Evolutionary Sources for Darwin

Posted by admin - October 26th, 2009

We have seen what an impossible and even ludicrous explanation had to be given by Lucretius; and from then through to the middle of the eighteenth century no advance had been made. Either the problem was not referred to at all, or the theological doctrine of a special creation was held to be the only possible one. But in the middle of the eighteenth century the great French naturalist, Comte de Buffon, published his very important work, Histoire Naturelle, in fifteen volumes (1749-1767), in which, besides describing the characters and habits of all the animals then known, he introduced much philosophical and speculative thought, which would probably have been carried much further had he not felt obliged to conform to the religious prejudices of the age. We are indebted to Mr. Samuel Butler for having brought together all the important passages of Comte de Buffon’s works bearing upon the question of evolution.

Comte de Buffon lays stress on the great resemblance of all mammals in internal structure, showing that the most unlike creatures may be really alike structurally. He says: “The horse, for example–what can at first sight seem more unlike mankind? Yet when we compare man and horse, point by point and detail by detail, our wonder is excited rather by the resemblances than by the differences between them.” He then shows that all the parts of the skeleton agree, and that it is only in proportions, the increase of some bones and the suppression of others, that they differ, adding: “If we regard the matter thus, not only the ass and the horse, but even man himself, the apes, etc., might be regarded as forming members of one and the same family.”

Then, after a few more illustrations, Buffon remarks: “If we once admit that there are families of plants and animals, so that the ass may be of the family of the horse, and that the one may only differ from the other by degeneration from a common ancestor, we might be driven to admit that the ape is of the family of man, that he is but a degenerate man, and that he and man have had a common ancestor. . . . If it were once shown that we had right grounds for establishing these families, if the point were once gained that among plants and animals there have been even a single species which had been produced in the course of direct descent from another species, then there is no further limit to be set to the power of nature, and we now understand that with sufficient time she could have evolved all other organized forms from one primordial type.

Learn about the demographics on the evolution creation debate.

Egyptian Pharaohs

Posted by admin - January 7th, 2009

I am a true history fan. Ever since I was younger I remember my teacher talking about these great Egyptian Kings who lived in a world of luxury and had all these amazing jewels. But what mostly caught my attention was all the pictures of these great kings wearing lipstick and make up. As an adult in my spare time I am as with most of the world astounded of how those pyramids were built. The Egyptian Pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And with plenty of reason. How can men at that time build those enormous pieces of structure? And how was it that they were able to build all those passages and chambers without it caving in?

Mathematics is the reason that architects are able to build huge buildings. How can these Egyptians geniuses build such great structures with no knowledge of Mathematics? There are thousands of myths and stories but no real evidence. New pyramids and structures are discovered every year and it shows us that really there must have been a lot of different intelligence and use of architecture by the pharos, or how is it that thousands of year later these structures are still standing. Maybe will never know, but one this is sure, I will get to go there someday and walk through whatever I can, remembering to take my weight loss helper Acceletrim for extra energy it really must be breathtaking to walk through them, walking through history.