STSC Exam 1: Evolution and Society Questions and Answers 100% Correct

fixity of species - ANSWER-a creationist concept that proposes that organisms do not change over time because each and every specie is perfectly adapted (from God). Not scientific, because evidence in favor of evolution is far more vast than any evidence that supports fixity of the species. Carl Linnaeus, like many biologists of his time, accepted fixity of the species (unlike Georges Buffon). transmutation of species - ANSWER-19th c. theory preceded Darwin's theory of natural selection, Jean Baptiste Lamarck used the French term "transformisme" in his 1809 "Philosophie Zoologique" publication about Lamarckian evolution theory. Lamarck did not believe all things had a common ancestor, but rather that species were continuously created by spontaneous generation driven by an innate life force or fluid advancing in a linear pattern of complexity (related to the great chain of being). One species was altered into another, according to this theory. This fluid also changed with use and disuse for environmental adaptation. Cuvier disagreed with Lamarck theory and was with Aristotle, believing species immutable. evolution - ANSWER-theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin that states that all species arise from a common ancestor, and develop or descend with modification through the natural selection of inherited variations that increase the individual organisms ability to engage in competition, live, and reproduce. These heritable traits better suited to the environment of a given organism, therefore, means those will survive and slowly produce these variations in offspring over many generations. This also leads to different species as beneficial mutations consolidate. great chain of being/fixity of species vs. transmutation/evolution - ANSWER-disrupted class systems. principle of population (Malthus) - ANSWER-key facts: overpopulation and competition in pop. and earth In "An Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798) by the economist Thomas Robert Malthus, he made two postulata (1) food is necessary for the existence of man and (2) passion between sexes is necessary and will continue with the baby makin result. He thinks they are fixed laws. Therefore, power of population ("geometrical ratio", ie. exponential growth) power of earth to support it ("arithmetical ratio"). The lack of food acts as a check on population growth (perpetual states of hunger, disease, and STRUGGLE). Malthus did not believe in social engineering and thought men had to work to live.