Charles Darwins Religious Beliefs - 2647 Words

Term Paper: Throughout history, many have inquired into Charles Darwin’s religious beliefs and have come up with a wide variety of answers. Why are his personal beliefs important when dealing with a matter of science that Darwin researched? Darwin excluded the question of a Creator from his works because it was irrelevant to his scientific research, and the debate regarding Darwin’s faith arises due to his conflicting accounts of his personal faith as well as the way his early childhood and teenage years shaped his religious views at different times and provided a foundation for his revolutionary research. The source of much controversy in Darwin’s faith arises in his account of his upbringing. Charles Darwin was born February 12th,†¦show more content†¦57). Through statements like these, it is clear that while at one point Darwin clearly held strong religious beliefs, but those changed. As part of the university curriculum, he read a few books on divinity as well as three of William Paley’s works, including Natural Theology. In his comments on reading Paley’s work, he writes, â€Å"the logic of this book [Evidences] and as I may add of his Natural Theology gave me as much delight as did Euclid† and goes on to explain â€Å"I did not at that time trouble myself about Paley’s premises; and taking these on trust I was charmed and convinced by the long line of argumentation† (Darwin, p. 59). From these statements, it is clear that Darwin appreciated Paley’s â€Å"line of argumentation† and â€Å"logic† and might therefore try to use similar techniques when writing his own theories in the future. Throughout his university career, both at Edinburgh and at Cambridge, Darwin continued to receive offers to explore and go on expeditions with various mentors, colleagues, and teachers. On these trips, he collected marine animals from tidal pools (Darwin, p. 50), worked stuffing birds as an apprentice (Darwin, p. 51), and went on a voyage documenting fossils with Adam Sedgwick (Darwin, p. 70), among other excursions. He also developed an extensive collection of beetles and developed a system of capturing and documentingShow MoreRelatedThe Contribution of the Discoveries and Theories of Charles Darwin in the Nineteenth Century to the Decline of Religious Belief in the Twentieth Centu586 Words   |  3 PagesContribution of the Discoveries and Theories of Charles Darwin in the Nineteenth Century to the Decline of Religious Belief in the Twentieth Century In Victorian England, people wanted answers. Explanations for unusual natural events were becoming unbelievable in an increasingly educated time, and these religious and supernatural explanations were doubted by many. People needed a sensible explanation for life and mans existence. Charles Darwin provided a possible answer, and manRead MoreThe Aspects Of Darwin s Life851 Words   |  4 Pageslife/personal experiences/beliefs that you believed were most influential to him and explain how. Charles Darwin contributed much of his beliefs to the understanding of science, despite the adversities he had to overcome. Significantly, Charles was motivated intrinsically by his curiosity, since he lived during a time when science strictly clung to the bible. The aspects of differing religious views were most influential in Darwin’s life, personal experiences, and beliefs. Darwin came from an AnglicanRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1173 Words   |  5 Pages It is time to start believing. Evolutionary theories were first proposed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, and 150 years later, these ideas are still being studied and proven today. Charles Darwin set the basis for these discoveries. Natural Selection and survival of the fittest are two examples of evolution. Charles Darwin once exclaimed, â€Å"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.† T hisRead MoreThe Science Of Math And Science By Mathematical And Experimental Proof1144 Words   |  5 Pageswere even deemed blasphemous through their beliefs or teachings. Two men, born and raised in religious and still skeptic times were Renà © Descartes and Charles Darwin who, with their most â€Å"infamous† books, â€Å"The Mediation† and â€Å"the Origin of Species† would create chaos in the minds of religious believers at the time but, in the long-run, would be considered to be true and deemed to have a major impact how humans handle situations in today’s non-religious world. The father of modern philosophy, Renà ©Read MoreSummary Of The Documentary, Darwins Dangerous Idea 836 Words   |  4 Pagesdocumentary, â€Å"Darwin’s Dangerous Idea† tells the story of Charles Darwin’s conception of his theory of natural selection, and how it explains the evolutionary process and species adaptation. The story begins with a brief overview of his 5-year stint on the HMS Beagle as the ships naturalist, during her South American voyage. The