TOPIC 3-ANT-1

What is Science?

  • Many students feel put off by the word "science," believing it's esoteric, meaning understood by only a few.

  • While advanced science requires specialized knowledge, science in its basic form is the process by which we understand the natural world.

  • We all practice science in our daily lives through tinkering and trying to understand how things work.

Science as Tinkering

  • Tweaking a recipe is an example of doing science.

  • Hypothesis: Believing you can improve a recipe with a new ingredient.

  • Experiment: Adding the new ingredient and baking.

  • Conclusion: If the result is as good as hoped, the hypothesis is substantiated.

  • Baking is a chemical process with specific ratios, making it less forgiving to tweaking than other cooking methods.

Science: Understanding the Universe

  • Science is the process by which we attempt to understand the universe or nature.

Limitations of Science

  • Science cannot deal with the supernatural because it cannot be tested.

  • Science cannot prove or disprove the supernatural; it simply cannot address it.

Characteristics of Science

  • Empiricism:

    • Science must be empirical, meaning it is observable.

    • Observation can be augmented by tools that enhance our senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste).

    • Examples of tools: microscopes, telescopes, infrared, monitoring systems.

    • Only observable phenomena can be considered scientific because they are testable.

  • Replicability:

    • Studies should be repeatable at a later time.

    • Example: Placentophagy (consuming the placenta).

    • Claims: Improves iron levels, milk production, uterine contractions, and decreases postpartum depression.

    • Old studies (1950s) showed a correlation between placenta consumption and higher iron levels.

    • More recent studies (1980s-1990s) did not replicate those results, rendering the initial findings inconclusive.

    • Replicability requires keeping conditions as similar as possible between studies.

  • Parsimony (Occam's Razor):

    • The simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions is usually the most accurate.

    • It is a guiding principle rather than a strict rule.

Scientific Method

  • Begins with a research question: What are you trying to test?

  • Develop a hypothesis: A prediction of the answer to the research question.

  • Conduct tests to gather data.

  • Draw conclusions based on the test results: Was the hypothesis supported?

Example: Primate Behavior

  • Primatology is the study of nonhuman primates.

  • Hypothesis: A male langur monkey will kill all infants in a social group.

  • Background: In some primate species, a single male controls a group of females.

  • If a new male takes over, he may kill the infants.

  • This behavior has been observed in other animals like zebras.

  • Testing: Direct observation in the wild using cameras or binoculars.

  • If dead infants are found, necropsies can be performed to look for cause of death and DNA samples.

  • If the new male's DNA is found on the infants, it supports the hypothesis.

Scientific Experiment: Chimpanzee Tool Use

  • Experiment conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany.

  • Researcher drops a peanut into a tube attached to the outside of a chimpanzee's cage.

  • The chimpanzee must figure out how to get the peanut out of the tube.

Understanding Theory

  • Fact, law, and theory are different and often misunderstood.

Theory

  • The term "theory" is confusing because it has different meanings.

  • In natural sciences (biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy), a theory is a set of ideas or explanations based on repeatedly tested facts.

  • In layman's terms or social sciences, "theory" is closer to a hypothesis (speculation).

  • Natural science theory: Explains something, is based on facts, and has been tested repeatedly.

Facts

  • A fact is a verifiable observation.

  • Theory and facts are not mutually exclusive.

  • Facts do not explain how anything works; they simply state what is.

Example: Gravity

  • Fact: Gravity is a force that attracts objects to the center of Earth, verifiable by dropping an object.

  • Theories: Einsteinian and Newtonian theories explain how gravity works.

Evolution

  • Fact: Evolution is biological change over time, verifiable through mutations.

  • Theories: Natural selection explains how evolution works.

  • Evolution is both a fact and has explanatory theories.

History of Evolutionary Theory

  • Chapter focuses on the development of the theory of evolution.

  • Natural selection was developed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.

Enlightenment Period

  • Gaining ideas on how to understand science through the scientific process and method.

  • Examining the relationship between humanity and other organisms.

Pre-Darwinian Intellectual Trends

  • Early science had flaws, misunderstandings, and racism.

