WORKSHEET

Part 2 of 4
(Ch.1, Lesson1-Intellectual Revolutions that Defined Society)

Think About These Questions

1. What is Darwin’s contribution to modern science? Cite 3 references.

Darwin's greatest contribution to science is that he completed the

Copernican Revolution by drawing out for biology the notion of nature as a
system of matter in motion governed by natural laws . With Darwin's discovery of
natural selection, the origin and adaptations of organisms were brought into the
realm of science.__

2. How can Darwin’s evolutionary theory influence the following fields in

modern times:

 Economy
 Agriculture
 Political Science
 Religion

 Agriculture: A lot in agriculture has been touched by evolution, and since

ancient times. The reason that we have wheat and not grass, or why the
dessert banana you eat is not green, small, bitter and full of seeds, or why
you have broccoli and cauliflower instead of wild mustard, is due to
selection. With the understanding of the mechanisms involved in
evolution, mapping of genes and gene editing, agricultural scientists can
now create entirely new crops, like golden rice (rice plus a gene for beta
carotene) or wheat crops that can survive saltier soil.

 Economy: The effects of the understanding of evolution has not only

resulted in agricultural giants in economy, but also medical giants. Both of
these are major influences in local and global economy. Trade deals are
done around protection of medical intellectual properties and agricultural
produce.

 Religion: Except for a few fundamentalist denominations, mainly parts of

the US Evangelical community and the Middle-East Muslim communities,
religion has mostly shrugged its shoulder. Those fundamentalists have
seriously got their knickers in a twist.

 Political science: Directly, there’s little influence. Indirectly (se Economy

and Religion) the effect is huge. Global economy, and hence global
politics, involves those trade deals mentioned.