Discovery in the Theories of Evolution

Discovery in the Theories of Evolution Prologue Throughout his childhood and adult life, Siddhartha Mukherjee, physician and author of The Gene: An Ultimate History, has been troubled by his family history of mental illnesses. His two uncles, Rajesh and Jagu, have suffered from mental illness, and so does his cousin Moni. If mental illness was genetic as recent studies showed, could he be a carrier as well and pass the illness to his two daughters? If his cousins mental illness was genetic, then why had this father and sister been spared? How much of the mental illness arose from nature (i.e., genes that predisposed to mental illness) versus nurture (environmental triggers such as upheaval, discord, and trauma)? Similar unresolved questions arose in his scientific work as a cancer biologist. Many forms of cancer arise from gene mutations that occur during a persons lifetime. Should we be concerned if we have a family history of such diseases? And could we pass these diseases to our children? Genetic engineering has advanced so much that we can treat some of these diseases by using gene therapies. Imagine that if technologies were available to change our genetic codes, resulting in altered identity or sexuality or behavior. Who would control such a technology, and who would ensure their safety for our society, our children, and ourselves? This chapter chronicles the fascinating history of discovery in the theories of evolutions and heredity from early Greek philosophers to the theories developed at the end of the 19th century. It also covers the history of eugenic movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Key concepts covered: Darwins theory of evolution explains why species change. Mendels laws of heredity explain why species stayed the same. Eugenic movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were based on a faulty understanding of genetic science. They used phenotypes (physical or mental attributes) as genetic traits. Early Ideas about Heredity and Evolution Since the earliest times, human has recognized the influence of heredity and has applied its principles to improve crops and domestic animals. In around 530 BC, Pythagoras (570-495 BC), the Greek scholar, proposed one of the earliest theories to explain the similarity between parents and their children. The core of his theory was that male semen carried all the hereditary information. Once inside the womb, semen matured into a fetus via nourishment provided by the mother. A century after Pythagorass death, Aristotle (384-322 BC), A Greek philosopher, rejected the notion that heredity was carried solely in male semen. In around 350 BC, he proposed that male semen carried the instructions to build a child while female contributed the physical raw material for the fetus. The transmission of heredity was essentially the transmission of information. Aristotle was wrong in his partitioning of male and female contributions into message and material, but he had captured one of the essential truths about heredity. No new ideas were introduced in the next two millennia until the 18th century when the idea of preformation was introduced. Using microscopes, scientists imagined that they could see miniature replicas of humans inside human sperms. In 1809, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829), a French biologist, introduced the inheritance of acquired characters as a model for evolution. According to Lamarck, organisms evolve due to two forces: (1) Simple organisms emerge and then evolve to become more complex; and (2) Organisms adapt to their environments by changing their characteristics. He believed giraffes developed long necks because, over many generations, they had to keep stretching their necks to reach higher foliage. Lamarckism fell from favor after August Weismann (1834-1914), a German embryologist, performed an experiment in 1883 showing that changes from use and disuse were not heritable. In that experiment, Weismann had cut off the tails of five generations of mice, then bred the mice to find out if the babies would be tailless. But the babies were all born with their tails intact, not even marginally shorter.

