Units 1 & 2

Question 1

Aristotle

Answer 1

• Plato’s pupil who created the Scala Naturae

- Considered to be the ultimate authority for the natural world for a long time

Question 2

Isaac Newton

Answer 2

Laws of physics which described the effects of gravity on planetary motion

Question 3

Carolus Linnaeus

Answer 3

• established the use of binomial nomenclature in science; every species was given a unique name, consisting of its genus and species binomen.
• He included humans in his classifications (with no indication that any group was related to another, as we recognize today).
• He added more inclusive groups (Class and Order).
• His works form the basis of the modern science of taxonomy

Question 4

Thomas Huxley

Answer 4

supporter of Darwinism and defended evolution

Question 5

Comte de Buffon

Answer 5

Proposed that the external environment could cause a species to change. Stressed that the universe is not fixed; it can and does change over time, and that species also have changed over time

Question 6

Copernicus

Answer 6

Based on his observations, he determined that the Earth is not the center of the universe; he called his concept of the universe “Heliocentrism”

Question 7

John Ray

Answer 7

• His goal was to group and organize all living things, to eliminate confusion in their classification and names, and thereby understand the plan of the Creator. He suggested that groups could be recognized and delimited by their ability to reproduce with one another. Every group was given a Latin name, replacing the common name.
• He introduced the term species for each group of reproductively isolated organisms.
• He introduced the concept and term genus to group together species that are similar

Question 8

Robert Hooke

Answer 8

recognized that the Earth was very old and that some earlier species were no longer alive (a claim rejected by most of his contemporaries as theologically unsound)

Question 9

Thomas Malthus

Answer 9

• Stated that the human population would double in size every generation (~25 years) if it were not kept in check by limited food supplies (principle of population)
• Because human populations can’t keep doubling, something must limit human population growth

Question 10

Johannes Kepler

Answer 10

developed and described the three laws of planetary motion. (explained the apparent movement of the planets)

Question 11

James Hutton

Answer 11

Based on his observations, published an explanation for geological formations. Introduced the concept of Uniformitarianism

Question 12

Sir Francis Bacon

Answer 12

Rejected Aristotle’s methods and proposed empiricism: the study of nature must be based on observation and experiments. Considered the founder of modern science

Question 13

Albert Einstein

Answer 13

(​​Theories of Relativity) explained what causes gravity, explained anomalies in Mercury’s orbit & the invariant speed of light

Question 14

Charles Darwin

Answer 14

earlier thought of Natural Selection

Question 15

Charles Lyell

Answer 15

The “Father of Modern Geology,” his studies and observations continued and added to James Hutton’s earlier works. Uniformitarianism

Question 16

Galileo Galilei

Answer 16

Many astronomical discoveries, challenged the authority of the church and proposed heliocentrism

Question 17

Alfred Wallace

Answer 17

He independently suggested the same process (now known as Natural Selection) — sent his paper to Darwin for review, which pushed Darwin to finally publish his own work

Question 18

Jean-Baptiste Larmarck

Answer 18

• One of the first to suggest a mechanism for such changes in species over time. Like others, he stressed the importance of the interaction between organisms and their environment.
• Emphasized that the individual adapts physically to its environment through its needs: the Theory of Use and Disuse.
• He thought that the changes an individual organism acquires during its life are passed on to its offspring: the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics. (WRONG)

Question 19

Uniformitarianism

Answer 19

Geological processes observed in the present are the same as those that occurred in the past. Requires vast geologic time; millions of years

Question 20

Parsimony

Answer 20

among theories fitting the data equally well, scientists choose the simplest theory

Question 21

Theory

Answer 21

A hypothesis that has been tested repeatedly with a significant amount of data to support it

Question 22

Unique

Answer 22

being the only one of its kind

Question 23

Conspecific

Answer 23

belonging to the same species

Question 24

Artificial selection/Selective breeding

Answer 24

the process by which humans breed animals and plants for the desired set of particular traits

Question 25

Heliocentrism

Answer 25

The belief that the sun is the center of the solar system and that the earth rotated around it

Question 26

Genus

Answer 26

group of closely related species; the first part of the scientific name in binomial nomenclature

Question 27

Paleoanthropology

Answer 27

the study of the history of human evolution through the fossil record

Question 28

Fitness

Answer 28

The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment

Question 29

Melanic

Answer 29

refers to an individual with high concentrations of melanin

Question 30

Empirical

Answer 30

based on observation or experiment

Question 31

Paleontology

Answer 31

the scientific study of fossils

Question 32

Hypothesis

Answer 32

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Question 33

Heritable

Answer 33

Traits that can be passed on to offspring

Question 34

Vestigial

Answer 34

an organ or body part having become functionless in the course of evolution (or the remnants of a once more important feature)

Question 35

Higher Criticism

Answer 35

A radical idea for the time that the Bible should be studied as any other work of literature to determine its validity and relevance

Question 36

Species

Answer 36

a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding

Question 37

Binomial nomenclature

Answer 37

The classification system in which each species is assigned a two-part scientific name

Question 38

Belief

Answer 38

a conviction based on cultural or personal faith, morality, or values

Question 39

Differential reproductive success

Answer 39

A phenomenon in which individuals with adaptive genetic traits (suitable for the environment) produce more living offspring than do individuals without such traits

Question 40

Biogeography

Answer 40

Study of past and present distribution of organisms