February 12th is his birthday; I mention it early in case you want to attend any local festivities. His personality and work fit well with NANFA.

First, Charles Darwin was a naturalist; he excelled at seeing more detail in the world than others. He noted locations and behaviors. It was obvious to Darwin that female mating choice was important. He was inspired by nature and allowed himself to freely pose questions. Field biologists / Naturalists were the first to step-up and support On the Origin of Species. Darwin saw the same problems with how to define a species as NANFA’s Chris Scharpf; reality doesn’t have to fit into boxes, or words constructed by humans. Sure, Darwin’s work wasn’t perfect, and he actually backed-off where he shouldn’t have, but then Darwin did not know about DNA and the physicists at that time were low by 4400% in their estimate of the age of Earth.

Often mentioned is that Darwin only worked 2 hours per day. That is 2 hours per day on intensive research, and dissection. He also put in many hours reading and writing letters. He built a world-wide network of collaborators/assistants. Darwin would have been thrilled by today’s electronic communication and the Internet. He would have been a great forum member.

Darwin did all of his experiments at home, good enough work for scientific papers and sold-out books. If Darwin can be a home scientist with orchids and pigeons, NANFAns can with fish.

Conservation is part of NANFA’s mission. With global warming, pollution, and increased land use by humans, extinctions are far too common. Evolution by natural selection teaches us just how valuable and irreplaceable a species is.

Another force toward extinction, familiar to fish people and Darwin, is invasive species.
“Near the Guardia we find the southern limit of two European
plants, now become extraordinarily common. The
fennel in great profusion covers the ditch-banks in the
neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, and other towns.
But the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) has a far wider
range: it occurs in these latitudes on both sides of the,
Cordillera, across the continent. I saw it in unfrequented
spots in Chile, Entre Rios, and Banda Oriental. In the
latter country alone, very many (probably several hundred)
square miles are covered by one mass of these prickly plants,
and are impenetrable by man or beast. Over the undulating
plains, where these great beds occur, nothing else can now
live. “ Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle

As for conservationists’ captive breeding of critically endangered species; Darwin noted the power of unintentional artificial selection. Without any conscious desire, humans can change the characteristics of a population when choosing breeders.

A 25-year-old Charles Darwin would have been a great companion on a fish collecting trip.

Darwin spent the rest of his life defending evolution by natural selection. Wallace, on the other hand, tried to convince others to attend séances.

Both Malthus and Darwin hit upon discomforting truths. Darwin, being a good scientist, followed the evidence. The payoff was a theory, supported by data from 170 years and counting, which turns a mountain of loose biological facts into one beautiful, intricate image.

Happy Birthday Philos
(Darwin’s nickname, short for Ship’s Philosopher, from the officers of the HMS Beagle.)

...a theory,...

Brian

Theory as in, an explanation based on all known data and observations. Does anyone wish to dis the theory of the covalent bond? Thank you.

Brian

Please don't quote me out of context; there were other words in the sentence that I wrote.

Please expand on what you wrote.

Feb. 12 is also Lincoln's 200th birthday. They were quite a pair, those two!

Please don't quote me out of context; there were other words in the sentence that I wrote.

Please expand on what you wrote.

I don't want to get into a big discussion about religion, but I feel that if you get to post about your belief system, I should be able to post about mine. I have a feeling, though, that if I did, it would get deleted by the mods without hesitation.

Please refrain from posting controversial discussions pertaining to religion and politics.

I just find it interesting that because evolution has been accepted by a vocal majority of the scientific community, it's treated as "fact" rather than "religion". I tell you, it takes a lot more faith to believe that the human race originated from a bunch of primordial ooze than to believe that we were created.

Brian

Brian J. Torreano - Owner
BTDarters
American Native Fish for
your aquarium...and more!
Web: http://www.btdarters.com
Email: bt@btdarters.com
Phone: (262) 268-7489

Come on guys, I know we're all a a bit bored until it's warm enough to go out collecting in our favorite waters, but please find something else to do. This is completely unnecessary and detracts from our scientific interests.

No one said anything here to attack religion. Posting information about a famous and world-renowned scientist/naturalist/explorer who just so happened to introduce a theory (no one called it fact) is indeed a legitimate topic to discuss. No need to take offense and make something out of nothing guys.

I for one am glad to have learned what his birthday is and that he had interest in invasive species. I had no idea anyone had even considered the impact of invasives that early on, though I supposed he couldn't convince anyone to be careful with carp and brown trout. Quite a pity.

Edited by Kanus, 06 February 2009 - 01:04 PM.

It would get deleted because your are talking about a religous belief system. The post is about the birthday of one of the greatest naturalists the world has every seen, not a call for a debate that won't happen here. Phil said absolutely nothing about a religous belief system. It is a larger scientific theory formulated from smaller scientific facts, just as Bruce also said. He did not say Darwinian evolution is a fact or anything of the sort. In fact it is "the theory of evolution" not "the fact of evolution".

In fact it is "the theory of evolution" not "the fact of evolution".

Amen to that!