film shows how Mr. Darwin collected fossils and many species of animals and birds from many different regions especially the Galapagos Islands. It portrays Mr. Darwin’s returnRead MoreHow Did Life Start?1696 Words   |  7 Pagesthought and time, Charles Darwin expressed his answer in the form of a book. When Darwin wrote The Origin of Species, it was a product of its time; remarkably over 150 later it is still a substantial read. To understand the jaw dropping response of Charles Darwin’s Origi n of Species, one must take a look at the current world around Darwin’s publication. In 1859, The Origin of Species was published by John Murray. Murray was a well-known publisher who aided in the title of Darwin’s book. In fact, Murray’sRead MoreThe Origin of Species1246 Words   |  5 Pagesform, commonly called the Theory of Evolution.(Kennedy Pg.572) The book titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life was written by an English naturalist and geologist, Charles Darwin, and it overcame the scientific rejection that earlier similar theories had faced. Leading up to his publication during the Protestant Reformation Darwin went on a five-year-long voyage on the HMS Beagle as company to Captain Robert FitzRoyRead MoreBiography of Charles Darwin 884 Words   |  4 Pages Charles Darwin can easily be recognized as a pure genius. In his lifetime, he single-handedly changed the way we see the world. His theories led to the study of the modern evolutionary theory of the world . Charles was a collector of plants, animals, and other specimens. From an early age, Charles had an immense love for nature, which started his career as a scientist. His trip to the Galapagos Islands forever changed his life and reputation. His two famous works were the Origin of Species and theRead MoreEssay on Biography of Charles Darwin1365 Words   |  6 PagesCharles Darwin was a British scientist who laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory with his concept of the development of all forms of life through the slow-working process of natural selection. His work was of major influence on the life and earth sciences and on modern thought in general. Darwin was born in 1809 in Shrewsbury, a small market town in Shropshire, England. His wealthy physician father was the son of Erasmus Darwin who had written Laws of Organic Life. His mother was theRead MoreCharles Darwin s Impact On The Scientific Community1478 Words   |  6 PagesCharles Darwin is one the most influential scientists in our history. Without his speculation and theories on evolution, the way we look at evolution today may have been very misguided. Darwin created new ideas and theories that dramatically changed the way we see science today. His impact on the scientific community was both exciting yet controversial. Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12 in the year 1809. His parents were Susannah and Robert Darwin (BBC, 2015). While

Female And Female Athletes - 1463 Words

The scoreboard does not recognize if the conquered points are achievements of male or female athletes, then why does Canadian society? Sports include any activity which requires physically exercising a skill by competing against another party for the purpose of entertainment. This paraphrased definition does not specify if sports are better suited for males or females, yet there remains to be debate present over the equality - or lack thereof - enjoyed by females in Canadian sports. Not only are female athletes extremely under-represented in the media, they are also given fewer opportunities in comparison to their male counterparts. With evidence through studies, there is little room for argument regarding the validity of gender inequality†¦show more content†¦The problem here extends even further to the fact that most of sports editors and authors are male. The inequality present in Canadian athletics is not new; it has been noted that between the years 1954 to 1987, 90.8% of Sports Illustrated articles were of discriminatory nature and tended to focus on white male athletes by writing lengthy articles and consequently resulting in shorter and biased articles for females and black athletes. With restraints from the media - an important medium of athletic information for the public and sports scouts - females have faced a difficult past in regards to successfully promoting their achievements and careers. Furthermore, it has been noted that females are more often to be considered for coverage if they were participating in aesthetic sports, rather than men. There are many specific instances through which gender inequality can be analyzed. It has been advertised by many university athletic departments that there is a comparable number of stories in news releases for both men and women; however, the news releases on the men’s team were usually longer. One may assume that teams that were more successful deserved more detailed and thoroughly reviewed coverage, yet the men’s and women’s basketball teams had similar records. In explicit contrast with basketball teams, ice hockey teams in Canada appear to promote, publicize and celebrate men’s teams more than women’s teams. Without significant recognition for

