(easier to read, I hope)
=20
=46rom: Forum for Physics Educators on behalf of Justin Parke
Sent: Sat 1/21/2006 1:38 PM
Subject: Re: Another attack on Evolution
The problem as I see it is that while honest people do not dispute th=
at evolution (i.e. changes within a species) occurs it has not yet be=
en established to anywhere near the same level of indisputability tha=
t all species evolved from a single or a few common ancestors. I thi=
nk your logical progression is misleading in that it assumes that sin=
ce change within a species has been observed that all other postulate=
s of evolutionary theory are therefore true.
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The evidence that species evolved from a common ancestor seems overwh=
elming:
1. The perfect nesting taxonomy of all living things
"For evolutionary biologists there is something very special about th=
e classification of living organisms, something that is not true of a=
ny other kind of taxonomy. It follows from the idea of evolution that=
there is one uniquely correct branching family tree of all living t=
hings, and we can base our taxonomy upon it. In addition to its uniqu=
eness, this taxonomy has the singular property that I shall call perf=
ect nesting. What this means, and why it is so important, is a major =
theme of this chapter."
See also chapter 11.
2. The common mechanism of replication (via DNA) of all living things=
.