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Evolution and Man

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Ronald Singer
Ronald Singer*
Affiliation:
Anatomy Department, University of Cape Town
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Extract

The whole of modern biology has been called ‘ a commentary on the Origin of Species ’(Charles Singer, 1949). In a sense this is true. Following the endeavours to trace the natural histories of the various living organisms, attempts are still in progressto determine the modes, patterns and directive forces of evolution. The end of the 19thand the first quarter of the 20th centuries were characterized by morphological studies incomparative anatomy, the rise of geology and the birth of genetics. The second quarterof this century has witnessed a phenomenal expansion in technical advances leading tocritical appraisals of previous concepts and to maturation of new, revolutionary theoriesbased upon seemingly disconnected disciplines-experimental embryology, genetics,physkal anthropology, palaeontology and geology. One of the unacclaimed causes of thecorrelation of knowledge is the post-war mastery of air travel. The spectacular rise ofthe ' basic ' biological sciences due to emergent industrial and atomic competitive needsin an era of socio-economic enlightenment is another factor giving rise to the pursuit ofsuch knowledge. In a general sense this is the end of a Darwinian ' cycle ' ; the favourablesocio-political situation of the 19th century formed the ' overture ' to the Darwiniantheory. Act One saw the development, championing and triumphs of the intellectualinterpretations of ' Darwinists '. In Act Two the weaknesses and the vital issues of theapplication of the theory to various living forms and particularly to Homo sapims wereexposed, mainly through the clashes of ' neo-Darwinists ' and ' neo-Lamarckists '. Thisled to Act Three in which the various sciences (and especially genetics), competing toillustrate and develop alternative theories of evolution, blossomed out, particularly in theirsearch for the mechanisms of the evolutionary processes. In the final scene of this Actthe socio-political situation once again formed an important background as the diversedisciplines combine tq unify concepts, and, in fact, to prove evolution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 124 , December 1957 , pp. 188 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1957

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