Study Questions - Evolution and the History of Evolutionary Thought
1) Define evolution.
2) Why is reproductive isolation a particularly good criteria to use for a species, from a genetics perspective?
3) What are the four dogmas of Platonic essentialism?
4) How did Plato's approach differ from that of Hippocrates?
5) How did they jibe with the tenets of Christianity, facilitating the cultural shift to the Holy Roman Empire?
6) What were Arisototle's views of living systems?
7) How did Usher determine that the first day of Biblical creation was Oct 23, 4004?
8) The Renaissance saw the emancipation of physics from theology, with the defining of constant physical laws. Curiously this had a counter-intutive effect on the relationship between biology and theology. Explain.
9) What were the major contributions of Linnaeus?
10) What was Paley's "watchmaker" analogy of design?
11) What is an unconformity and why did it suggest to Hutton that there was a 'rock cycle?
12) What observations led Hutton to conclude that the Earth was unimaginably old?
13) Lamarck concluded that organisms evolve. How did he use this conclusion to support his theology of a perfect creation?
14) Describe Lamarcks mechanism of evolutionary change.
15) St. Hilaire made an important contribution by linking morphological divergence to environmental pressure. Explain.
16) What argument did Cuvier use to undermine Lamarck's hypothesis of use and disuse?
17) What argument did Cuvier make to undermine St. Hilaire's arguments for the environment changing particular structures?