EARTH 125 1st EditionExam 1 Study Guide: Lectures 1-8Lecture 1Introduction to Evolution & Natural SelectionWhat are some diagnostic features of science?-Repeatability: If something is continually pursued through investigation-Economy: scientists “abstract” information into the form that’s the simplest-Mensuration: If something can be measured or quantified properly, it will make more sense-Heuristicity: good science motivates further discoveries -Falsifiability: scientific concepts can be proven wrongLecture 2What were Ussher’s theories and methods regarding the age of the earth?Ussher was rational and naturalistic – he relied on Scripture, specifically the Old Testament, to find an age for Earth. He found the earliest even that can be dated with reasonable certainty and worked back through various time intervals mentioned in the Bible. The Annals of the World from 1658 listed the Earth as being created in 4004 BC, based on the story of creation. Ussher was a humanist-historian, not a scientist, who tackled the age of the earth. What was the general thought about natural science in the middle Ages (regarding Theism)? There was an unwavering commitment to the authority of the Scripture in all matters that led people to believe that nature cannot reveal anything new because its all in Scripture – anything can happen by the hand of God or the Divine. These were called the “Dark Ages” because very little was learned about the natural world.What and who were the foundations of modern science, or natural theology?Galileo (and others) called for experiments and demonstrations – rational, scientific approaches to the history of the earth. They believed science’s goal is to discover the natural laws created by the Divine design. If a contradiction arises between what’s in Scripture and what’s in Natural Law, it has to do with the interpretation of Scripture, not the Natural Law. “Scripture teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” What role did fossils play in the Middle Ages and during the time of Natural Theology (Late 16th-17th century)? People were looking to nature for historical information about the earth. However, fossils applied to anything found in the earth during the Middle Ages – including minerals. Georgius Agricola used the term from Latin; fossilis refers to anything dug out of the ground. Agricola noted the resemblance of “fossils” to living organisms but didn’t state that they representedliving organisms – this was a conceptual obstacle for the time. Fossils are made of rock, while animals are made of flesh and bone. These are all minerals, but differ in materiality. Who was Nicholas Steno and what were his main ideas? Steno established once and for all the organic nature of fossils: they are remains of living organisms. He dissected a shark and compared teeth of a living shark to stones to find resemblances and make the claim that “tongue stones” are shark’s teeth. Secondly, he recognized the fundamental laws of geology/stratigraphy. Mainly, superposition, horizontality, and continuity.Principle of initial horizontality claims that strata are deposited horizontally and then deformedto various attitudes later. Principle of superposition claims that in a sequence of strata, any stratum is younger than the sequence of strata on which it rests, and is older than the strata that rest upon it. Principle of strata continuity claims that strata can be assumed to have continued laterally far from where they presently end. Essentially, Steno provides a mechanism for viewing the age of the earth through nature: rock layers represent a sequence of events = time = history. Do Steno’s studies of stratigraphy contradict anything about the age of the earth that Ussher came up with?No, his laws don’t contradict the Scriptural creation time frame. Steno just created the basic laws of stratigraphy. Others will need to use these laws to interpret rock formations and decipher the age of the earth. Lecture 3Who was James Hutton and what was his theory of the earth? What were his methods to prove this?Hutton believed in a Supreme Being as a designer of the world, meaning the divine caused the world/nature, but there was no divine interference afterward. Hutton believed everything has a purpose (teleology). Hutton tested his belief in the Supreme Being by looking at nature – specifically erosion of soil. At Siccar Point, Scotland, he noticed an angular uncomformity, leading to the Huttonian Rock Cycle of erosion, subsidence, deposition, and uplift. This views Earth as a heat engine that drives the cycle.Hutton did not believe species went extinct – he believed they were living, but yet to be found.What is deism and what does it say about the Supreme Being?To deists, the Divine design of the universe produced an earth that isn’t subject to sudden catastrophes but is instead governed by natural laws. However, they believed the Supreme Being: 1) created and governs the universe, 2) is perfectly designed, 3) gave men reason, and 4) had a plan for the universe. Who was Charles Lyell and what were his ideas regarding deism?Lyell believed in uniformitarianism: “the present as the key to the past” + gradualism. What does this mean? Essentially, it assumes that laws and processes (actualism) are time constant and that the processes operated at nearly constant rates (gradualism) leading to a near constant(average) state of the earth (gradualism). This doesn’t imply that earth was static and unchanging, but it implies balance. What happened with mastodons/mammoths, Benjamin Franklin, Georges Cuvier and Thomas Jefferson in the 1700s? Unusual teeth were being discovered. Franklin noticed the difference in grinders between elephants and the fossils found. Jefferson speculated that mammoths might yet be found living in the American wilderness. Cuvier proved the extinction of mastodons and mammoths because he had evidence that something is absent. Lecture 4Who was Cuvier and what did he prove?He concluded the reality of extinctions, and that they are due to causes: sudden, catastrophic events like floods, rapid climate change, etc. He resolved question of extinctions by comparing, in detail, fossils to living organisms. He had acquired knowledge of anatomy of animals and is thus recognized as the founder of comparative anatomy. Who was William Smith?A geologist who published the first geological map of Britain.What is the