JDay123 at BellSouth.com (Jd) wrote:
>Bob LeChevalier <lojbab at lojban.org> wrote:
>>JDay123 at BellSouth.com (Jd) wrote:
>>>From the first line in my encyclopedia concerning evolution...
>>>>>>"the complex of processes by which living organisms originated on
>>>earth...."
>>>>Then your encyclopedia is wrong.
>>I should've known.
Your unnamed encyclopedia vs. the Britannica
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=108619&tocid=0&query=evolution
>theory in biology postulating that the various types of animals and
> plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the
> distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive
> generations. The theory of evolution is one of the fundamental
> keystones of modern biological theory. (See also human evolution.)
or encyclopedia.com (which uses the same text as the Columbia
Encyclopedia)
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/e1/evolutio.asp
>concept that embodies the belief that existing animals and plants
> developed by a process of gradual, continuous change from previously
> existing forms. This theory, also known as descent with modification,
> constitutes organic evolution.
And we can turn even to the Catholic encyclopedia for a religious
understanding:
>As a scientific hypothesis, the theory of evolution seeks to determine
>the historical succession of the various species of plants and of
> animals on our earth, and, with the aid of palæontology and other
> sciences, such as comparative morphology, embryology, and bionomy, to
> show how in the course of the different geological epochs they
> gradually evolve from their beginnings by purely natural causes of
> specific development. The theory of evolution, then, as a scientific
> hypothesis, does not consider the present species of plants and of
> animals as forms directly created by God, but as the final result of
> an evolution from other species existing in former geological
> periods. Hence it is called "the theory of evolution", or "the theory
> of descent", since it implies the descent of the present from extinct
> species. This theory is opposed to the theory of constancy, which
> assumes the immutability of organic species. The scientific theory of
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> evolution, therefore, does not concern itself with the origin of
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> life. It merely inquires into the genetic relations of systematic
> ^^^^
> species, genera, and families, and endeavours to arrange them
> according to natural series of descent (genetic trees).
So I suggest that you discard your unnamed encyclopedia and get one
that actually has information in it.
lojbab