Pere Torró
Internet user
Who won the public debate between the scientist Huxley and the bishop Wilberforce?
An adviser from the Chair for the Dissemination of Science replies
A few months after the publication ‘’The Origin of Species’’ at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford in July 1860, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and Darwin’s scientist, friend and supporter, Thomas Huxley, clashed dialectically.
According to legend, Wilberforce was very sarcastic and penetrating, with that famous question: "Are you descended from monkeys by grandmother or grandfather?" It is also said that Huxley replied that he preferred to descend from monkeys rather than from a human who used his intelligence to manipulate the truth.
Historians have not been able to document these phrases or the supposed victory of science over religion in this legendary debate, reconstructed from versions given more than twenty years later.
In fact, if we heed Wilberforce's and Huxley's later opinions, both were considered themselves winners of the debate. Far from the stereotype, Wilberforce was no unscientific fanatic. On the contrary, he defended his position from scientific reasoning rather than from theological speculation. He maintained a cordial relationship with Huxley and even,
Darwin acknowledged that his critical review of "The Origin" was "unusually intelligent’’.
Eugeni Delbosc
Internet user
Are the Neanderthals our ancestors?
An adviser from the Chair for the Dissemination of Science replies
The Neanderthals are a human species that appeared in Europe from African ancestors 175,000 years ago and became extinct some 27,000 years ago. They coexisted in space and time with humans of modern anatomy (or Cro-Magnons), our direct ancestors, also coming from Africa. This period of coexistence has been studied by archaeologists at Palaeolithic sites such as the Cova Negra of Xàtiva or the Cova Foradada of Xàbia.
From very conserved fossil remains, it has been possible to analyses genetic material or ancient Neanderthal DNA (in fact, there is a project underway to sequence the entire Neanderthal genome). The results indicate that the Neanderthals are of a much older lineage than ours: our common ancestor with the Neanderthals lived long before the common ancestor of all current humans. In other words, Neanderthals are not our grandparents but cousins.
Eva Pomer:
Internet user
Is it true that Darwin converted shortly before he died?
An adviser of the Chair for the Dissemination of Science replies
No, this is an urban legend, popular in EE.UU., which put into circulation in 1915 Elizabeth Reid, Lady Hope claiming that she had visited a Darwin lying and sick. She described a dying Darwin who read sacred texts, lamented how his ideas had spread, and discussed religious issues with servants.
Even so, Darwin's sons denied this unfounded legend. According to family accounts, Darwin collated death courageously, without fear of death and without renouncing his agnosticism. For more information on Darwin's religious views, we recommend reading his uncensored "Autobiography," which has just been published in the journal ‘’Method’’.
Noè Calabuig
Internet user
Can evolution be observed?
An adviser of the Chair for the Dissemination of Science responds
Biological evolution is as real and incontrovertible a fact as the rotation of the planets around the Sun. The morphological evolution of complex anatomies requires a prolonged time, in the staircase of millions of years, and we have notion of it, above all, through the fossil record. But, as Darwin proposed, the changes observed during the domestication of plants and animals by humans are very direct proof of the plasticity of living organisms.
These changes occur in staircases of years or centuries. On the other hand, microorganisms and, above all, viruses, evolve at fabulous speeds, perfectly observable in nature and in the laboratory on the ladder of days, weeks or, at most, months. The appearance of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a direct proof of the evolutionary change in staircases with very short times.
