotes red, and archaea green.\u00a0 This shows the diversity in bacteria, it does not indicate the abundance of bacteria on earth where the biomass has been estimated<\/a> to be greater that all plants and animals combined.\u00a0 Another interesting fact about bacteria is they evolve at a rate that is observable in a short time-frame.\u00a0 The video below shows bacteria evolving antibiotic resistance in a matter of days.<\/p>\n