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Category: Theology

His expectations of intermediate fossils
4. His expectation of intermediate fossils

4. His expectation of intermediate fossils

His expectation of intermediate fossils During his life, Charles Darwin was puzzled over the fossil record. For it to back his theory, the evidence should show a fine gradation between the different animal species and have millions of intermediate links. He stated it this way: "The number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory [of evolution] be true, such have lived upon the earth" (The Origin…

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His ideas about the information inside the cell
3. His ideas about the information inside the cell

3. His ideas about the information inside the cell

His ideas about the information inside the cell Back in Darwin’s day, scientists didn’t know what type or quantity of information was embedded within the cell. Darwin assumed it would be very elementary—only a few instructions to tell the cell how to function. Because he believed in the simplicity of the information of the cell, he came up with a theory called "pangenesis," where huge variations simply popped out of cells at random—something that was later proven to be entirely…

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The supposed simplicity of the cell
2. The supposed simplicity of the cell

2. The supposed simplicity of the cell

The supposed simplicity of the cell Consider for a moment the simple, humble bacteria. What Charles Darwin saw under a crude microscope looked quite primitive—a rounded glob of matter called "protoplasm"—and he thought it consisted of a few elementary components that could be easily assembled. Yet today we know bacteria contain complex molecular machines, each bacterium being more like a sophisticated automobile factory with multiple robotic devices and a complex control center. As molecular biologist Jonathan Wells and mathematician William…

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The warm little pond theory
1. The “Warm little pond” theory

1. The “Warm little pond” theory

The "warm little pond" theory Charles Darwin once wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker about the possibility of life arising spontaneously from "some warm little pond." During his day, some scientists still believed in "spontaneous generation," the idea that life can arise from nonlife—which was Darwin’s hope. Later, the famous French scientist Louis Pasteur decisively refuted the idea, and 150 years of observation and experimentation have confirmed these results. It turns out life is supremely more complex than Darwin…

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