Deck 19: Origins of Evolutionary Thought

Question 1

The dominant paradigm during the European Middle Ages was based on __________.

A) science
B) falsifiability
C) theology
D) empirical experimentation

Answer 1

theology

Question 2

Early natural philosophers like Aristotle and Plato considered themselves the first real scientists.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Which of the following is an element of the scientific method?

A) experimentation
B) observation
C) hypothesis
D) all of these

Answer 3

all of these

Question 4

Aristotle believed in the "immutability of species." This means he felt that species __________.

A) are always changing
B) change only when it is
C) are fixed
D) change sporadically and unpredictably

Question 5

The discovery of the New World provided Renaissance scholars their first look at __________.

A) many exotic plant species
B) a greater range of human biological variation
C) a greater range of human cultural variation
D) all of these

Question 6

Science is a perfect process, because data are always interpreted the same way.

Question 7

Which of the following best characterizes Aristotle's view of nature?

A) Natural forms may change as they adapt to environmental conditions.
B) Each living form possesses a fixed essence that cannot be altered.
C) Life forms change in constant yet unpredictable ways.
D) Animals transform over time, but plants do not.

Question 8

In 1537, Pope Paul III declared the New World Natives as "nonhuman."

Question 9

To say that a hypothesis is falsifiable is to say that it is __________.

Question 10

Science is a(n) , not a .

A) result, process
B) process, method
C) process, result
D) observation, hypothesis

Question 11

Scientific hypotheses are __________.

A) derived from a non-empirical process.
B) rarely tested.
C) always assumed to be true.
D) falsifiable.

Question 12

In science, a preliminary explanation is known as a(n) __________.

A) experiment
B) hypothesis
C) datum
D) paradigm

Question 13

During the Middle Ages, the idea of fixity of species was finally abandoned.

Question 14

__________ was probably the first true scientist in the modern sense,

A) Darwin
B) Galen
C) Aristotle
D) Da Vinci

Question 15

Through their "rediscovery" ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, Renaissance scholars developed a strong sense of __________.

A) time and cultural variation
B) the fixity of species
C) human's superiority in nature
D) monogenism

Question 16

Which of the following is inconsistent with Aristotle's ideas about nature?

A) life-forms are always changing
B) humans are at the top of a "Great Chain of Being"
C) all life is arranged in an orderly and hierarchical fashion
D) all of these

Question 17

Today, federal courts uphold the idea that __________.

A) evolution should not be taught in public schools.
B) the Old Testament is the most accurate source of information about the Earth's past.
C) evolution is the unifying principle of the life sciences.
D) none of these

Question 18

What was the result of the Scopes Monkey Trial?

A) Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution and lost his job.
B) The state of Tennessee was forced to allow the teaching of evolution.
C) Evolution was disproved.
D) Scopes was found innocent.

Question 19

The foundation was laid for the establishment of an academic discipline devoted to a scientific understanding of the human condition during the __________.

A) Middle Ages
B) late nineteenth century
C) Renaissance
D) early twentieth century

Question 20

The main contribution of Renaissance scientist/artists Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius was their __________.

A) study of the stars and planets
B) discovery of the New World
C) idea of polygenism
D) anatomical drawings

Question 21

Who among the following naturalists was NOT a supporter of evolutionary change?

A) Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
B) Jean Baptiste Lamarck
C) Comte de Buffon
D) George Cuvier

Question 22

Which of the following is most consistent with the idea of catastrophism?

A) animals inheriting transformations from their parents
B) the reproduction of well adapted variations
C) a disaster wiping out the dinosaurs
D) life forms slowly transforming through time in reaction to changing environmental conditions

Question 23

Lamarckianism holds that __________.

A) creatures transform and their offspring inherit those transformations
B) all species are fixed
C) random mutations provide a variation pool from which nature selects
D) allele pairs correlate due to necessity

Question 24

__________ is the science of classifying and naming living things.

A) Monogenesis
B) Evolution
C) Taxonomy
D) Natural selection

Question 25

Archbishop James Ussher calculated the age of the Earth using __________.