Does technology ensure progress? Essay

In this essay I will argue that technology does not ensure progress. The first main concept that needs to be clarified is ‘technology’. This paper acknowledges the concept ‘technology’ as being the application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives. The other key concept ‘progress’ in this essay is defined as a steady improvement, as a society or civilization. I am arguing that the concept of technology does not ensure the concept of progress because there are certain technologies that have hurt society in various ways. Furthermore, not all technologies ensure progress. Scientists have created various technologies for various reasons. It is evident that not all of these technologies are for the steady improvement of a society or civilization, but rather for personal gain. If a certain technology was invented to give a farmer a greater yield of crop, but this particular technology leads to the death of an ecosystem, then it is not progress in the sense it brings steady improvement to a society or civilization because it destroys the delicate balance of life and its biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity will hurt civilization in the long run because the foundations of life depend on it. Some people may think that certain technologies are the correct path for humanity, but certain technologies can manifest into things that people do not expect and hurt society by doing so. For instance, if scientists could predict that aliens would take over the earth if they invented a spaceship that could reach them, even though the scientists had not planned on finding earth invaders; surely they would have thought otherwise. This is an extreme example that has obviously not happened, but the birth of atomic energy is an example of technology that’s intended purpose of giving houses and industries power manifested itself into a bomb for the military. Some may argue that the atomic bomb ensured progress for the American’s and allied forces, yet surely the Japanese society where the bomb was dropped during the Second World War did not find progress with this technology because it killed many innocent people and destroyed infrastructure. Certain technologies are seriously destroying the natural world. This  ultimately does not lead to the improvement of a civilization, but rather is causing it harm. If technology keeps generating harmful gases and toxic chemicals which poisons the earth, then it is of no good to civilization because humans need to earth to survive. Some readers might object to me answering that â€Å"technology does not ensure progress†. Perhaps they believe if it wasn’t for technology humans may never have succeeded in being a dominant figure on earth and we would never have evolved enough to even ask the question in the first place. There are animals that are stronger, bigger, and faster then humans and external elements that can kill humans at ease, so by humans using technology to build defensive mechanisms or shelter for warmth it has ensured human survival in a world that can be unforgiving by natural things. If my concept of technology remained the same (the application of science, especially industrial or commercial), but the concept of progress changed to (development or growth) then one could answer ‘yes’ to the question; â€Å"does technology ensure progress†. This is evident in the manufacturing sector of our society where technology has enabled humans to build factories and warehouses to ensure development and growth of economics. The same could be said by keeping the concept of technology constant, but changing the definition of progress to (movement, as towards a goal). Scientist’s movement to create technology can be motivated by achieving goals. For instance, a certain product has to be on the market by a specific due date, otherwise the project will be terminated, so by scientists using technology and ensuring they get the job done they have moved forward and reached a goal. It is apparent that there are particular technologies that can help humans build a better society by keeping us warm and ensuring food to survive. However, certain technologies have manifested through the evolution of man that have unquestionably uninsured the progress of humans because it has brought harm to civilization through destruction and death. Perhaps scientists and the general public need to think long and hard about inventing certain technologies. This is all the more difficult because nobody can predict the future and certain technologies might seem like a  great idea at the time, but turn out to be a serious danger to all life on earth. This paper by no means is an indicator of which technologies are good for the betterment of society, but hopefully it will open the dialog between people to ask the question; which technology is ensuring progress?

Antivuris Programs Essay

Today, people rely on computers to create, store, and manage critical information, many times via a home computer network. Information transmitted over networks has a higher degree of security risk than information kept in a user’s home or company premises. Thus, it is crucial that they take measures to protect their computers and data from loss, damage, and misuse resulting from computer security risks. Antivirus programs are an effective way to protect a computer against viruses. An antivirus program protects a computer against viruses by identifying and removing any computer virus found in memory, on storage media, or on incoming files. When you purchase a new computer, it often includes antivirus software. Antivirus programs work by scanning for programs that attempt to modify the boot program, the operating system, and other programs that normally are read from but not modified. In addition, many antivirus programs automatically scan files downloaded from the Web, e-mail attachments, opened files, and all types of removable media inserted in the computer (Karanos 201-205). One Technique that antivirus programs use to identify a virus is to look for virus signatures, or virus definitions, which are known specific patterns of virus code. According to Shelly and Cashman (Antivirus Programs), many vendors of antivirus programs allow registered users to update virus signature files automatically from the Web at no cost for a specified time. Updating the Antivirus program’s signature files regularly is important, because it will download any new virus definitions that have been added since the last update. Methods that guarantee a computer or network is safe from computer viruses simply do not exist. Installing, updating, and using an antivirus program, though, is an effective technique to safeguard your computer from loss.

Principles of Marketing - 2346 Words

A.Definitions Of Marketing 1. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.[American Marketing Association(AMA) Board Of Directors] 2. Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and qualifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential.[Dr. Philip Kotler] 3. Marketing is traditionally the means by which an organization communicates to, connects with and engages its target audience to convey the value of and†¦show more content†¦Marketers are responsible for a 360-degree experience. For example, in the social media world, a customer’s Twitter needs may differ from her needs to â€Å"play with the brand† in terms of a social game promotion. Every customer touch point from customer service to sales to accounting and more are part of the ‘new marketing.’ Marketing is the word we use to explain how we encourage people to buy our products. If it’s going to work in a big way, there needs to be a strategy or big idea to whet peoples’ appetites for what we’re selling. When we’re marketing, we begin with a plan; objectives, strategy and tactics (how we implement strategy). It is a process that helps companies to build relationships with prospects and customers and creates unique value for them when it is done right. B.Marketing Process Marketing process is a fundamental idea of marketing that organizations survive and prosper through meeting needs and wants of customers. This important perspective is commonly known as the marketing concept. The marketing concept is about matching a company’s capabilities with customer wants. This matching process takes place in what is called a marketing environment. 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