Disputes about his theory of evolution do not subside to this day, although they often no longer have anything to do with the original source.
Where in Moscow can you find out the whole truth about Charles Robert Darwin? Naturally, in the Darwin Museum. My interlocutor is Alexander RUBTSOV, head of the scientific department of the museum.
SIR CHARLES, LEAVE CLASS
Today, Darwin's theory is not found in every Russian biology textbook. I already wrote in "KP" about the scandalous manual by Sergei Vertianov, written in the spirit of creationism (according to which life was created by God) with stories about "what predators ate before the fall of the first people" (see site kp.ru). But even in ordinary textbooks following the standard, Darwin is getting smaller.
- Themes are changing, - says Rubtsov. - Instead of Darwinism, for example, the section "Hygiene" can easily appear.
SHIMPANZE BREATHER MAN
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There are many myths around Darwin and his theory. For example, the idea that humans descended from monkeys did not belong to an Englishman at all, but to the French naturalist Georges Louis de Buffon. He wrote a book about it at the end of the 18th century. His work was then condemned, and the book was publicly burned. Darwin believed that humans and apes descended from some common ancestor.
“A skilled man, Homo habilis, could be a transitional link between a man and a monkey,” says Rubtsov. - It existed in parallel with the Australopithecines - those, although they were erect, were typical monkeys in head structure. And a skilled person had a brain one and a half times larger - 600 cubic centimeters, he could make primitive stone tools.
Since the moment humans and monkeys have gone different evolutionary paths, chimpanzees in terms of the adaptability of the organism to life on earth turned out to be much cooler. For example, chimpanzees grew fangs for themselves, while a man with his weak jaw had to invent dentistry.
By the way, instead of Darwin, a completely different person could enter the textbooks - school teacher Alfred Wallace. He, like Darwin, traveled extensively and came to similar conclusions about evolution. And while he was writing the fundamental work "The Origin of Species", Wallace prepared his own article and sent it to Darwin for review! Fortunately, they were able to agree. Laurels of the discoverer went to Darwin, and fragments from Wallace's work were included in the famous book.
Museum exhibits.
Photo: Mikhail FROLOV / kp.ru
BELIEVED? DIDN'T BELIEVE?
Popular rumor has it that Darwin was a deeply religious man. Was, but not all my life. He studied to be a priest at Cambridge and periodically mentions the Creator in his early writings. But the more Darwin observed wildlife, the more the ideas of evolution supplanted religious beliefs. He continued to help the local church and parishioners, but considered himself an agnostic (a worldview according to which it is experimentally impossible to confirm or deny the existence of God. - Author). At the same time, he was buried in the famous Westminster Abbey - the stronghold of the Anglican Church.
WHO MASTERED IN THE GENOME?
One of the scientific arguments refuting the divine origin appeared quite recently, when scientists were able to decipher the human genome. It turned out that most of the genes are simply not needed - this is garbage inherited from our evolutionary ancestors.
“It used to be that a person has about a million genes, judging by the size of the genome,” explains Rubtsov. - But it turned out that there are only 30 thousand genes. The rest is most likely superfluous. A quarter of the genome is generally pseudogenes that have stopped working. For example, our ancestors had a tail and had genes that caused the thickness of the tail brush. Now there is no tassel or tail, but the genes remain. This emphasizes that man was not created according to a reasonable plan, but appeared in the process of evolution.
But creationists have their own answer to this argument: God has laid in man many opportunities for all occasions. Maybe the fluffy brush on the tip of the tail will come in handy someday.
HERE DID
Critics of Darwinists insist that development is proceeding in some strange leaps. If humans descended from an ape-like ancestor, then why can't archaeologists dig up intermediate variants between humans and primates?
- In fact, evolution moves smoothly, and intermediate links are often found, - Rubtsov refutes this point of view. - We just do not find the entire branch, but only its individual remnants.
WE ARE ALL MUTANTS
There are weaknesses in Darwin's theory. He did not know how different traits are inherited. I thought they would "dissolve" when crossed. For example, if you cross a white tulip and a red tulip, the offspring are pink. On this he was able to catch the engineer Fleming Jenkin. He asked Darwin a simple question: how, then, did different species survive if their distinctive features were all diluted and diluted? This problem tormented Darwin so much that she was even nicknamed "Jenkin's Nightmare."
The answer came with the development of genetics. Scientists have found that traits are not diluted, but are inherited entirely and can be combined in different ways in offspring. In the same example with tulips, the next generation will not be pink, but again red and white flowers.
Or, Darwin's followers believed that mutations are an abnormal phenomenon. And geneticists have proved: on the contrary, it is due to mutations that evolution occurs. Nature does not strive for a certain ideal, but tries different combinations of signs. The successful ones remain, and the unsuccessful ones die out along with their owners.
Visitors to one of the most interesting museums in the capital.
Photo: Mikhail FROLOV / kp.ru
HOW DO THEM?
Residents of the state of Kansas (USA) have been demanding for decades to ban the teaching of Darwin's theory in schools. But the government does not make concessions, arguing that facts are taught in schools, and not the opinion of the majority. So since 1999, the Kansans have been demanding at least permission to teach alternative concepts.
In 2004, the Italian Minister of Education Letizia Moratti said that, in her opinion, the study of Darwin's theory in schools should be banned. The public reaction was so violent that the minister had to abandon his views and sit down for a new school curriculum.
And in Turkey, in 2005, five teachers were even fined for teaching Darwinism - that is, for "trampling on the religious feelings of students." A complaint to the Turkish Ministry of Education was filed by a local imam.
I will take you to the museum
Take your student to the Darwin Museum, you will not regret it - it is one of the most advanced equipment in the country. There you can see Darwin's cabin, recreated according to drawings from his book. You can go through an interactive quest to understand how life developed on Earth, look at cells through a microscope and even isolate DNA using special equipment.
Address: Moscow, metro Akademicheskaya, Vavilova street, 57.
HAVE A QUESTION
Why does nature preserve virginity?
Some researchers admit that some phenomena do not fit into the Darwinian picture of the world. For example, why does nature need virginity? And for some reason this sign has not disappeared, although it is destroyed every time? And no one can find the answer.
Some scientists believe that such a device of the genitals is a rudiment, like appendicitis or coccyx.
People inherited it after millions of years of evolution and will not disappear in any way.
Others claim that it is needed to protect microflora from external infection. But what, after the birth of a child, it is no longer necessary to protect the microflora?
Still others believe that virginity, on the contrary, is an evolutionary achievement. Like, in a primitive society, this guaranteed health - a woman who had not yet had contact with men could bring healthier offspring. True, this hypothesis does not explain why virginity is needed for some species of monkeys and antelopes.
Ksenia Konyukhova
