Latest news with #OntheOriginofSpecies
AU Financial Review
28-05-2025
- Science
- AU Financial Review
Charles Darwin's nervous book launch was like no other
In November 1859, the naturalist Charles Darwin was taking the 'water cure' in West Yorkshire and preparing to release his seminal work, On the Origin of Species . His voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, which inspired his thinking on evolution, was 20 years past. Ever since, he had been gathering evidence for his theory in secret.
The Herald Scotland
22-04-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Origin and evolution of Darwin's work honoured by UNESCO
Scientists have said the collection - the majority of which was unknown or unpublished until now - shows the 'extraordinary extent' of Darwin's research. A collaboration between the National Library of Scotland, Cambridge University Library, the Natural History Museum, the Linnean Society of London, English Heritage's Down House and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew provides a unique window into the life and work of one of the world's most influential natural scientists. Darwin died in 1882 and an inventory of his home recorded more than 2,000 bound books. Read More: Arran awarded Global Geopark status by UNESCO The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme serves as the documentary heritage equivalent of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, protecting invaluable records that tell the story of human civilisation. It highlights its critical importance to global science and the necessity of its long-term preservation and accessibility. The complete archive, comprising over 20,000 items, includes Darwin's records illustrating the development of his ground-breaking theory of evolution and extensive global travels. Correspondence with Darwin's publisher John Murray, held at the National Library of Scotland documents the transformation of his research into print, including the ground-breaking On the Origin of Species publication. At Cambridge University Library, the Darwin Archive is a significant collection of his books, experimental notes, correspondence, and photographs, representing his scientific and personal activities throughout his life. The collection in Cambridge includes Darwin's pocket notebooks recording early statements of key ideas contributing to his theory of evolution, notably that species are not stable. These provide important insights into the development of his thought and feature the iconic 'Tree of Life' diagram which he drew on his return from the voyage of the HMS Beagle. Read More: Hogmanay and Highland dancing could become protected as UK heritage The Linnean Society of London holds several of Darwin's letters, manuscripts and books. Here is also home to John Collier's original iconic portrait of Charles Darwin, commissioned by the Society and painted in 1883 to commemorate the first reading of the theory of evolution by natural selection at a Linnean Society meeting in 1858. At the Natural History Museum, a letter written to his wife Emma in 1844, provides insight into Darwin's perceived significance of his species theory research and holds instructions on what she should do in the case of his sudden death. This is alongside other letters to Museum staff and other family members which demonstrate the broad scope of his scientific thinking, research and communication ranging from caterpillars to volcanoes, dahlias to ants and the taking of photographs for his third publication Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Read More: The future of Glasgow's UNESCO City of Music status Kirsty McHugh, Curator, John Murray Archive & Publishers' Collections, National Library of Scotland, said: 'Undertaking the publication of 'On the Origin of Species' was a pivotal moment for Charles Darwin and his publisher John Murray. 'Both took huge reputational risks in putting this research before the public, but it paid off. "Archives like these serve as a reminder to us all how life – and the events that make up our lives and legacies – truly can go one way or the other. 'It is fitting that archives of such significance have been recognised this way by UNESCO.' Among the items is a German periodical containing the first known photograph of bacteria. Most works are in English, although half were published in other languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Danish. At the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, documents include a highly significant collection of 44 letters sent around the HMS Beagle expedition from Darwin to Professor John Stevens Henslow, detailing his travels and the genesis of his theory of evolution as he comes in contact with new plants and wildlife. Baroness Chapman of Darlington, Minister of State for International Development said: 'The recognition of the Charles Darwin archive on UNESCO's International Memory of the World Register is a proud moment for British science and heritage.'
The Guardian
14-03-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Primordial surf: ‘microlightning' in mist may have sparked life on Earth, study finds
Charles Darwin thought it started in a warm pond. Others point to comets that ploughed into Earth. And some suspect a bolt from the blue, a lightning strike into the ocean. How life started on Earth may forever be a mystery, but new research proposes a radical idea: that crashing waves and waterfalls may have kicked off the process by throwing up mists of water. In experiments at Stanford University, chemists discovered that microdroplets in fine sprays of water generate streaks of 'microlightning'. When surrounded by the right mix of gases, these sparks power chemical reactions that synthesise many molecules for life. Prof Richard Zare, a chemist who led the team, said: 'This is a real contribution to understanding how you can go from non-life to life. You have water sprays all over the place, particularly around rocks, and there are crevices in rocks where these chemicals can accumulate.' There is no consensus about the origins of life, and no shortage of hypotheses. When Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 he described how evolution generated the diversity of life, but not how it started. He speculated, however, that chemicals could have interacted in 'a warm little pond' from which living cells eventually emerged. Hot undersea vents that spew mineral-rich fluids are now considered to be leading contenders for fostering life. Impacting comets may have helped, too, by creating shock waves that converted simple organics into amino acids, the constituents of proteins. Lightning strikes might also have lent a hand. The idea that lightning created the ingredients for life gained traction in 1953 when Stanley Miller and Harold Urey at the University of Chicago reported that electrical discharges in a simulated early Earth atmosphere produced amino acids. But the hypothesis has its critics: lightning is too infrequent, they say, and the chemicals produced simply drift away. Zare's team took to a dark room to investigate the electrical properties of water sprays. They found that droplets carry opposing charges and when they come together, tiny sparks leap between them. Unlike lightning bolts that cover miles, microlightning travels a few billionths of a metre. While the effect is faint, it carries enough energy to drive chemical reactions. Writing in Science Advances, the researchers describe how they sprayed water into a mixture of nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia. This led to the rapid formation of key molecules including hydrogen cyanide; glycine, an amino acid involved in protein production; and uracil, a building block of RNA found in all living cells. 'We propose that this is a new mechanism for the prebiotic synthesis of molecules that constitute the building blocks of life,' Zare said. Dr Eva Stueeken, who studies the origins of life at the University of St Andrews, said the work was fascinating. 'It opens up an array of possibilities that we need to explore further, using different gas and fluid compositions,' she said. 'It will also be important to quantify how significant this mechanism would have been on a global scale for the generation of prebiotic molecules.' Prof David Deamer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has worked with Zare but not on the latest study, said microlightning 'can now be added to the list of possible energy sources available to drive organic synthesis before life began'.