  • Science is a self-correcting process but has had dark periods.

  • Monogenism, the idea that all humans descend from a single origin, is the most correct theory.

Thinkers Cheat Sheet

  • A list of thinkers and their contributions is provided for the exam and quiz.

  • Dates are for reference only and will not be tested.

  • Franz Boas is important to the history of anthropology as a field but not the study of evolution.

James Usher

  • Calculated the Earth's age using the Bible.

  • Determined the Earth was formed in 4004 BC.

  • Concluded the Earth was under 10,000 years old.

Carolus Linnaeus

  • Developed binomial nomenclature, a two-part naming system for organisms (e.g., Homo sapiens).

  • Developed the taxonomic system, a cataloging system from broadest to most specific characteristics.

Taxonomic System

  • Developed by Linnaeus, it categorizes organisms from broad (kingdom) to specific (species).

  • Original seven categories: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

  • Mnemonic device: "Kinky people come over for good sex."

  • Scientific name combines genus and species (e.g., Homo sapiens).

Comte de Bouffant

  • Developed the idea of microevolution, mutations within species in different environments.

  • Observed differences in birds on islands vs. the mainland.

Erasmus Darwin

  • Charles Darwin's grandfather.

  • Proposed progressive evolution: microevolution over a longer period leads to different species.

  • Proposed descent from a common ancestor: Monogenism.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

  • First to propose an explanation of how evolution works.

  • Proposed inheritance of acquired characteristics (use-disuse hypothesis). Traits acquired during an organism’s lifetime can be passed to its offspring.

Lamarck's Giraffe Example:

  • Giraffes with shorter necks stretch to reach leaves, developing slightly longer necks.

  • Offspring inherit the slightly longer necks and continue stretching, leading to gradual increase in neck length over generations.

Thomas Malthus

  • Economist who influenced Darwin.

  • Observed that population growth outpaces resource availability.

  • Leads to competition for scarce resources.

Georges Cuvier

  • Developed the concept of extinction: Some animals that lived in the past no longer exist.

  • Catastrophism: Large-scale catastrophes caused extinctions.

Charles Lyell

  • Updated the Earth's age.

  • Observed erosion rates of streams, determining that the Earth must be millions of years old. (Much older than Usher's estimates).

Alfred Russel Wallace

  • Independently conceptualized natural selection.

Charles Darwin

  • Born into a wealthy, religious family; married his first cousin.

  • Embarked on a journey on the HMS Beagle as a naturalist.

  • Collected specimens and observed differences in traits in different environments

Darwin's Finches

  • Observed finches on the Galapagos Islands with different beak sizes suited to different diets (nuts, nectar, insects).

  • Eureka moment: the resource dictates the trait, leading to natural selection.

  • Nature selects for traits (natural selection).

  • The resources available shaped the beaks

Development of the Natural Selection

  • Birds from the mainland ended up on different islands.

  • Competition for resources leads to only the best suitable characteristics to survive.

  • Darwin sat on his research for almost 10 years out of fear of ridicule.

  • Pushed to publish because Alfred Russel Wallace came to similar conclusions.

  • Darwin: Species are not unchanging.

Franz Boas

  • Born in Germany as a geophysicist, later became interested in Native American culture.

  • Developed the four-field approach in anthropology: cultural, archaeology, linguistic, and physical/biological.

  • Mandated participant observation.

  • Known as the father of American anthropology.

Alfred Russel Wallace independently conceptualized natural selection. He is known for his significant contributions to the theory of evolution alongside Charles Darwin. Wallace conducted extensive research in the Amazon and the Malay Archipelago, which played a critical role in the development of biogeography. Wallace's observations of the geographic distribution of species helped him formulate his thoughts on natural selection and species evolution. His findings led him to propose that species adapt to their environments over time, an idea that coincided with Darwin's theories, compelling Darwin to publish his own work to defend his research due to Wallace's similar conclusions. In essence, Wallace's work was foundational in the field of evolutionary biology, highlighting the role of environmental factors in species transformation and survival.