A Presentation From Ms. Lousie Mead

Last Thursday on the twenty fourth of January, Dr. Louise Mead, representing the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), came forth to our classroom to discuss upon Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Informing us first about the NCSE as a nonprofit organization seeking to uphold the education of evolution in public schools, Ms. Mead then went into great detail of lecturing us the very important ideals concerning Darwin's most controversial theory. Defining evolution in the most abrupt terms as "descent with modification and common ancestry," Ms. Mead informed us that you must think of evolution as a pattern and process. The processes or mechanisms of evolution include natural selection, genetic drift, evolutionary development, and mutations. These aspects of evolution have led to the development of many different varied species in the millenniums of these aged world. Ms. Mead further in her lecture corrected the common misconception that in evolution, humans did not unnecessarily evolve from apes and chimpanzees. The human race and those other mentioned mammals shared a common ancestor and ascendant with another primate who lived many centuries ago. To prove this, Ms. Mead told us of the fact that humans possess only forty six chromosomes, gorillas and other primates have 48 chromosomes, demonstrating that humans could not have directly evolved from apes. Another subject that Ms. Mead pondered about was the approaches to understanding divergence, or the process of one species diverging over time into more than one species. To understand divergence in a species, you must examine the patterns, assess the reproductive behavior, and test for sexual variations amongst other subjects to uncover divergence in a particular group of animals. In addition to explaining the processes of evolution and genetic divergence, Ms. Mead also informed us of a special species of salamander that she discovered and observed which surprisingly had ancestors in the East Asian nations of Japan and China. Through comparative anatomy, biochemistry, and fossil records, Ms. Mead was able to determine and pinpoint the ancestors of this particular breed of Californian salamander. The observation of these species of Californian salamanders is a study of biogeography, a branch of evolutionary science which centers on how animals can be related even when in isolation from one another. Overall, Dr. Mead's presentation of the Darwinian theory of evolution was very informative and enriched my knowledge of that branch of science even more. Dr. Mead's use of pictures and charts really assisted me in stomaching the information which she bestowed upon us. I only wish to learn more from her in regards to the aspects of Darwinism and evolution.