C&C Ch.1

Question 1

what is the consensus among the scientific community regarding the Earth and its origins?

(3)

Answer 1

• the earth is a planet orbiting a fairly typical star
• there are billions of stars in a galaxy
• there are billions of galazies in an expanding universe of enormous size, which originated around 14 million years ago.

Question 2

how and when were the earth, Sun, and other planets of the solar system generated?

Answer 2

as a result of a process of gravitational condensation of dust and gas, about 4.6 billion years ago

Question 3

all present-day living organisms are the descendants of

Answer 3

self replicating molecules that were formed by purely chemical means, more than 3.5 billion years ago

Question 4

how have successive forms of life been produced and how are they related?

Answer 4

by the process of ‘descent with modification’ (Darwin). they are related to each other by a branching genealogy, the tree of life.

Question 5

what beings are humans most closely related to?

Answer 5

chimpanzees, with whom we shared a common ancestor about 6 million years ago.

Question 6

when did mammals share a common ancestor with living species of reptiles?

Answer 6

300 million years ago

Question 7

define 5 groups of vertebrates

Answer 7

mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibia, fishes

Question 8

what do vertebrates trace their ancestry back to?

Answer 8

a small fish-like creature that lacked a backbone, which lived over 500 million years ago

Question 9

what happens as we try to trace evolution further back in time?

Answer 9

it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the relationships between the major groups of animals, plants, and microbes; however, there are clear signs of common ancestry in their genetic material

Question 10

give a rough outline of changing views on earth by European scholars and the public

Answer 10

1. 450 ya; earth was the centre of a universe of at most a few million miles in extent, with the planets and stars rotating around it
2. 250 ya; universe was created in present state 6,000 years ago. earth known to orbit the sun and larger size of universe widely accepted
3. 150 ya; earth is product of tens of millions of years of geological change but special creation by god of living species was still dominant belief.

Question 11

what impact has the science of evolution had on philosophy and religion?

Answer 11

it implies that human beings are the product of impersonal forces, and that the habitable world forms a minute part of a universe of immense size and duration.

Question 12

how has science influenced events in human affairs?

Answer 12

it has contributed to events indirectly through:
- the social changes triggered by the rise of industrial mass societies
- the undermining of traditional belief systems.

Question 13

why is evolution important?

Answer 13

1. it provides a set of unifying principles for the whole of biology
2. it illuminates the relation of human beings to the universe and to each other
3. it has a practical importance; medical problems are posed by the rapid evolution of resistance by bacteria to antibiotics and of HIV to antiviral drugs.