Key Terms Abraham Gottlob Werner and Neptunism Study Guide for Exam 2 Neptunism in general is the retreating ocean theory named after the Roman god of the sea Werner taught at the mining school in Freiburg although he published little he attracted students from all over the world and achieved influence that way He concentrated on identifying the mineral character of rocks and assumed that each type Relation to Neptunism as great ancient ocean dried up the chemicals in it were was laid down at a particular period precipitated out in a particular sequence His theory was accepted in late 18th century but refuted by evidence that the same types of rocks can be laid down at different periods Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism Catastrophism the world is relatively new catastrophes account for change such as the Flood Uniformitarianism idea that the earth is really old and we shouldn t be looking to causes to look to geological changes instead apply same logic around us to geological past don t make up catastrophes Darwin was one of these guys James Hutton Charles Lyell the modern timescale Both promoted uniformitarianism two most important heroes identified as founders of Hutton theory of Vulcanism that insisted that the processes responsible for forming the rocks have all occurred at the same rate as we observe today perfect cycle where there was no room for a flood but a necessarily vast amount of time his theory of the earth was eternal and allowed no room for creation Hutton was a deist we find no vestige of a beginning no prospect of an end Lyell dismissed evidence for catastrophes showed that there were always some species that survived through different formations undermining the plausibility of catastrophic extinctions Lyell revived Hutton s cyclic or steady state model of history he was also a liberal in politics and was a deist that could never accept Darwin s view of human origins The Principles of Geology in 1830 he was a really popular writer that helped convince people that the earth was really old J B Lamarck Georges Cuvier says species change extinction happens French during French Rev he can say what he wants his theory was cleaner nicer than Darwin picture shows that Lamarck just says that nature wants evolution so it happens while Darwin s idea shows the baby giraffe with a short neck dying as its longer necked peers survive didn t agree with Lamarck reconstructed animals from tooth or something very much against idea of evolution expert in fossil records said reason why it looks like animals are changing over time is because we don t have a complete record where it does indicate change we re wrong Richard Owen see the Great Hippocampus Debate Concept of the archetype defining the basic form of each major taxonomic group same combination of bones can be modified for different purposes in species adapted to different environment ordering principle that could only arise from the mind of the Creator Robert Chambers and the Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation tried to appeal to middle class non scientific people to show them that species do change transmutation saying it so that it could be reflected in society used evolution as political propaganda his point wasn t science it was the message many scientists rejected his ideas because they were out there didn t make sense big thing was that he cleared the path so that the scientific counterpart of Darwin was able to be more accepted in society Darwin s peers hated the Vestiges because it was less scientific more combative Wanted to sell idea of progressive evolution to middle classes in order to offer them an ideology in which their demands for reform would seem part of nature s own development social progress laws built into nature by its Creator progress by law His book prepared the world for Darwin s more radical ideas Thomas Malthus Clergyman Essay on the Principle of Population challenged Enlightenment optimism by showing that human progress was impossible all efforts at social reform were doomed because poverty was not a consequence of social inequality it was natural because reproductive capacity of any population always exceeds the food supply struggle for existence to see who would live die Darwin picked up on this idea Argue that natural selection reflects values of free enterprise capitalism struggle as driving force of progress Charles Darwin Uniformitarian big idea natural selection doesn t grant organisms what they need random differences that arise in species certain differences allow species to prosper variations cause better competitive advantage nature as red and tooth and claw Darwin was a pretty big deal in British Scientific Society really involved in the scientific community wealthy and intelligent had a lot of scientific friends to back him up it s because of his status and his friends that his theory was more widely accepted 1859 Origin sold out in one day marks turning point Darwin not a sensationalist but he was a sensation The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man Descent show gulf between animal and human mentalities wasn t as great as traditionally assumed contribution to Huxley Owens debate over higher mental capacity of humans Thomas Henry Huxley preeminent work to refine theory becomes known as Darwin s bulldog didn t necessarily agree 100 note Darwin s friends were not simply blind followers of Darwin work to help address problems as a framework Darwin s theory is still brilliant Wilberforce Huxley Debate The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny One of first out and out confrontations where science seems to come out as the victor both sides are very certain that they win comes down to who has better press Huxley did Wilberforce church certain they had won The Great Hippocampus Debate Huxley of course Vs Richard Owen the debate was do apes have a hippocampus so they were arguing over the uniqueness of humans this was an excellent example of science in the eye of the public Darwin as judge puts him in center of situation as deciding factor and of course Darwin sides with Huxley they re friends duh this debate has implications for race Alfred Russel Wallace The importance of status not rich but loved science collected stuff like Darwin did 8 years everything except journals burned in a ship fire bad luck chuck Malaysia awesome work gets yellow fever Conspiracy Some theorists say that Darwin totally stole his work Wallace s published with the disclaimer that Darwin had