Today, I read the ninth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Ladder of Creation. Although the book itself is actually about how mankind has been able to undergo cultural changes rather than biological changes, this specific chapter focused on evolution — biological evolution. Of course, though, the chapter is about how humans — Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace, and Louis Pasteur — learned more about evolution than actually went through it. It begins by explaining how Darwin and Wallace underwent similar experiences, asking the same questions and doing much of the same things, and therefore reached the same conclusions. Although Darwin reached the conclusion of natural selection first, he didn’t publish it until Wallace’s paper was shown to him. This chapter also mentions Louis Pasteur’s work in showing that animals like maggots did not simply appear, but had parents. He proved that the evolutionary distance between humans and animals was shown in the amount of amino acid differences. Then, Stanley Miller proved that amino acids could be formed in electrical conditions, and other scientist showed that those acids could also be created in extremely cold conditions. I would recommend this chapter to anyone interested in evolution and rate it 9.7/10.
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