All That Matters free essay sample

When we think of diversity, we commonly think of a various medley of races and ethnicities to make a population, as it were, diverse. However, in my life, Ive defined diversity as not only such a mix, but also to include those with disabilities physical and mental. My only sibling, my brother Seena, was born one year, seven months and five days after I was. And while that fact in and of itself does not seem to hold any value, any significance, I do think it begins to make more sense when I add this: At the age of three, Seena was diagnosed with autism. Over fifteen years ago, my mother gave birth to her first and only son. He was as quiet as his older sister was talkative, and as unresponsive as she was clever. And three years after he was born, to the uncompromising shock but not complete surprise of my parents, Seena was diagnosed with the disability that would forever shape not only his life, but ours as well. Growing up, I accepted unconditionally that Seena was to be largely my responsibility. That is not to say that my parents abandoned him to me and expected me to raise him. Quite the opposite, in fact. My mother spent countless hours working with him, even returning to school to get her Masters and eventually her Ph.D. in Special Education. My father designed a computer called the Learning Station to further aid children with disabilities; for a while he also taught martial arts to them. No, by largely my responsibility, I mean that I realized that when I was old enough past college, past marriage, past, well, everything at the end of the day, Seena was going to come home to me. I believe that when I was younger, my parents feared I would reject my brother as one of my friends in a similar situation appeared to do to her own autistic brother. They placed me in a sibling group for siblings of children with disabilities and encouraged me to be an active participant in my brothers therapy and upbringing. Of course, in retrospect, I realize that my childhood has driven me to dedicate my life to somehow helping children like Seena. As I outgrew the weekly sibling group sessions which now I realize were meant to act as some sort of a group therapy that I ended up going to just to have fun my mother searched for a way to further involve me and my brother in the world we were growing up in. He started to attend therapeutic recreation, TREC a program for children with special needs at a local day camp. This is where I started my habit of volunteering. Id go after I was done with my own camp to help out with children. Later, when I began volunteering for the Summer Reading Program at the library across the street, I used the skills I learned with children at TREC not only to help the normal ones that passed through daily, but also any exceptional child and his or her family as well. (Fondly, I remember meeting one mother with a young autistic son who was so eager to find someone who was familiar with autism that she learned my work schedule and came whenever was my shift.) But, as when I was younger with the sibling group, I have long outgrown TREC at the day camp. Afterwards, I spent my time at a non-profit almost day-care-like organization called Tuesdays Child with the same results. Every year since my seventh grade, my brother and I have attended Camp SOAR he as a camper and myself as a counselor. Of course, the question comes, What is it?, to which, every time, I just point to whatever SOAR regalia I happen to be wearing. Special Outdoor Adaptive Recreation. Huh? Special Outdoor Adaptive Recreation that describes this camp in a nutshell. SOAR is a weekend or weeklong (depending on what time of year) camp that provides a one-on-one counselor to an exceptional child. At SOAR, Ive encountered kids with mild cognitive impairments to severe intellectual and physical disabilities to you guessed it a variety of children with the Autism Spectrums Disorders. Just this last year, my friend was counselor to a boy with Downs Syndrome, another friend to a child with mild autism, and myself a twelve-year-old boy with the cognitive abilities and mental capacity of a two-year-old. And no, thats not exaggeration, it was in his file. Inevitably, people ask why I return every year. They want to understand how after all the stories I tell for there is always at least one kid who makes you want to never return to camp ever again I still return. To that, every time, I can only sit back and smile. How do you explain the look of gratitude on the face of a parent who gets a one week break from the kid they dedicate their lives to, only to return at the end with such relief? How can