(no subject)
Andrew D’Agostino
Writing for College
Mrs. Renna
17 December 2004
Evolution and the Big Bang: The Truth of our Existence
Billions of years ago, there existed a minuscule ball of infinite energy, temperature and mass, roughly the size of an atom. The radiation of power contained in this sphere was completely unfathomable to any human mind. This was the first entity in the void of nothingness, a rip in the great chasm that contained the beginnings of the universe. Suddenly, this ball became so incredibly volatile that it began to form a chain reaction. This reaction, involving the accelerated particles of the entire universe, concluded with the most gargantuan explosion that has ever been and that ever will be; the Big Bang. Energy, in its purest form, blasted outwards in all directions, filling the empty void with mass and cosmic dust. This blast had no predetermined ending point, so it kept expanding into the abyss. Trillions of years later, the dust clouds fused together by the action of charged particles rocketing into each other and formed stars. After some billions of years, the stars had exploded enough times to jettison an adequate amount of elements into space. These elements also merged together and this time formed planets. These cataclysmic events, from the creation of Earth, to the origin of our species, formed the galaxy we now call the Milky Way.
Evolution. This one word can explain everything in our past. It shows us where we came from and how our world formed. This one statement proves that humanity was not “created” from nothing. This word disproves what humankind has been taught for thousands of years. More than just a theory, evolution and the truth of how the universe began has become the soul link to our past, making the theory of creationism obsolete.
Evolution can be defined as the gradual change in a species over time, but its meaning is so much more than this textbook reference (Creationism vs. Evolution 9). Evolution tells us how the first cells merged together to form more complex ones. It shows us how the first land animal came out of the ocean using better and selected limbs and appendages. It shows us the reign of the dinosaurs and also their fall. Not only in the past, Evolution still shapes our future. It will be interesting to see what humans will look like come some thousands of years.
The Big Bang is also intertwined with Evolution. Evolution is not only about a species, but also the entire universe, including earth. The Big Bang is a theory that life started literally as a ball of energy that exploded and continues to explode to this day. The explosion sent out the basic building blocks of life, atoms and matter. From then on, Evolution has aided the Big Bang in forming the Universe.
Many religions offer different views on how we were made, but for the purpose of this paper, Christianity will be the religion focused on. This is because Christianity is in the most heated debate with Evolution. In Christianity, the book of Genesis depicts God creating the heavens, earth and all living things in six days (Creationism vs. Evolution 9). Christianity also says that at the end of the sixth day, Adam and Eve were created and life began on earth (Creationism vs. Evolution 9). This is what humanity has been taught for so long. They were taught that our planet and the universe have only existed for a few thousand years. In fact, James Usher in 1650 used the bible to estimate that God created the earth around 4004 B.C. (Creationism vs. Evolution 9)
The problem with this is that one can walk into a park and look at a rock that predates this time. There is so much on this earth that refutes what this religion teaches. Using scientific analysis techniques like carbon dating, rocks have been dated from being billions of years old. If this is so, then how could everything have been created a couple thousand years ago? Another argument is the existence of fossils, especially those of the dinosaurs. Practicing Christians and creationists cannot simply ignore these colossal bone structures. These bones show that humans were not always the dominant species. This destroys the theory of Adam and Eve.
The entire theory of Evolution can be mostly attributed to the work of Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin was a brilliant naturalist who traveled the world and researched many plants and animals. During his studies he observed that evolution did occur and certain things happened to a species that made it more fit to stay alive (Boeree 1 of 5). In 1859 Darwin published his greatest work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (Boeree 2 of 5). This book became extremely popular and was also met with much heated debate.
Darwinism exploded into the world with his books. The idea of another connection to the past besides Christianity was mind baffling. This idea of evolving and the sifting of traits offered a new way of life and challenged the ultimate superpower, the church. Throughout history the church has been battling scientific discoveries like Copernicus’ heliocentric model versus the church’s geocentric model. Obviously Darwin’s theories were met with much skepticism.
