As the blogging window draws to a close, I think we should have a more book focused reflective prompt for us to focus again on the book and less on the whole Humans vs. World subjects we have been getting on to.
Looking back through the book, choose your favorite example that Carroll uses to explain evolution. Briefly summarize the example and explain why this example is your favorite. Next, give your overall opinion of the book. Explain your opinion.
Finally, write at least two discussion questions that you would ask Carroll if you could have a conversation with him.
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I hope it is all right that I answer your question in the opposite order. If I had a chance to ask Carroll a few questions I would ask him why he chose to look at evolution from a DNA standpoint and how has his research changed his opinion about evolution or life in general.
ReplyDeleteAs for the book, I thought it described evolution in an easier to read, interesting way. Of course, there were some parts of the book that were slightly challenging to read, but most of the book could be read by anyone who has taken high school biology. He also chose interesting examples, like the colobus monkey and the Antarctic icefish, which adds to the book’s easiness to read.
My favorite examples from the book were the genetic mutations that both cause diseases and prevent other diseases. Some of these examples are Cystic Fibrosis preventing typhoid fever and sickle-cell anemia preventing malaria. I like these examples because it helps show one of the main ideas of natural selection and evolution. At the time these mutations occurred, Cystic Fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia were less harmful than typhoid fever and malaria, respectively. This shows that natural selection is not always the best mutation, but rather the ones that are most beneficial at the time. These mutations increased the survivability of the population, and thus, the genes were passed to future generations.
My favorite examples that Carrol uses to describe evolution was his chapter on mathematics and on the antartic icefish. I think the mathematics chapter really opened my eyes to just how realistic evolution is, and helped dispel many of my doubts on how an organism can possibly evolve from something of a single cell into an eventual whale. I also liked the Icefish chapter because I believe it adds a touch of "exotic" to the book by showing an awkward organism and why such an organism evolved the way it did. If he had begun his discussion of evolution talking immediately about moths I believe it would of been a much harder read, but because Carrol instantly caught your attention with something as awkward as an animal without blood, it some what sucked you into the discussion of evolution.
ReplyDeleteI believe the book is good, and does a good job on defending evolution and explaining it, but I still believe this is not a book for the common man. I would even argue if you gave this book to 90% of the country, they'd have an incredibly hard time understanding the material and drawing more connections. Carrol is a great bioligist, but not the greatest writer. More metaphors and less detailed gene-specific material would of done a better job of creating a segueway to the common man. But I personally enjoyed the book, and am happy to admit this is the second book on science I have ever enjoyed ^_^, so Carrol does a good job in that department. Yet I still think he should of done two books; one on the nitty gritty explanations to biophiliacs, and one just a general metaphor riddled explanation to the common man, not a hybrid of the two.
One question I would ask Carrol is if it is a selective advantage for biologists to have beards, and if it helps them to survive and reproduce. And the second discussion question I would ask Carrol, in all honesty, is simply his opinions on the future of evolution research and any fun stories he had in his time. He seems like a really "cool" guy and seemed to have lived a full life.
But for the sake of discussion biology questions I would ask on what he imagines us humans to evolve into in the future and his opinion on the most "evolved" organism.
My favorite example of the book is the Antarctic icefish example. Icefish are called such because they lack red blood cells, and therefore their blood is literally ice water. Carroll explains that the reason for this unique change of trait is that colorless blood allows the icefish to thrive in freezing temperatures. At cold temperatures, the blood of the icefish has a very high viscosity, making it difficult to pump. The elimination of red blood cells decreases the viscosity of blood, which allows the blood to be easily pumped. Another adaptation of the icefish that Carroll mentions is the presence of "antifreeze" proteins in the plasma of these fish. These proteins ensure that the watery blood of the fish do not freeze due to their subfreezing surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this example for many reasons. Carroll explained the process of evolution through this example, and I was able to attain a lucid image of the process. Carroll's thorough explanation of how a selective advantage increases survivability was enhanced by his citing of specific changes in the ice fish both macroscopic level as well as cellularly. Also, the very example of a fish with COLORLESS BLOOD was simply so mind-blowing for me that this had to be my favorite example.
The main success of this book is that this book strikes the perfect balance between raw substance and analysis. Rather than mention the great details on ice fish, Carroll chooses rather to reflect on what has already been mentioned. In this way, the reader attains a more profound understanding of evolution. Sean Carroll's other success would be his combination of old studies of evolution with the new studies. Carroll's quotes of Darwin are subsequently supported by GENETIC EVIDENCE, which is something that Darwin knew little of himself.
