| The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Life on the Edge Worlds Apart Worlds Apart The late, and sorely missed, Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, had a wonderful analogy for the idea that the universe was created by "intelligent design." He asked you to imagine a puddle formed in a depression after a rainstorm. The puddle looks around at the shape of the hole in which it finds itself, and thinks: "This is amazing! This hole fits me perfectly. Its contours match my contours exactly. That can't be a coincidence. What are the chances of that? Obviously, this hole must have been designed with me in mind." The puddle remains convinced that it is special as it gradually dries, for it continues to conform to the shape of the hole. After the water has completely evaporated, the hole awaits the next rainstorm and another naïve puddle. Still, reasoning and reality are unlikely ever to convince some people that there is overwhelming evidence that all life forms on Earth evolved from earlier species. Eugenie Scott explains in "In My Backyard," how the movement against Darwin's "theory" has itself evolved. Some of the proponents, having abandoned any attempt to find scientific evidence in support of their ideas, now call their latest approach "Evidence Against Evolution." After all, for those who follow a literal Bible, acknowledging the process of natural selection would undermine their whole belief structure. That's just not going to happen. So what harm is there in rejecting evolution? It hasn't stopped a few individuals from rising to some of the highest positions in the land. First and foremost, it doesn't auger well for the state of science education in the United States. Jerold Lowenstein in "Everyday Evolution" points out at least two pitfalls in medicine: organ transplants between incompatible species, and the rise of drug resistance among bacteria and viruses. Tracing changes in some of our most dangerous diseases tells us that after germs are killed by the latest medicines, new pathogens resistant to the drugs soon multiply to fill the void. Excessively and inappropriately prescribing drugs doesn't take pathogen evolution into account. Without an understanding of evolution, it would be hard to prospect intelligently for fossil fuels, or study the stars for a history of the universe, or envision the possibility of life elsewhere. This, perhaps, may partly explain why the Hubble Space Telescope, probably the most effective instrument ever devised for learning about the stars, is facing a premature and unnecessary demise. It would also be hard to understand biochemistry or agricultural research or a myriad other disciplines without a basic understanding of how science works. How many of our country's potential scientists are being deprived of the chance to shine? Susan McCarthy, writing in "Living on Bristlecone Time" about the immense age of bristlecones in California's White Mountains, shows how scientists have established an almost complete calendar of bristlecone tree rings that goes back some 8,700 years. (That's about 2,700 years older than the universe, according to Bishop James Ussher, who, in the late fifteenth century, added up all the begats in the Bible.) It's hard to believe that even in death the bristlecone seems indestructible, and that occasional ancient trunks still lie undisturbed on the floor of California's desert. Meanwhile, Robert Adler's "Then There Was Light," takes us back 13 billion years to a time 200 million years after the birth of the universe, when light first broke through the mists of hydrogen. It will be hard to venture back further, especially without the otherworldly vision of the Hubble telescope. Keith K. Howell is Editor of California Wild. |