Great picture of the marine iguana, a species unique to the Galapagos. I don’t think they’re related to the “kimono” dragons…

COMMENT: Darwin’s ideas about evolution were hardly new by the time he got to writing about them — PZ’s remarks (provided by a link above) elude to this. Decades earlier others made essentially the same observations & drew comparable conclusions, though they lacked the data to conclusively determine how changes in species occurred. Notable [but not exclusive] in this regard was the Surgeon/Anatomist John Hunter who as early as 1767 made similar observations regarding a discovered Mastodon tooth/teeth and by 1793, with a huge reference collection of human & animal anatomy (still preserved), when he died, was in the process of writing similar [heretical, for the time] views about evolution. In his portrait he purposefully selected as one of the background items a notepage portraying the evolutionary progression of skulls (for example), that was some 50 years before Darwin developed, much less published, his culmination effort. (John Hunter & his home, incidentally, is believed to be the model from which Robert Louis Stevenson patterned his Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde character)

Some people (e.g. Owen) recognized the patterns Hunter & others (including Darwin, decades later) documented, but could not shake their religious handicap & objected to ‘evolutionary’ explanations by insisting this was evidence of a Divine plan; even such academic-theological resistance highlighted the fundamental issues & inspired further study.

Thus, the development of the theory of evolution/natural selection was, in a sense, a “team effort” as is typical of major developments in most professions/fields.

This is not meant to demean Darwin so much as put his contribution in proper perspective — he built on the work of many others and his contribution wasn’t so much innovative as was the culmination of much work by many before him (and unlike many of his predecessor who were heroically outspoken regarding such a heretical conpet as ‘evolution’ [or whatever they referred to it as], Darwin withheld from publication his findings for a decade). Disregarding them is analogous to [the non-historical scenario, I hope] in which S. Hawking were credited in the not too distant future for the theory of relativity, black holes, etc. because his publications remained widely published & known while others like Einstein, etc. were ignored/overlooked.

Unfortunately, this pattern of disregarding those that incrementally established the foundation & idolizing those that reached some “finish line” is very common. Who can name the engineers that made the Wright Brother’s aircraft succeed; or, name the engineers that invented & made Henry Ford’s modern assembly line work; or, name the physicists & engineers that made Von Braun’s rocket visions a reality, etc????

Let’s be sure to give Darwin his due recognition–but only his due and no more. If for no other [selfish] reason that doing otherwise distorts & undermines our understanding of & appreciation for the history we admire. Historical reality is far more interesting than [inadvertently] invented myths.

President Phil: Could also be P^2,,,

Gary 7

I’m glad ya’ll enjoyed your adventure.

Thanks, for sharing.

In reply to a comment by “Jozef,” I will say that I was very, very, happy with the extreme care extended by the naturalists who guided and informed us, and the diligence shown by the Celebrity Cruise Line to protect the ecology of the Islands. I watched a 5 a.m. unloading of garbage and sewage from the ship, in sealed, labeled, sorted, and safe containers – all being transported to the mainland to be incinerated and properly disposed of. Not a scrap of trash went overboard or was left behind. Ecuador really cares, and fulfills its obligations to the world…

Read the upcoming SWIFT for an item about “Jaime,” one of our guides, and you’ll see what I mean.

I thank “Autumn” – and others – for their kind comments.

Our Amaz!ng Adventure was just that, and I’m still glowing…

You got some great photos of the local wildlife and of those weird primates that were wandering around.

Skorp, about PZ’s antics recently. It’s his blog and he can do what he likes. Freedom of expression and all that. The blog isn’t his science classroom either. PZ says he doesn’t bring up politics or religion in his classes and I take him at face value on that.

Jozef, why restrict areas like the Galapagos to just scientists? Sounds a bit elitist. I’m all for restricting numbers of tourists to limit environmental impact but cutting off entire areas of the planet to tourism smacks of one of those anti-human gaia-would-be-better-off-without-us things. For example there are some activists that want to stop all tourist access to the Mountain Gorillas in the Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. Tourism is probably the one thing that is keeping the last 600 or so gorillas alive. Really seeing these places changes you. You then come back and spread the message. That is a good thing. How many people read dry old scientific journals. How many people read blogs and travelogues?

Check it out.

I was laden with a Canon 40D and three lenses: 10-22mm wide zoom, 24-105mm mid zoom, and 100-400mm tele zoom (and whose size leads me to calling it “The Saturn V”). Add the supporting staff of filters and other gear, and you get a 20-lb shooting vest. Hey, I wasn’t there to look cool, I was there, in part, to try to catch a few nice compositions to hang on to after the trip was over. And I lucked out a couple of times.

What a trip!

There are many reasons that you have the best sci blog out there- but that is another one. I really respect the fact that you take on people that disagree with you. And you seem able to handle it better than anybody else.

His early comments on the Yahgans (Fuegians) were certainly not consistent with his feelings late in his life, after these people were ‘civilized’ by British missionaries. Unfortunately for the Yahgans, who took up the modern 19th c. mode of life with a passion, civilization only brought them hunger, dispossession, sickness, death, and cultural annihilation. But hey, at least they got ‘saved’….and Darwin contributed moneys to the missions to make sure of that. Within a few months of his death, though, so were most of them. Maybe they still keep him company in Watauineiwanchi ucan akainix wagun.

Jess Tauber

It is the extraordinary mind that draws us onward. Go Darwin and Phil and Randi and,,,

Wish I’d been there,,,well, maybe next time.

GAry 7

I leave you to judge the scientific merit of this demonstration (which my sister saw in Africa), but I’m very surprised that it’s not being offered in South America as well.

OK, just pretend I didn’t say that.

Phil,
Looks like a really fun trip. I am now officially über-jealous!