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
How an anti-evolution law a century ago set up an infamous showdown over religion in public schools
They called it the 'monkey trial.' It was supposed to be a publicity stunt. A hundred years later, it is remembered as far more. In March 1925, Tennessee became the first state in the country to ban the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms. Strong reactions rippled across the United States. The eventual upshot: a legal battle that became one of the most renowned in the nation's history. Historians say the trial started as a tourism gambit on behalf of the small town of Dayton, Tennessee — where the landmark case unfolded. The town's leaders were eager for an economic boost and encouraged a local teacher to challenge the law. They wanted the debate over the controversial anti-evolution mandate to take place in their own backyard while the rest of the country eagerly followed along. But amid the spectacle, the arguments and tensions raised during the eight-day trial persist. The rift over evolution and creationism — particularly in classrooms — has never fully been put to rest, and questions over how students should be taught about life's origins still spark debate among educators, lawmakers, and the public. Here's a look at what you need to know about the Scopes trial: Wait, so this was a trial about monkeys? No. In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species,' which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Darwin's theory was seen as a direct challenge to the biblical story of creation by many fundamentalist Christians at the time. That contention came to a head in the 1920s when state lawmakers began considering outlawing the teaching of evolution in public schools. Tennessee lawmakers were the first to take the step, passing the Butler Act on March 13, 1925, banning the teaching of any theory saying humanity descended from a 'lower order of animal' in contradiction to the biblical teaching of divine creation. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union put out an ad offering to defend and finance the legal bills for any teacher willing to be a defendant in a test case challenging the evolution ban. According to the Tennessee State Library, Dayton community leaders found 24-year-old John T. Scopes, who had just finished his first year of teaching, willing to take up the test case. Scopes was arrested on May 9 and the trial started July 10. A blockbuster case The Scopes trial became sensational largely because it brought together two long-time adversaries and powerful speakers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Bryan, a former secretary of state who ran for president three times and served in Congress, lent star power to the prosecution. Meanwhile, Darrow — one of the foremost defense attorneys of his time — agreed to represent Scopes after concluding a separate high-profile case where he saved child-killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb from the death penalty. Together, the two faced off in a contest not only between creationism and evolution, but also religion and science. Bryan, a fundamentalist Christian, was a leading champion of the anti-evolution movement in the early 1900s. Darrow was an agnostic. According to the ACLU, roughly 1,000 people and reporters from more than 100 newspapers attended each day of the trial. Many tried to capitalize off the case by playing off the popular misconception that Darwin's theory says man descended from apes. The actual theory says man and apes have a common ancestor, but local businesses nevertheless began selling primate-themed souvenirs and novelty dollars. The Dayton Hotel installed a gorilla display in its lobby and a trained chimpanzee named Joe Mendi was brought in to entertain spectators. Bryan himself took the stand to defend the biblical account of creation. Under withering questioning from Darrow, he conceded some biblical passages should be understood 'illustratively' rather than literally. With as much ink and attention given to the Scopes trial, the case itself only lasted eight days and the jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for less than 10 minutes. Scopes was fined $100 for violating the Butler Act, a punishment that was eventually overturned on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Who won? Depends who you ask, but the impact remains While the jury sided with the prosecution, the case generated more attention and interest in the theory of evolution. More than 20 anti-evolution theory bills were defeated in statehouses across the U.S. shortly after the Scopes trial. But the debate didn't end there. It would take another four decades before Tennessee lawmakers agreed to repeal the Butler Act, nearly around the same time the ACLU found another case to challenge anti-evolution laws. In the 1960s, the ACLU filed an amicus brief on behalf of a zoology teacher in Arkansas, challenging a state law that banned teaching 'that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals.' Unlike the Tennessee case, the Arkansas legal battle went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where justices declared the anti-evolution law a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A federal judge ruled in 2005 that a Pennsylvania public school district could not teach 'intelligent design' — the idea life is too complex to have arisen by natural causes — because it is 'a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.' Today, the central themes surrounding the trial continue to pop up. Currently, conservative lawmakers across the country are pushing to introduce more Christianity in public school classrooms. Last year, West Virginia enacted a law permitting public school teachers to answer student questions 'about scientific theories of how the universe and/or life came to exist" that supporters said was needed to foster discussions beyond evolution. And in Texas, new state curriculum has sparked criticism due to its inclusion of biblical references, a lesson that asks students to repeat the phrase that starts the creation story in the Book of Genesis and an activity requesting that children remember the order in which the Bible says God created the universe.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How an anti-evolution law a century ago set up an infamous showdown over religion in public schools