you explain the counselor bonding over the way we tried to teach one kid how to crank dat and another a handshake? How do you explain that even as I sat there, near tears over a child who soiled his diaper over three times a day when he was supposedly potty trained, I still couldnt wait until the next year? Lets lay it on the line: Ive grown up in Chicago. SOAR is full of suburbians, where Im usually the only real city-slicker. There seems nothing to connect us through our different spheres and lives. But if theres one thing the camp has taught me, its that no matter who you are or where you came from, youll still wake up the next week at home and wonder why, after being so used to waking up at three AM to the repetitive sounds that your camper makes, he or she let you sleep the whole night through. In other words, we can put aside our differences long enough to let these kids have fun for a week. And you know what? It works. Somehow, something about these kids draws us back in every year. Not even a full week back from my latest visit, I had two dreams with my latest camper in them. Things like that and the pictures, and the videos, and the imitations of the kids that we all end up doing while were up hanging out at eleven oclock at night draw me back. Hearing my little brother say hes going to Camp SOAR every year with that silly grin plastered on his face draws me back. I suppose there is something to be said about human compassion and our ability to love. Even though my first camper made me cry as I called for my parents to pleaseohpleaseohplease come pick me up I cant take it!, I still came back, because I knew there would be another child who was as excited as Seena, another parent who would sit at home for a week and wonder how their child is doing instead of taking a break. Undoubtedly, I will return next year, and the year after that. Its not just a matter of seeing the people I see once a year who I have a bond with that I dont with any of the people I see at school. Its reaching out to the kids who have been such a large part of my life for well, the entirety of it. Its seeing them smile even as they say goodbye. Its the, But seriously dude I MISS ADDISON text messages that I get at midnight. Its the feeling of waking up to the noise of nothingness and wondering why its not three in the morning. Its the knowledge that maybe, somehow, Ive made a difference for even that short period of time in the life of a child I know Ill see back next year. It would be wrong of me to say that these kids shouldnt be cured. But I suppose, I should give a more stringent definition to such a situation. To the parents of children who cannot walk, who cannot feed themselves, who are fifteen and not yet toilet trained; to the families of children whose disabilities do not allow them a good quality of life, I say, let us go and find something to help that child. Let us together search for something that will ease the difficulties in not only their lives but yours as well. To these families, whose every day is another battle for their child, I applaud their constant search and struggle, their desire to find something to make the quality of life for their child better. But to the families like mine, to the parents whose child is happy and has a good quality of life, to the siblings who watch their brother and/or sister grow in spite of the disability that holds them back, I say, quite bluntly, forget the cure. Give me a magic potion that could make Seena normal and Id smack you in the face. Because I will never forget Seenas smile as he sees my parents for the first time in a week after camp. Because he, like the other children who are able to thrive despite their disability, is happy. Because his and the other childrens disabilities are just that in name. Despite their labels, these children are not disabled. Rather, they are part of the mosaic that makes our society diverse. In a world such as ours, where in the first time in the history of our nation does an African-American man have a chance as president, and before him, a woman as well, appreciation for diversity is ever-so-slowly becoming the norm. But, growing up in an ethnic family, with a n exceptional child for a younger brother, I think it is important to realize that others who are diverse are not so different from any of us after all. Seena responds to love with affection and to nastiness with unhappiness; he laughs and sings and smiles a lot. He likes chicken nuggets and fries and rice, and loves the computer and gets a kick out of Disney. So, just because hes labeled as Autistic doesnt mean hes not human. If we can understand and appreciate the diversity that all people, including exceptional children, offer us, I believe that the world would be a more unified, happier place. Spend a day in the company of an exceptional child and I think youll begin to understand. And in the end, thats all that really matters.

