Expanding Evolutionary Theory Beyond Darwinism with Elaborating, Self-Organizing, and Fractionating Complex Evolutionary Systems (original) (raw)
Introduction The scientific endeavor and human curiosity have been deliberated on the questions regarding the origins and the nature of the Earth for centuries. Over the past couple of decades, scientists have made great leap on the understanding of earth's operation as the transformation of Earth science has continued and due to the major improvement in technology. " Origin and Evolution of Earth: Research Questions for a Changing Planet " was edited by the Committee on ten Grand Research Questions in the Solid-Earth Sciences, National Research Council in 2008, which is a biological, chemical and geological science book. This book aims to unmask, and capture the capacity and ambitions of the questions on planetary and geological science, it discusses plenty grand questions in the area, such as the origin of earth, and shows the challenges faced by scientists at the beginning of the 21 st century that led to the frontier of earth science. The book described ten " big picture " on Earth science, the questions show genuine challenges and may not be fully understand for decades, the answers to those fundamental questions would help to improve understanding of the planet Earth and even stimulate new strategies for managing the environment. Summary of contents There are 10 research questions in the book, the questions are grouped into four chapters. The questions reflect what is important issues in the scope of geological and planetary science. In Chapter 1 'Origins' talks about the questions on How did Earth and other planets form, what happened during Earth's 'dark age' and how did life begin. The first question is about the origin of the solar system. This question is especially crucial for the further exploring of the space, it is important for scientists to discover the origins and the evolution of life; hence help us to understand the causes that lead to major differences between planets in solar systems, for example, to understand why earth is the only planet among all in the solar system to have sufficient liquid water at the planet surface for the support of lives on it. This research question will help scientist to come to an understanding on the mysterious origins of earth and solar system. The second question about the Earth's dark age is highly considerable on the research of the Earth's evolution for investigators, as what used to happen during the dark age may have major influence on the change of Earth later in times. While the information on that period is little, more researches is needed to be conducted to accelerate the research on the topic. The last question in this chapter asks about the origin of life, which is one of the most challenging and deepest questions of all time in science It is important to learn the root of life so that we can predict the further evolution of human in the future, the question also impels scientists to investigate on the relationship of the Earth and the evolution of life. For Chapter 2 'Earth's interior'', it discuss about more significant questions, which are: " " How does Earth's interior work and how does it affect the surface, why does Earth have plate tectonics and continents and how are Earth processes controlled by material properties. " The first question enquires the operation of the Earth's interior, which is about the volcano movement and its influence on the surface of the planet, such as how the volcano movement leads to formation of landscape. Also to observe the transformation of the surface condition. The question aims to dissect the Earth and have better understanding on its exterior and interior. Another question inquires the distribution of the plates and continental-crust, which has a lot to do with the existence and persistence of life since it makes a habitat for non-marine life. The third question is to investigate the physics and chemistry of material that compose the Earth in order to conduct further study on the Earth's history so as to predict the changes in the future.