1840Indian rebirth

Darwin!

Hearing the name, Ma Shao changed his mind: "Okay, this is the last one."

Soon he met Darwin, a biologist or naturalist who was known to everyone in later generations.

Although the concept of "biology" appeared decades ago, people now seem to identify more with "natural history", an older and more mixed discipline. Before publishing "The Origin of Species" in 1859, Darwin

Known mainly for his experiences during his voyage around the world, and for having written a book titled "Geology during the Voyage of the Beagle", it is indeed more appropriate to call him a naturalist.

Mr. Darwin is an unattractive man, not even forty years old, but his hairline is already quite severe.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ma Shao!" He shook hands warmly, his tone was trembling, and he looked particularly excited.

Kelvin found it difficult to understand his excitement. Ma Shao did have some rather fanatical admirers in the UK, but logically speaking, these admirers were unlikely to be naturalists in their thirties or forties.

Ma Shao could roughly guess the reason.

After all, in Guns, Germs and Steel, he had already made clear the core idea of ​​Darwin's theory of evolution - something Darwin himself was brewing.

Sure enough, after a brief self-introduction, Darwin opened his mouth and said: "I just finished reading the book Guns, Germs and Steel. It simply opened a door to a new world for me!"

The horse whistle was about to be polite when Darwin added: "I heard that physicists call you the 'Father of Thermodynamics'. In my opinion, you should also be the 'Father of Biology'!"

Kelvin looked at Ma Shao and said jokingly: "Oh, you are really a romantic guy."

"The father of biology, I really can't take this seriously." Ma Shao was a little embarrassed.

Regarding the title of the father of thermodynamics, although he always has to be modest on the surface, he is actually very happy in his heart.

The "Father of Biology" actually made him feel embarrassed. Maybe it was because he knew very little about biology. He only had some fragmented memories from his student days, which were not systematic at all. It was inevitable to wear such a high hat.

Feeling weak.

"You can buy a book like this for ten shillings. This is definitely the most cost-effective sale I have made this year." Darwin also brought "Guns, Germs and Steel" and took it out after sitting down.

Obviously he came prepared and wanted to have a good exchange.

Ma Shao considered it and said: "Mr. Darwin, if I guess correctly, what interests you most in this book should be the content about the theory of evolution."

"Yes, I respect Mr. Lamarck immensely, but I always feel that his theory of evolution is not perfect enough, and I have thought about this for a long time." Darwin said, "It was not until I read your book that I suddenly understood."

He went on to say: "Especially the phrase 'natural selection, survival of the fittest'. The moment I saw it, I felt my soul trembling..."

The two chatted for a while about the contents of the book, and then the topic gradually departed and turned to the theory of evolution.

Mashao took a sip of tea: "Mr. Darwin, to be honest, I think the problem with Lamarckism is not that it is imperfect, but that there are some fundamental errors. You should abandon it to a greater extent and establish a more scientific theory of evolution.

."

"For example?" Darwin hesitated.

"For example, in acquired inheritance, I think the so-called 'use it or lose it' approach is almost impossible," Ma Shao said. He didn't say anything because he still remembered epigenetic inheritance.

"In biological evolution, acquired inheritance may play a certain role, but this role is by no means dominant. The claims of Lamarckism are too exaggerated... Dominance can only be achieved by natural selection, and genetic mutations are random.

of."

Darwin frowned: "Gene? What does this word mean? Does it refer to traits?"

"This is a word I invented." Mashao didn't know who came up with the word. "You can understand it as something that is used to inherit and determine traits in organisms, although we don't know what it is yet.

But it definitely exists."

"How do you spell gene?" Darwin asked seriously.

"gene."

"Is this word inspired by the Greek word 'life'?" Darwin thought for a moment.

"Ah...right."

"An apt word, I really hope I can know what it is in my lifetime." Darwin couldn't help but sigh, and then asked, "Why do you think that acquired inheritance can never dominate biological evolution?"

The horse whistle thought for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at Kelvin: "Let me ask you a question, if we cut off a cow's ears, let it give birth to offspring, and then cut off the ears of its offspring, repeating this for dozens or hundreds of generations.

Or even longer, do you think it’s possible to breed a cow without ears?”

Kelvin was startled, and then said uncertainly: "I guess... it should be possible, if it is based on the point of view of the theory of evolution."

This answer was what Ma Shao expected, so he asked: "Then why are all women born virgins?"

"This..." Kelvin waved his hand, "Okay, to be honest, I actually don't believe in the theory of evolution at all, especially the 'natural selection' you mentioned. I remember you said in the book that the creatures on earth may have evolved.

Hundreds of millions of years or even more than a billion years, when you wrote this number, did you think about a problem - it is older than the age of the earth and the sun."

Ma Shao: "In fact, this was one of the motivations for me to continuously improve the estimate of the age of the sun. However, I also admit that there is no reliable basis for the estimate of evolutionary time."

Darwin said: "I don't think this figure is an exaggeration of a billion years of evolution."

"Why?" Kelvin asked.

Darwin: "I have conducted detailed investigations of various creatures during my voyage around the world, and also collected many ancient fossils. My intuition tells me that some fossils should be hundreds of millions of years old, and they are obviously not the oldest creatures.

"

Kelvin: "Intuition is often unreliable, at least in science."

"Let's not discuss this anymore. There will be no results if we continue to argue like this. Maybe we can look forward to the wisdom of future generations. Maybe in a few years, we will have a way to determine the precise time of the evolution of the earth, the sun, and living things.

"Ma Shao said.

He knew that this debate would not end until humans learned to use radioactivity to determine geological age.

Darwin: "I'm curious, what gave you the idea of ​​'natural selection'? I've been observing and recording organisms all over the world and still haven't figured it out, and you seem...with all due respect, your understanding of biology seems to be

Not a lot.”

After all, Ma Shao's understanding of biology was too little. Although he knew a lot of advanced things, it was still impossible to completely bluff Darwin.

After some conversation, Darwin soon discovered that the biological basis of horse whistles was very vague, so he asked this question.

"You're right, I really don't know much about biology." Mashao nodded, "Actually, the idea of ​​natural selection came from the process of me thinking about physical problems."

"What physical problem?" Both Darwin and Kelvin were surprised.

"I once thought about whether our world or reality is also the result of natural selection to some extent." Mashao was vague and did not intend to go into details. In later generations, there was something called quantum Darwinism, which was very important to the nineteenth century.

It is too illusory for scientists.

Darwin listened and thought for a while: "It sounds more like a philosophical question. If the world is also the result of natural selection, then there must be many worlds. But for the world, what is the 'environment'?"

Mashao smiled and shook his head: "I couldn't figure it out, so I tried to think about other fields, and I came up with 'natural selection' about living things. Of course, it is very rough and has almost no basis in reality. It is more like a

Hypothesis, I believe you have already realized it when you read "Guns, Germs and Steel"... If you want to establish a new, scientific theory of biological evolution, you can only be a true master of biology, such as you, Mr. Darwin."

Darwin said: "After being inspired by Guns, Germs and Steel, I really want to write a book on evolution. How about giving me a name? I will definitely list you as a co-author."

"It's called "The Origin of Species", what do you think?" Ma Shao said.

"The Origin of Species... This is really an ambitious name." Darwin was a little stunned. "If the church sees it, it will definitely be very unhappy."

"What do you think?" Ma Shao was a little unsure about Darwin's attitude towards religion. So far, the religious views revealed in Darwin's words can only be described as ambiguous.