Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne - Essay Example

Why Evolution is true? By Jerry A Coyne Jerry A Coyne is an American of Biology, currently working at Chicago He basically researches on the topic of evolutionary genetics and speciation. The basic theme of his writings is always the growth and the evolution of mankind. He is very much famous for his writings on the theory of Evolution. The theory of Human evolution was initially given by Darwin and thus it is also known as a Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. His famous book “Why Evolution is true?” was published in 2009. In this book he discussed all the evolution theories and assumptions in detail. These evolution theories contradict with the concept of the creationists. The creation concept says that the human beings are not evolved rather they are created at once and that animals and the human beings are different from their origin. Both the concepts of evolution and the creation are very much opposite to each other. The subject of the book is very important to be clearly understood in our own life. In other words we can also say that “Why Evolution is true” is the summary of all the facts of Darwin’s evolution theory and also the natural selection process. Natural selection process is explained very well by the Darwin. This means that the one living organisms who strives for the life gets the chance to survive in the competitive environment. With the help of his arguments, Jerry Coyne has showed that the natural selection process do not destroy the beauty of life rather it enhances or give advancement to it in a gradual manner, because the nature itself selects the suitable living beings on its own behalf. The process of natural selection basically means to find out the proper resources to live the life. The one who find out the available resources would be included in the list of the naturally fittest organisms thus striving for saving the life. In other words we can also say that the natural selection means the struggle for the existence. For this struggle the living beings may change their traits and this would be called as the gene variation according to the environment. The changing of traits may help living organisms to grab the best possible resources. This gene variation would help them to survive according to the environmental conditions. Actually each and every individual is composed of different combinations of genes. Some of these genes traits are helpful or other might be less important in the survival. Therefore the individuals may change such kind of traits and also adapting to those which are more important. According to his opinion the process of evolution is more than a mere theory in the studies and he also proved it with the help of real life examples in this book. This book shows the importance of evolutionary process in the human life. The study of human evolution process has been always a point of focus for the researchers, because it is the basic and the most intellectual part of our lives. Many of the authors are of the opinion that the theory of evolution is the basis of modern biology and Jerry Coyne has justified the topic very well in his book. Yet creationism is another contrary but important concept to be discussed. The debate on creationism vs. evolutionism is very much significant because there are still many people who believe that human life is a result of creationism rather evolutionism. According to these people their ancestors can never be included in those animals that swing on the branches of trees (Strandberg, 2014). According to their opinion the origin of human being is at once happened and not at all related to the animal kingdom at any cost. Contrary to this the people who believe on evolution concept agree upon the idea of natural selection (Than, 2012). The research studies showed that almost two third of the world believes on the concept of creation but contrary to this there are strong arguments regarding evolution theory. Despite all these debates and controversies still science has not supported any single concept of either evolution or creation. Up to this twentieth century it is a hot topic to be discussed as well as researched. When we deeply focus on this issue then we may come to know that the debate on evolution vs. creation is very old and a worth discussing point for many of the people who are interested in the biology and the related fields. This dispute is basically upon the origin of life, humanity, and mankind or in general terms we can say the origin of living organisms. Different people living in different geographical boundaries may have cultural type war on this issue, because it is directly related to the religious believes. In a broader context it is also said that evolution is a scientific concept whereas creationist is a religious concept thus creating conflicts between different groups of people. The evolutionary theory suggest that human life do not originate from any kind of super natural power which help in the development of the human life whereas contrary to this point of view the creation believers said that our ancestors can never be related back to animals. They can even use harsh words on the basis of this kind of debate between them, because it directly affects their religious beliefs. Jerry Coyne is so simple and clear about his ideas and the concepts which are also shown in the book thus making it very easy to understand for all its readers. He argues about the adaptations of the living environment for the human beings. Jerry Coyne adds more clarification to the theory of natural selection given by Darwin. He also negates the concept of creationism very strongly in his writing. He has proved in his book that evolution theory is more authentic and sensible as compare to the theory of creationism. Coyne’s style of presenting the arguments is very much captivating and attractive. He gives information and evidences from a variety of fields and related areas. This variety of sources and also we can say the chain of information is the basic strength of the book. He argues that all the concepts described in the book are true and also should be accepted as true (Blackford, 2009). This book is not only for the new readers but even the experts can take advantage of it. Starting with the introduction of the evolution process the writer goes into the depth of the topic. The natural selection or we can say another important concept sexual selection is clearly described in the book (Haubold, 2010). The growth in the human evolution is basically dependent on the gene variation of the animal or the human being. This gene variation will decide how the growth will be promoted in the living organism. Another important thing which is being discussed in this book is the concept of speciation. It means to clarify whether single specie ends on a life death or ends by spitting into two new species further. This concept also point out the growth of living beings with the passage of time. This growth of species can be depicted in a form of a binary tree which would clearly show hoe the species have been evolved from one form to the other and thus continue to grow. That tree would also show the dead ends of those species that have not any descendent any further. Jerry Coyne argued about the speciation that how the species when moves to any new environment, adapts according to that place and thus may change into a new one and if they can survive the changes then they might extinct. This environment adaptation is also referred towards the gene variation in the living beings. This will be supported by the concept of natural selection process, which means the survival of the fittest one in the existing environment. The buried fossils which are hundreds and hundreds years old provide a strong base for the evidence of the evolution of human life. The layers of these fossils