Home \ Resources \ Science Kit \ Section 3f | --Next>>


Section 3: Quotations from Scientists

Science, Religion, Creation and Evolution

Some Modern Speculations

George Wald, "Fitness of the Universe," Origins of Life, Vol. 5, 1974, p. 26.

In this strange paper I have ventured to suggest that natural selection of a sort has extended even beyond the elements, to determine the properties of protons and electrons. Curious as that seems, it is a possibility worth weighing against the only alternative I can imagine, Eddington's suggestion that God is a mathematical physicist. It is the old biological problem of supernatural creation as against `spontaneous--i.e., natural--generation'. Back of the spontaneous generation of life under other conditions than now obtain upon this planet, there occurred a spontaneous generation of elements of the kind that still goes on in the stars; and back of that I suppose a spontaneous generation of elementary particles under circumstances still to be fathomed, that ended in giving them the properties that alone make possible the universe we know.

Isaac Asimov, Science Digest, Vol. 69, April 1971, p. 69.

Where did the substance of the universe come from? ...If 0 = +1 + (-1), then something which is 0 might just as well become 1 and -1. Perhaps in an infinite sea of nothingness, globs of positive and negative energy in equal-sized pairs are constantly forming, and after passing through evolutionary changes, combining once more and vanishing. We are in one of these globs in the period of time between nothing and nothing, and wondering about it.

Robert Ardrey, Territorial Imperative (Athenium Publishers, New York, 1966), p. 280.

...The [prairie dog] kiss came about, I should assume, as a means of identification in the dark recesses of one's burrow to make sure by proper flavor that no stranger has sneaked in. Whatever its origin or selective value may be, whenever the members of a coterie meet, they exchanger what is very nearly a human kiss, open-mouthed, and they seem to enjoy it.

Libbie Henrietta Hyman, Invertebrates: Protozoa Through Ctenophora (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1940), p. 252.

The gastraea theory of Haeckel won acceptance at the time and has since been promulgated in practically every textbook of zoology and embryology. It and its corollaries represent a masterly simplification of the embryologic and phylogenetic history of animals and furnish a clear and plausible explanation of the stages by which complex metazoan structure might have been achieved. But it is probably one of those simplifications that too beautiful to be true.

Theodosius Dobzhansky, "Changing Man," Science, Vol. 155, 27 Jan. 1967, p. 409.

...Evolution is not predestined to promote always the good and the beautiful. Nevertheless, evolution is a process which has produced life from non-life, which has brought forth man from an animal, and which may conceivably continue doing remarkable things in the future. In giving rise to man, the evolutionary process has, apparently for the first and only time in the history of the Cosmos, become conscious of itself. This opens at least a possibility that evolution may some day be directed by man, and that the prevalence of the absurd may be cut down.

Leslie E. Orgel, The Origins of Life: Molecules and Natural Selection (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1973), pp. 230-231.

The major intellectual problem presented by the origins of life is concerned with the next stage, the evolution of biological organization. How did a complex self-replicating organism evolve from an unorganized mixture of polymeric molecules? Little experiment evidence is available, so one is forced to attempt a speculative reconstruction of this phase in the origins of life.

The key to the understanding of the evolution of biological organization is the theory of natural selection. Before the evolution of complicated self-replicating organisms, natural selection must have acted on something much simpler, probably on polymeric molecules resembling nucleic acids. It is believed that nucleic acid-like molecules were formed in the prebiotic soup and were able to reproduce without the help of enzymes. The theory of natural selection then shows that those molecules that could replicate fastest would have become dominant in the prebiotic soup.

As the competition became fiercer, the more successful families of self-replicating molecules must have "learned" to make use of small molecules in their environment to help them to replicate even faster. The most important of these adaptations involved the amino acids; ultimately a family of self-replicating nucleic acids evolved to the point where they could begin to control the synthesis of polypeptide sequences that had useful catalytic properties. This adaptation led ultimately to the evolution of protein synthesis and the genetic code.

The evolution of protein synthesis is not understood in detail. One of the great challenges of the problem of the origins of life is to demonstrate in the laboratory how polynucleotides, without the help of preformed enzymes, could have replicated and begun to control the synthesis of peptides with determined sequences. Once this has been done we shall be well on our way to understanding the origins of the first living cells.

Stanley Miller and Leslie Orgel, The Origins of Life on the Earth (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1974), pp. 33-52.

Chapter Four. The Composition of the Primitive Atmosphere

Geological and geophysical evidence is insufficient to allow us to state with any precision what conditions were like on the surface of the primitive earth. Arguments concerning the composition of the primitive atmosphere are particularly controversial. It is important, therefore, to state our own prejudice clearly. We believe that there must have been a period when the earth's atmosphere was reducing, because the synthesis of compounds of biological interest takes place only under reducing conditions.

There is...some..evidence...none of it is conclusive. ...It is at least possible. ...Fortunately, everyone agrees...

(p. 34)...it probably would occur... (p. 38)...if we assume... (p. 39)...we suppose...assumes... If...would be...must have been... We assume... If...must have been...two further assumptions...assumption... ...we have supposed... ...we have assumed... We are not certain that either assumption is correct for the primitive earth. However, we believe...that is, we believe... (p. 41)...It seems reasonable... If so...must have controlled... (p. 42)...if...must have been... ...so we cannot be sure...However...we think it likely... ...We assume... ...arbitrarily...and we suppose... (p. 43)...we again assume... ...additional assumption... (p. 44)...assumption...since we think... It may... ...assume... If we make the more realistic assumption... Since we assumed... (p. 45)...it is not likely... ...if...would... Presumably it could have been...provided... ...unlikely...could have... ...must have involved... ...hence, we believe... We believe... (p. 46)...would not have been... ...might have occurred...the proposal... ...supposed to have been formed... ...would have...would precipitate... ...would have accumulated... ...would be... ...would absorb... We think... This could have been... (p. 47)...could have... ...would have...if... ...it seems likely... There could have been... ...if we are prepared to assume... (p. 48)...If we assume... ...seems reasonable... ...if we assume... ...would undoubtedly (p. 49)...would probably not... However, we think...might have been... ...not unreasonable. ...would have led... ...a number of assumptions...assumption... ...may have evolved...tentative. ...must have been... ...would have been... It is generally believed... (p. 50)...Beyond the fact that there was no oxygen in the primitive atmosphere[Remember that on page 33 the authors said that this was their "prejudice."]...there is little agreement... ...could have been...or as high as...(or even outside these bounds). ...may have been... ...must have been... ...may not be... ...may have been... ...probably... ...probably...could have been...or it could have been much more. ...may have been... ...would have... ...would then have...which would have... (p. 51)...It is also possible... It probably requires... ...supposing...or by assuming... ...may imply... On the other hand, it may not. ...may have... We may, therefore, feel confident... There is clearly a wide range of choices of intermediate models. (p. 52)...These models have all assumed... It is also...possible... The reader may wish to construct his own scenario for the time course of development of O2 in the atmosphere.

Editor's note: We do not mean in any way to ridicule the excellent publication by Professors Miller and Orgel from which the above expressions were extracted, for we consider it to be one of the best and certainly the most honest and discerning books on the subject of abiogenesis theories written from the evolutionary perspective. However, the language they are forced to use by their own scientific objectivity and honesty clearly reveals the indefinite, misty, slippery character of the hypotheses and data which they must handle.

Previous PageTable of ContentsNext Page