Summary Of Fossils In The History Of Palaeontology '
The Article that I looked at was titled The Meaning of Fossils, Episodes in the History of Palaeontology by M. Rudwick (September 6-11, 2012).
The motivation for this paper seemed to start with wanting to explain the finding of certain fossils in specific locations, along with the differences that seemed to be found in various sedimentary layers.
The first question that seemed to be asked in the article was, “Fossils were part of the natural world, but what were they?” This drew a lot of controversy, which included everything from creationism to Darwinism over the years. There is still much speculation about fossils and how they relate to the history of the earth. There is also still a large controversy as to how they got to certain
locations.
Each of the different discoveries that were put forth in this work, seemed to create nothing but more questions. It has helped to push forward the study of fossils, and whether they are creatures that became extinct due to a natural disaster, or whether they were the work of an evolution of the species. However, there does not seem to be any definitive classification as to the nature of what fossils may mean to our history.
Each of the discoveries built on work that was done by, not necessarily scientists, but those who had made a study of fossils prior to their own work. The article mentions those such as Lamark, Cuvier, Rudwick, and Darwin, to name just a few. Each of these men built some of their theories and speculations based on work done by those previously. There was a large amount of information that the author was trying to put forth, but in a lot of ways, didn’t seem to tie it all together. I was left with a feeling of not really understanding how this person felt in regards to the topic.
The motivation for this paper seemed to start with wanting to explain the finding of certain fossils in specific locations, along with the differences that seemed to be found in various sedimentary layers.
The first question that seemed to be asked in the article was, “Fossils were part of the natural world, but what were they?” This drew a lot of controversy, which included everything from creationism to Darwinism over the years. There is still much speculation about fossils and how they relate to the history of the earth. There is also still a large controversy as to how they got to certain
locations.
Each of the different discoveries that were put forth in this work, seemed to create nothing but more questions. It has helped to push forward the study of fossils, and whether they are creatures that became extinct due to a natural disaster, or whether they were the work of an evolution of the species. However, there does not seem to be any definitive classification as to the nature of what fossils may mean to our history.
Each of the discoveries built on work that was done by, not necessarily scientists, but those who had made a study of fossils prior to their own work. The article mentions those such as Lamark, Cuvier, Rudwick, and Darwin, to name just a few. Each of these men built some of their theories and speculations based on work done by those previously. There was a large amount of information that the author was trying to put forth, but in a lot of ways, didn’t seem to tie it all together. I was left with a feeling of not really understanding how this person felt in regards to the topic.