• Question: evolution is a very interesting topic but how was it discovered and why do people (mainly old people - no affence) are still interseted in christianity ect ? ;]

    Asked by hillierl to Alastair, Emma, Hywel, Keith, Vicki on 18 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Alastair Sloan

      Alastair Sloan answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Charles Darwin was the first person to put forward the idea of evolution when he went to the Galapagos islands and bought back lots of different specimens. A bird specialist, or studied Darwin’s bird specimens said that Darwin had collected 12 different species of finch that were very similar but disticnt as individual species. Other experts studied Darwin’s fossils and said that they were remains of extinct mammals. Some of the fossils Darwin collected included rodents the size of hippos. Theclose similarity of the Galapagos finches suggested to Darwin that the finches came from a common ancestor. The similarities between the fossil mammals Darwin collected and modern mammals also suggested to him that species change over time.

      People are still interested in Christianity (young and old I have to say) beacuse of the historical issues associated with it and of course their faith. You can’t measure or have evidence for faith (that’s why its called faith) but to many people their faith is a source of strength and support and that’s no bad thing

    • Photo: Keith Brain

      Keith Brain answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      They key ideas in evolution really kicked off with Charles Darwin in the middle of the 19th century. He was pretty confident around the 1850s, but didn’t publish his work for a long time, mainly because of his concerns about how the local very conservative and religious society would react (including his wife). There were also several other scientists with similar ideas, or who took up the concept of evolution quickly (like William Harvey). Charles Darwin was a naturalist – he studied nature and travelled around the world seeing lots of different animals in different places (in the 1830s). You even read his original descriptions of his travels in “The Voyage of the Beagle”; this is published free, online, by the Gutenberg project at:
      http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3704

      He also looked at what was known about fossils, which was very patchy at the time, and did some simple experiments in his own (rather large) back garden.

      Why do many people still believe in religions? Because science can’t prove them wrong – the reason is that most religions have some key concept that relies on faith – that can’t be proven or disproven – which is why religion isn’t scientific. The other reason is that it is a rather bleak thought to think that me (or my mind or soul) might not be cared for by a benevolent god when I die – I can understand why religion holds a trump card there. Who knows; they might be right …

    • Photo: Vicki Stevenson

      Vicki Stevenson answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Hi
      Two different people published their theories on evolution at about the same time – Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Darwin had spent longer gathering information and polishing his ideas, so he’s generally given the credit for it.

      I’m not religious myself, so I don’t really know what attracts people.

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