Investigating radioactive decay using coins Essay Example

Investigating radioactive decay using coins Essay Research question: Does our radioactive modeling with coins illustrate radioactive decay? Hypothesis: I believe that it is possible to illustrate radioactive decay by trying to model it using coins. Radioactive decay is a random process and is not affected by external conditions. This means that there is no way of knowing whether or not a nucleus is going to decay within a certain period of time. However, due to the large numbers of atoms involved we can make some accurate predictions. For example, if we start with a given number of atoms then we can expect a certain number to decay in the next minute. If there were more atoms in the sample, we would expect the number decaying to be larger. As a result the rate of decay of a sample is directly proportional to the number of atoms in the sample. This proportionality means that radioactive decay is an exponential process. As a result, I believe that we can model radioactive decay using coins because by chance we should get half of the coins left each time which is exactly what half-life is. We will write a custom essay sample on Investigating radioactive decay using coins specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Investigating radioactive decay using coins specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Investigating radioactive decay using coins specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Variables: Independent variable: I am not sure about this one because I dont really think there is an independent variable in this investigation because we arent changing anything other than the number of parent coins every time we throw them. Dependant variable: Similarly, there is no real dependant variable due to the fact that there is no independent variable. Controlled Variables: Despite the fact that we cannot really identify any independent and dependant variables there are several variables that we should control. First of all, the drop height must be kept the same in all experiments and this can be done by using a rule to measure the height each time. Also the type of coins and the surface which the coins hit must be kept the same. Method of experiment: 1. Find a place where there is plenty of area so that the coins can bounce off freely. (Remember the surface must be kept the same). 2. Drop the 32 coins of the one type (lets call them parent coins) on a flat surface. 3. Count and remove all of the parent coins which are head-side up- these have decayed, 4. Replace the head-side up coins with the same number of the other type of coin ( lets call them the daughter coins) you are using. 5. Record the number of parent and daughter coins you have onto a chart and repeat the process until no parent coin is left. Method of Collecting Data: 1. In order to get accurate results do your experiment about three times and then do an average. Data Collection and Processing Data collection: Tables showing the number of parent and daughter coins at each step (Trial 1) Data presentation: Now in order to answer my research question it is vital that we draw a graph because if the graph illustrates an exponential decay curve then it would support my theory that you can in fact model radioactive decay but if it doesnt illustrate an exponential curve then it wouldnt support my theory. Conclusion and Evaluation Conclusion: In essence, the results support my theory that it is possible to model radioactive decay using coins. From the first graph we can clearly see that we have an exponential graph which is what radioactive decay is due to the fact that the rate of decay of a sample is directly proportional to the number of atoms in the sample. The other graph serves to illustrate that as the decay of the radioactive parent nuclei occurs, there is an increase in the stable daughter nuclei. Speaking about errors in this modeling exercise is very hard because this isnt really an experiment. All we are really doing is throwing coins onto a flat surface and looking at the outcome i. e. the number of head-side up parent coins. Systematic errors couldnt have occurred because we arent using any instruments to measure anything. The only random error that could have occurred would be us missing one of the head-side up coins and not removing it when we had to. Evaluation: Again because this isnt an experiment in which we have a definite independent variable and a dependant variable, there are no real weaknesses or limitations that occurred. The only weakness I can think of is that this modeling exercise relies a lot on chance. In other words, it just might have been so that not approximately half of the coins were taken of each time. It would have been a total mess if for example the first few tries only 1 coin is head-side up and then after lets say the 5th try all of them come up as head-side up. That would totally mess all the results and wouldnt support the theory of radioactivity. Other than that I cannot think of any weaknesses. Improvements: Thinking of realistic improvement for this modeling exercise isnt possible because it is a modeling exercise and not an experiment. However, it never hurts to take more trial perhaps- 10 trials and then taking averages. This would give more accurate results but then again because this experiment relies too much on chance, doing 10 trials might make the results even worse. Another improvement can be is to use much more coins, for example a hundred coins. This gives a greater possibility to monitor radioactive decay. I am sorry that I couldnt do all experiments but as you know we- the chemists- also had to do chemistry investigations and therefore we didnt have enough time to do all the experiments.