[The payoff was a theory, supported by data from 170 years and counting, which turns a mountain of loose biological facts into one beautiful, intricate image.] Yet still a theory Does sound like a fun guy to go sampling with, wonder if he'd have any idea of how native fish collectors might evolve. I'm thinking a net like web of skin between our legs could be very handy and maybe a third leg for better support in those really fast riffles. Oh yeah and maybe some scale on our finger tips for those darn madtoms. Why wait for evolution, why not genetically manufacture the perfect fish collector...any ideas?

Why wait for evolution, why not genetically manufacture the perfect fish collector...any ideas?

Oh, Oh, Oh!!! I want one of those dangly lure things that hangs in front of your face!



I can't take credit for this... Someone else's cool idea.

You're right, guys. I'll drop it. I guess Phil was just posting about someone important to his life. I didn't mean to "attack". I apologize.

Brian

Brian J. Torreano - Owner
BTDarters
American Native Fish for
your aquarium...and more!
Web: http://www.btdarters.com
Email: bt@btdarters.com
Phone: (262) 268-7489

Let the word games begin:
fact, theory, belief, hypothesis, guess, law, truth, opinion, . . .

"General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. "
http://en.wikipedia....eral_relativity

Einstein's gravity is called a 'theory'. You can choose to ignore Einstein and/or gravity.

Just because a word like 'theory' has been abused so that is does not have a consistent meaning
does not change the amount of supporting evidence behind or usefulness of any 'theory'.

"In everyday speech, theory is the same as hypothesis -- a statement that has not
been tested. But scientifically speaking, a theory is a synthesis of facts and
well-tested hypotheses. Theories are a foundation of science. They are not fixed,
but evolve. They pass through stages of refinement. For example, since the
theory of the atom was proposed 200 years ago it has been refined many times in
light of new evidence. Some people argue that scientific theories cannot be
taken seriously because they change. Those who understand science, however, see
that theories grow stronger as they evolve to include new information."

Conceptual Physical Science -- Explorations, Hewitt, Suchoki and Hewitt,
Published by Addison Wesley 2003

I like this statement, as well!

"Almost all science is based in speculation and theory - because that is how the
Scientific Method works. And proven is a very difficult state to reach in
scientific terms.

Take gravity. There is plenty of it about - we KNOW it exists, because we see the
results of gravity every moment of our lives. Isaac Newton devised a mathematical
system to explain the movement of the planets based on his understanding of gravity,
and it is from his mathematical work that we say there is a LAW of Gravity. We
consider it to be proven that gravity exists, and we can PREDICT based on our
understanding. But HOW does gravity work? That question is still not answered,
although a number of eminent scientists have tried to put forward their IDEAS on
how gravity works. We have a THEORY of gravity as well as the LAW of gravity.

Charles Darwin's work was not to demonstrate that evolution works - THAT WAS
ALREADY ACCEPTED BEFORE HE WROTE HIS PAPER. Darwin's work was to suggest an idea
on HOW evolution worked. So again, we have a number of observable events (animals
have changed over time) and we can PREDICT outcomes based on our understanding
and even change the outcomes to suit our needs. Animal breeders have been doing it
for centuries. We also have a THEORY of evolution - which in Darwin's case was the
proposal of Evolution by Natural Selection - Survival of the fittest."
Nigel Skelton

Both people give better definitions better than I'm able to! ;~)
Scott

In Darwin's honor, the Royal Mint is producing a limited edition Darwin Commemorative 2 pound coin-

http://www.royalmint...ase/UKCDBU.aspx

Mine should be here in another week.

Now what good is a two-pound coin?
Get stuck with a roll of those and you'll not be able to keep your pants up.

In Darwin's honor, the Royal Mint is producing a limited edition Darwin Commemorative 2 pound coin-

http://www.royalmint...ase/UKCDBU.aspx

Mine should be here in another week.

I'm waiting for the version with Obama as well.

Yes, the American entrapanurial spirit is going nuts with commerative coins, plates, and everything else possible. Even though it was a witty joke, we're getting off topic for the second time, three strikes and it's done with. Certainly someone else has a birthday coming up soon, Jordan, Rafinesque, Agassiz, or something to add to Darwin's exploits as a naturalist?

I don't want to get into a big discussion about religion, but I feel that if you get to post about your belief system, I should be able to post about mine. I have a feeling, though, that if I did, it would get deleted by the mods without hesitation.
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Scientific Knowledge is prominently listed as a NANFA Objective. I would loudly object if constrains were put on science by NANFA.

Evolution by Natural Selection is mentioned in many US fish books, and in scientific texts around the world. Therefore, evolution and the evolution of fish are fitting topics for this forum.

Brian,
keep your answer to evidence and science, and don't mention god(s), religion, belief, or faith,
and your post would deserve to stay, and not be deleted. Even I would object if your post were deleted.

Phil, will you please drop it, he said he was sorry.

Todd

From my point of view, Darwin was noteworthy for the fact that he was an untrained amatuer as would be measured by todays standards. Likely he would have had a much more difficult time breaking into scientific circles today.
Regardless of the philosophical debate about the E word, if you study his life and work, you can not help being amazed and impressed with his powers of observation and the way his mind sought for and often found answers to questions about the natural world.
To really appreciate the man and the scientist, rather than reading Origins, read the Voyage of the Beagle. Now that was a dream trip we can all appreciate!