The Brown & White

In celebration of Charles Darwin's 199th birthday, professors spoke Wednesday about applying Darwin's theory of evolution to various academic fields.

Charles Darwin is famous for his publication of "The Origin of Species," which theorized that the existence of organisms is best explained by a process of natural evolution.

Darwin provided the first explanation for evolution as a natural occurrence, said Sean Mullen, professor of biology.

According to Darwin's theory, evolution occurs by natural selection, commonly referred to as "survival of the fittest," and the gradual changes of an organism's genetic make-up and appearance, Mullen said.

"Evolution is the observed pattern of change over time, or descent with modification," he said.

Darwin's ideas are essential to understanding biological history, Mullen said, with the modification of species using fossil records as proof.

But before Darwin became noted for his discoveries in biology, he was a geologist, said Edward Everson, geology professor.

Darwin observed that the elevation of the land in relation to the sea was inconstant over time, which is an evolutionary quality, Everson said.

Darwin researched parallel cuts in the hillsides of Glen Roy, Scotland. He believed they were the effects of a raised beaches.

However, a fellow scientist said they were the shorelines of preolacial lakes, disproving Darwin, Everson said.

"Darwin was a geologist first but became a biologist because he was driven out of geology by his errors," Everson said.

Darwin's theories are not just aligned with the hard sciences.

Mark Bickhard, professor of philosophy, connected Darwin's principles to philosophy.

"Darwin's discovery of a new form of explanation has taken time for people to recognize," Bickhard said. "Because his principles are most often applied to variation, selective retention, and genotype and phenotype distinctions."

Darwin's explanations can be applied to scientific and individual development without having to use analogies or metaphors, Bickhard said.

James Dearden, professor of economics, applied his field's use of strategy to Darwin's principles.

Natural selection uses strategy, Dearden said. If a new strategy is introduced and is successful, it invades, he said.

Chaplain Lloyd Steffen discussed the controversy between religion and Darwin's theory of evolution.

Steffen distinguished creationism from evolution, saying that Darwin challenged creationism because it denies the context of time.

He said Genesis should be read like Shakespeare's plays, with an appreciation for the story.

"Genesis is poetry that requires imaginative [history], not actual natural history ... It's misread if it's read as the natural history of the world," Steffen said.

Darwin immersed in the deepest kind of spiritual struggle, he said.

"Darwin is what we all should aspire to be," Steffen said. "He sought the truth, attained knowledge and tried to bring light to the world."

Professor Michael Behe, a renowned proponent for intelligent design, or the belief that some aspects of life are the product of an intelligent agent, said he disagrees with some of Darwin's theories.

"In Darwin's day it was heresy to question the kind of religious view of the history of life and in our day its heresy to question the scientific or the secular view of the origin of life," Behe said.

Intelligent design questions how the cell became so complex and efficient, he said.

"There are accidents and contingencies in nature," he said. "Cancer can happen, birth defects can happen and mistakes can happen when a cell is being replicated. They happen all the time - everybody admits that everybody knows that."

Behe said everything in biology is not designed and Darwin's theories are important to antibiotic resistance in bacteria and insecticide resistance.

He said the problem with Darwin's theories arise when discussing preexisting systems, especially at the foundational level of the cell.

"Scientists used to think that cells were little pieces of jelly-protoplasm," Behe said. "Cells are really nano-sized automated factories. Cells have machinery that is well beyond our capability of making. Most of that machinery required deliberate, purposeful design."

Behe said creationism and intelligent design are not the same belief.

People get confused, but biblical creationism comes from reading the Bible, Behe said.

"[Intelligent design] does not start from a religious text, it starts from nature," he said.