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — They called it the 'monkey trial.' It was supposed to be a publicity stunt. A hundred years later, it is remembered as far more. In March 1925, Tennessee became the first state in the country to ban the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms. Strong reactions rippled across the United States. The eventual upshot: a legal battle that became one of the most renowned in the nation's history. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Historians say the trial started as a tourism gambit on behalf of the small town of Dayton, Tennessee — where the landmark case unfolded. The town's leaders were eager for an economic boost and encouraged a local teacher to challenge the law. They wanted the debate over the controversial anti-evolution mandate to take place in their own backyard while the rest of the country eagerly followed along. But amid the spectacle, the arguments and tensions raised during the eight-day trial persist. The rift over evolution and creationism — particularly in classrooms — has never fully been put to rest, and questions over how students should be taught about life's origins still spark debate among educators, lawmakers, and the public. Here's a look at what you need to know about the Scopes trial: Wait, so this was a trial about monkeys? No. In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published 'On the Origin of Species,' which explained his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Darwin's theory was seen as a direct challenge to the biblical story of creation by many fundamentalist Christians at the time. That contention came to a head in the 1920s when state lawmakers began considering outlawing the teaching of evolution in public schools. Tennessee lawmakers were the first to take the step, passing the Butler Act on March 13, 1925, banning the teaching of any theory saying humanity descended from a 'lower order of animal' in contradiction to the biblical teaching of divine creation. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union put out an ad offering to defend and finance the legal bills for any teacher willing to be a defendant in a test case challenging the evolution ban. According to the Tennessee State Library, Dayton community leaders found 24-year-old John T. Scopes, who had just finished his first year of teaching, willing to take up the test case. Scopes was arrested on May 9 and the trial started July 10. A blockbuster case The Scopes trial became sensational largely because it brought together two long-time adversaries and powerful speakers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Bryan, a former secretary of state who ran for president three times and served in Congress, lent star power to the prosecution. Meanwhile, Darrow — one of the foremost defense attorneys of his time — agreed to represent Scopes after concluding a separate high-profile case where he saved child-killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb from the death penalty. Together, the two faced off in a contest not only between creationism and evolution, but also religion and science. Bryan, a fundamentalist Christian, was a leading champion of the anti-evolution movement in the early 1900s. Darrow was an agnostic. According to the ACLU, roughly 1,000 people and reporters from more than 100 newspapers attended each day of the trial. Many tried to capitalize off the case by playing off the popular misconception that Darwin's theory says man descended from apes. The actual theory says man and apes have a common ancestor, but local businesses nevertheless began selling primate-themed souvenirs and novelty dollars. The Dayton Hotel installed a gorilla display in its lobby and a trained chimpanzee named Joe Mendi was brought in to entertain spectators. Bryan himself took the stand to defend the biblical account of creation. Under withering questioning from Darrow, he conceded some biblical passages should be understood 'illustratively' rather than literally. With as much ink and attention given to the Scopes trial, the case itself only lasted eight days and the jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for less than 10 minutes. Scopes was fined $100 for violating the Butler Act, a punishment that was eventually overturned on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Who won? Depends who you ask, but the impact remains While the jury sided with the prosecution, the case generated more attention and interest in the theory of evolution. More than 20 anti-evolution theory bills were defeated in statehouses across the U.S. shortly after the Scopes trial. But the debate didn't end there. It would take another four decades before Tennessee lawmakers agreed to repeal the Butler Act, nearly around the same time the ACLU found another case to challenge anti-evolution laws. In the 1960s, the ACLU filed an amicus brief on behalf of a zoology teacher in Arkansas, challenging a state law that banned teaching 'that mankind ascended or descended from a lower order of animals.' Unlike the Tennessee case, the Arkansas legal battle went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where justices declared the anti-evolution law a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A federal judge ruled in 2005 that a Pennsylvania public school district could not teach 'intelligent design' — the idea life is too complex to have arisen by natural causes — because it is 'a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.' Today, the central themes surrounding the trial continue to pop up. Currently, conservative lawmakers across the country are pushing to introduce more Christianity in public school classrooms. Last year, West Virginia enacted a law permitting public school teachers to answer student questions 'about scientific theories of how the universe and/or life came to exist" that supporters said was needed to foster discussions beyond evolution. And in Texas, new state curriculum has sparked criticism due to its inclusion of biblical references, a lesson that asks students to repeat the phrase that starts the creation story in the Book of Genesis and an activity requesting that children remember the order in which the Bible says God created the universe.