I would ask Carroll the following two questions:
1) With the presence of ground-breaking technologies, what would be the most effective way to track genetic changes in modern organisms?
2) Will human intelligence and great strides in biotechnology and biomedical engineering lead to a limiting of human evolution? (from a prompt presented on this blog)
and just for fun...
3) I want an icefish. Where would I purchase one?
My favorite example in this book is when Carroll talks about the variation in pigeon feathers which distracts their predators from attacking them. He explains that some pigeons have a white patch which distracts the falcon, giving the pigeon extra time to escape from the attack (55).
ReplyDeleteI liked this example because it showed how even a slight variation such as a little white patch causes a drastic change in the survival of these pigeons. This example shows how evolution isn’t always a huge change such as the Antarctic ice fish having large capillaries and losing their red blood cells.
Overall, this book was much more interesting than I initially thought it would be. I really liked the examples that Carroll used after explaining a certain concept which allowed me to better understand the idea he was trying to convey.
But I agree with earlier posts which say that many people would not like the book because of their views on evolution and how the world was created.
Two questions I would ask Carroll are:
Do you think there will ever be a time where evolution will not help a species survive or reproduce?
Do you think it will ever be possible for human bodies to "evolve" to battle cancer or other life threatening diseases?
My favorite example that Carroll uses is the "Blue tits are really ultraviolet tits" story. It truly highlights the need for a completely objective analysis of evolutionary adaptations, because of the misconception that blue tits choose mates based on visible light traits. Instead, through careful research and an understanding of bird opsins, biologists were able to correctly ascertain that these birds only selected mates based on ultraviolet light reflections.
ReplyDeleteAnother awesome example he uses to validate evolution is the fact that the theory of evolution does not need to be in direct conflict with the idea of a God. He quotes Reverend Harries in saying that "God makes a world that makes itself." This idea allows room for both evolution and God to coexist, and does not breach the integrity of the theory or offend the religious people out there.
My two questions:
Do you ever think that the Theory of Evolution will ever be seen as a Law in the biology world?
What impact do you beleive biologists will have in the politcal sphere during the next administration?
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ReplyDeleteI would have to say the example of which I coveted the most was of the peppered moths. I found this example to be most interesting because the example clearly illustrates the how humans can abruptly affect a species. The example starts off in the book by first stating that before the industrial revolution in England and North America, there was a substantial population of light-peppered moths. However, the ongoing industrial revolution created huge amounts of pollution. This pollution changed the trees on which the moths rest on from a lighter color to a darker color. The light colored moths soon became more visible to predators because of the dark trees. Moths that could produce more melanin, and therefore were darker colored, were able to reproduce more because of the fact that those darker moths were less seen by predators. Eventually, the enactment of clean air laws reversed the variations between the melanic moths.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on the book is that of intrigue. I really liked how even though many of the things Sean Carroll discussed were relatively complex, he was still able to convey them in an effortless, easy-to-read manner. Also, I really enjoyed the amount of examples in the book. Those example really helped my understanding of the concepts being discussed.
If I could ask Sean Carroll two questions, they would:
How did you get the notion to start writing a book about evolution?
How do you see evolution unraveling in the next decade or century?
My favorite example, as evidenced by the many times I have blogged on it, is the example of the peppered moth that Carroll describes on page 52. Like Karthik, I believe this example shows how humans can affect other species' evolution. However, there are other reasons as well. First, this example is very simple to understand. trying to grasp the concept of evolution can be complicated at times, but the example of the peppered moth, in my opinion, is easy to understand, and allowed me to understand evolution a lot quicker. In addition, I think this example is noteworthy because it shows how natural selection selects for the best traits for the CURRENT environment, not the future. Many people mistakenly think that natural selection and evolution select for traits that are inherently "better" in an absolute way. However, no trait is "better" in all cases; rather, certain traits are well suited to certain environments, and this is shown by the moth example. while having light color was a selective advantage under normal conditions, after the pollution darkened the trees and lichen, light color became a disadvantage, and dark color was an advantage. therefore, natural selection then selected for dark color. Due to cleaner air laws, the trend was reversed, and light color was selected for. This shows really well how natural selection is based on what traits are best for the current situation, and it doesn't plan for the future.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions I would ask Carroll are: What is your personal favorite example that you think best exemplifies evolution, and second, what practical applications for humans can evolution ahve in the future?