by Francisco J. Ayala,
PNAS May 15, 2007 vol. 104 suppl. 1 8567– 8573
Darwin’s greatest contribution to science is that he completed the Copernican Revolution by drawing out for biology the notion of nature as a system of matter in motion governed by natural laws. With Darwin’s discovery of natural selection, the origin and adaptations of organisms were brought into the realm of science. The adaptive features of organisms could now be explained, like the phenomena of the inanimate world, as the result of natural processes, without recourse to an Intelligent Designer. The Copernican and the Darwinian Revolutions may be seen as the two stages of the one Scientific Revolution. They jointly ushered in the beginning of science in the modern sense of the word: explanation through natural laws. Darwin’s theory of natural selection accounts for the ‘‘design’’ of organisms, and for their wondrous diversity, as the result of natural processes, the gradual accumulation of spontaneously arisen variations (mutations) sorted out by natural selection. Which characteristics will be selected depends on which variations happen to be present at a given time in a given place. This in turn depends on the random process of mutation as well as on the previous history of the organisms. Mutation and selection have jointly driven the marvelous process that, starting from microscopic organisms, has yielded orchids, birds, and humans. The theory of evolution conveys chance and necessity, randomness and determinism, jointly enmeshed in the stuff of life. This was Darwin’s fundamental discovery, that there is a process that is creative, although not conscious.
adaptation chance and necessity evolution natural selection Scientific Revolution
Il n’y a rien de nouveau dans cet essai de FJ Ayala, mais il est bien écrit, un résumé intéressant qui pourra servir d’amorce pour les discussions avec les jeunes qui sont en train d’apprendre. Bien sûr in serait recommandé pour JS et VF, mais je crois que c’est peine perdue que de le leur proposer. JS ne comprendrait pas de toute façon et je doute que VF veuille le lire; mais VF devrait le lire, conseil amical et sans aucune ironie.
William Paley God Irreducible Complexity Alfred Russel Wallace Chance and Necessity