Darwin’s theory expands upon the element of evolution. He offers the entwined theory of Natural Selection. Natural Selection is defined by Darwin as: “In the struggle for existence, the better-adapted organisms are selected and thrive at the expense of their competition” (Evolution 2, 3 of 5). Basically, no two animals are the same, even if they are in the same species. One trait from one animal may be better fit to survive than another animal’s. Since this trait allows the host to survive, it will be passed on to its offspring. On the other hand, the animal with the least favorable trait will die off and its trait will be lost.
A good example of natural selection would be the giraffe’s long neck. In earlier times, giraffe’s necks were relatively short, or at least shorter than they are now. A giraffe’s diet generally consisted of the leaves on trees since their environment wouldn’t allow leafy plants. The giraffe’s would eat the lower leaves of the trees and could not reach the upper leaves. Eventually lower leaves became scarce and competition grew. Then something occurred in a giraffe that caused its neck to grow longer, a genetic mutation. This longer necked giraffe could now reach the upper branches, allowing it to survive and pass along this longer necked trait to its offspring. The shorter necked giraffe’s eventually died out; leaving the longer necked giraffe’s to dominate.
Darwin’s theory encompasses genetic mutations along with natural selection. Genetic mutations allow animals in a species to be different. In fact, if all members of a species were genetically identical, there would be no natural selection (“Evolution” 1 of 5). Mutations explain why all of the species on Earth are the way they are. A mutation caused Homo erectus to stand up as well as why birds have the ability to fly. This theory states that something either in the environment or in the host will cause their genes to change. These changes in the animal’s genes mutate their genotype, which is the body’s internal makeup, their DNA (“Evolution” 4 of 5). If the mutation is strong enough and affects the genotype in the right way then the animal’s phenotype will be affected, changing the way the animal lives and possibly what it looks like (“Evolution” 4 of 5). These mutations are often favorable corresponding to the animal’s environment, so they are usually passed on to offspring. Although mutations can be extremely beneficial, oftentimes they are not. In fact, in some cases mutations are often lethal and are weaned out of the population before they can be passed on (“Evolution” 4 of 5). An interesting fact about genetic mutations is, “some features in genes are not immediately lost however. If ever in the future these genes are needed for survival, then they could be called upon again (“Evolution” 4 of 5).
However important these developmental changes are, the most extraordinary evolutionary event to ever occur was the Big Bang. The Big Bang is the scientific answer to our past. When the point expanded outwards, cosmic dust and mass were left in its wake. These large clouds of dust began to merge together and formed nebulas (Jeremy 1 of 1). These nebulas were measured by solar masses. Solar masses are the mathematical equation of the mass of our sun. If one of these nebulas were between one tenth and ten solar masses, the energy that is released from its gravitational collapse will start a fusion reaction and will soon become a star (Jeremy 1 of 1). If one of these nebulas is between ten and thirty solar masses then the star will fuse together and form iron (Jeremy 1 of 1). Since the iron can never produce energy, the core of this “iron star” will collapse and become a supernova (Jeremy 1 of 1). Supernovas are extremely destructive and have the capacity to wipe out an entire galaxy.
The question is how do planets form? Well, after a couple of cycles of stars forming together and then expiring, there were enough element from these stars floating around that a new reaction could begin. This time, when the dust and elements combined, they formed planets (Jeremy 1 of 1). When Earth was formed, it was just a “huge spinning ball of molten lava pelted by meteorites” (Jeremy 1 of 1). For this ball to cool, it took about five hundred million years (Jeremy 1 of 1). The next big question is where did the first cells come from?
The Origin of Life is a very uncertain subject. There are many theories associated with where the cells originated. Scientists know that all life evolved form these cells, but the scientists just can’t pinpoint where they came from. One prominent theory is that of a “primordial soup” (“Evolution” 2 of 5). These “soups” were located in lakes and tidal pool. In these small bodies of water were simple pre-biological organic chemicals (“Evolution” 2 of 5). A couple of thousand years later, after these chemicals had enough time to mix together efficiently, the “soups” were reacted upon by ultraviolet light and mild heating (“Evolution” 2 of 5). The action of radiation against these organic compounds caused molecules to condense into more complex ones (“Evolution” 2 of 5). These complex molecules eventually mutated with more radiation and heat into the first cells.
Another indecisive theory of where life came from is the theory of Panspermia.