show their age or we can say the number of years. The modern DNA techniques are also very useful to act as an evidence for the growth of human beings. This evidence of living being’s evolution can also be traced back with the help of the Earth rotation, the count of days in a year and also the length of a full day. These all techniques can be used as a confirmation to support the theory of evolution. All of these supporting proofs for the evolution theory tells us one point that living beings get more flexibility towards adaptation as per the environment as they grow more and more. There are many such examples which show us that how they could have been evolved from an earlier form i.e. wings of an ostrich, appendicitis bone in human beings etc. Some fishes have certain features and traits which are of no use these days but still we can predict that they must be useful in the earlier ages before. But now all these things have been evolved as per the requirements of the environment. And this evolution is certainly beneficent fro these living organisms. Overall the writer Jerry Coyne has presented all these proofs in a good way. As compared to many other writings on the same concept of human evolution the Jerry Coyne’s book put emphasis on biogeography and on the adaptation behavior of the living organisms (Woodmorappe, 2009). Jerry Coyne’s book beautifully covers all the related areas of the human evolution. The basic conceptual framework of the evolutionary process clarifies all the misconceptions about how science works. Coyne has also give importance to all the difficulties which paleontologists face while finding the fossils and thus getting the buried records. All the study on the evolution process would be incomplete without the study of these fossils fuels which depicts the origin of life. But fossils have also certain limitations which may not satisfy the researcher about the records of human life. Next chapter in the Jerry Coyne’s book depicted the presence of vestigial organs which are also a part of the evolution process. These vestigial organs which are present in the living bodies are currently of no use. There non-usage tells us about the adaptation of the living organisms as the changes occur in the environment. Coyne have covered all these type of information regarding useless organs or bones in his book and thus used them as a proof. Nest few chapters of Jerry Coyne’s book are aimed at arguing the modern biology and the speciation theory and also the genetics which is the basic strength of the writing. Another discussion is on the concept of the sexual selection which point out the meaning that sex also drives the evolution process. This sexual recombination is very much necessary for the gene variation thus creating variety in the species. The start of the thinking that males and females select their partner according to their choice gives rise to the concept of the sexual selection. All those who are paired with their partners are selected for the process of growth but many other who are not selected will remain as they are and thus kicked out from the natural rate of growth of living beings. At the end the last chapters focuses the ever discussing debate of creations vs. evolutions. Jerry Coyne covered all the facts and realities that prove that human being is basically related to the animal kingdom. Contrary to this point of view the creationists are of the opinion that human beings can never be traced back to be related to the animal kingdom. Coyne have linked biogeography, paleontology and the genetics thus making the link very much clear in a very precise manner. At the end Jerry Coyne has discussed the modern implications of the evolutionary theory regarding modern techniques and the studies. In an overall discussion the writer Jerry A Coyne do not put emphasis on proving the creationist wrong rather he give support to authenticate the idea of the evolution of human life. He tries to convince his reader rather pressurize him according to his own opinion. Therefore we can say the Jerry Coyne’s book is a balancing proof for the theory of the evolution of human life (Prothero, 2009). At the end the most interesting part of the book is the exploration of fear regarding evolution in many other minds. He points out that the religious opposition is not only because of the religious beliefs of the people rather because of the lack of the scientific evidences. The topic of evolution of human life is so much important that writing a book on it in this era cannot be considered as ridiculous. Though the followers of the creationists hate this book but still it is a very popular writing regarding the topic. No other field of science has been so discussed as mush it is described in detail. Actually the study of evolution gives us the reality of our own existence from the very start of life. And this book of Jerry Coyne had showed that evolution is not just a mere theory rather a fact or the reality of our lives. All of us should accept this reality without any embracement. Another book reviewer said that the writer Jerry Coyne has divided the Darwin theory of Evolution according to six components, these components are “evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection and non selective mechanisms of evolutionary change” (Benson, 2010). These six components are clearly explained in the book and also inter-related to each other. Evolution means the change of living organisms, gradualism refers towards the slow and steady process of change, speciation means the gene variation and common ancestry means that all organisms are originated from the same living things and they cannot be separated from each other. The natural selection process and the common ancestry concept are related to each other as describes in the studies. Jerry Coyne has been a very solid and strong writer throughout his whole writings. He proved his arguments with the help of certain examples. This book beautifully answers many circling questions in the minds of the readers. Jerry Coyne’s initial motivation came from certain researches in this peculiar field. He also does as the other scientist do in their books like making predictions and then proving them. This was a whole compact package of arguments and examples at one place. At the end, we cannot say that any of the concepts of theory has been proved right or wrong. We just have to argue about the given topics and thus deciding what is right on our own opinion. The writers just gave their point of view and now it’s our own duty to understand the argument and thus clarify our own concepts. These writing materials or books add knowledge to our minds and thus also widen our mental boundaries also. Reference List: Benson , S. (2010, December 23). The Truth of Darwinian Evolution, the Crock of So-Called "Intelligent Design" and Why People Fearfully Reject Overwhelming Proof of Humankinds Naturalistic Origins . .. Retrieved from http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,62549 Blackford, R. (2009). Book Review: Jerry A. Coyne’s Why Evolution is true? Journal of Evolution and Technology, Vol. 20, Issue I. Pg 61-66. Haubold, B. (2010). Reviews: Why Evolution is True? Science in School. Issue 14, Oxford University Press. Prothero, D. R. (2009). Review: Why Evolution is true? Retrieved on 30th Jan, 2014 from http://ncse.com/rncse/29/3/review-why-evolution-is-true Strandberg, T. (2014). Evolutionism vs. Creationism. Retrieved on 30th Jan, 2014 from http://www.raptureready.com/rr-ec-debate.html Than, K. (2012). What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution? Retrieved on 30th Jan, 2014 from http://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html Woodmorappe, J. (2009). Why Evolution need not to be true, A review of Jerry A Coyne’s Book Why Evolution is true? Retrieved on 30th Jan, 2014 from http://creation.com/review-coyne-why-evolution-is-true Read More