A) geologic evidence including stratigraphy
B) astronomical data
C) the Old Testament of the Bible
D) ancient Greek and Roman texts

Question 26

Who is most associated with the taxonomy used by scientists today?

A) Carolus Linnaeus
B) Georges Cuvier
C) Comte de Buffon
D) Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

Question 27

Comte de Buffon __________.

A) invented binomial nomenclature
B) accepted the notion of biological change
C) offered several theories about the mechanisms of biological change
D) all of these

Question 28

A taxonomy is made up of discrete units called __________.

A) species
B) nomenclatures
C) particles
D) taxons

Question 29

The first naturalist to employ the terms genus and species was __________.

A) John Ray
B) Carolus Linnaeus
C) Charles Darwin
D) Edward Tyson

Question 30

Sixteenth century scholars who argued for polygenism were __________.

A) rewarded by the Church
B) ignored
C) imprisoned or burned
D) celebrated

Question 31

In The Starry Messenger, Galileo __________.

A) proved Church doctrine
B) supported the theory of evolution
C) supported the idea that the earth is at the center of the universe
D) proved Copernicus' sun-centered theory of a century earlier

Question 32

Despite evidence from Galileo, Newton, and Kepler, the Church has never changed its position on the Earth's position at the center of the universe.

Question 33

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, classification took precedence over questions of origins.

Question 34

Scientists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were mostly interested in __________.

A) evolution
B) polygenism
C) classification
D) chemistry

Question 35

Trofim Lysenko pioneered the failed Soviet attempt to apply ideas to real-life agricultural practices.

A) Darwin's
B) Cuvier's
C) Lamarck's
D) Ray's

Question 36

Lamarck's ideas are generally accepted by biologists today.

Question 37

The idea that there is a single, divine origin of humanity is called __________.

A) monogenism
B) polygenism
C) evolution
D) fixity of species

Question 38

Which is more aligned with the view of nature common to the Middle Ages?

A) polygenism
B) monogenism

Question 39

The use of the two-level genus-species labels is known as "binomial nomenclature."

Question 40

Which of the following naturalists is associated with the idea of catastrophism?

A) Lamarck
B) Cuvier
C) de Buffon
D) Lyell

Question 41

What is the main difference between natural and artificial selection?

A) there is no difference
B) natural selection has no foresight
C) artificial selection doesn't work
D) natural selection only selects the strongest creatures

Question 42

Who is responsible for the discovery of differing bill shapes among Darwin's finches?

A) Darwin himself
B) John Gould
C) Lamarck
D) Wallace

Question 43

Darwin's ideas fell into place while contemplating __________.

A) horses from Patagonia
B) eagles from the Andes
C) finches from the Galapagos Islands
D) giant tortoises from the African coast

Question 44

Darwin deduced that, despite the potential for exponential population growth, many creatures don't reach adulthood.

Question 45

When discussing natural selection, the term "fitness" is best thought of as __________.

A) a reference to physical fitness
B) reproductive success
C) strength
D) none of these

Question 46

While geological uniformitarianism was introduced by __________, it was greatly popularized by __________.

A) Lyell, Darwin
B) Hutton, Lyell
C) Lamarck, Lyell
D) Ray, Hutton

Question 47

Which of the following statements best defines the idea of uniformitarianism?

A) All species are fixed and unchanging.
B) The world is periodically destroyed by divine catastrophes.
C) The geologic processes that drive the world today have always done so.
D) Creatures transform and their offspring inherit those transformations.

Question 48

When Darwin presented his ideas to the Linnean Society, he __________.

A) also presented Wallace's ideas in a joint paper
B) never mentioned Wallace
C) described Wallace's ideas as better than his own
D) revealed that he got all his own ideas from Wallace's letter

Question 49

Darwin's role aboard the HMS Beagle was __________.

A) cook
B) captain
C) steward
D) naturalist

Question 50

James Hutton is associated with __________.

A) Lysenkoism
B) catastrophism
C) uniformitarianism
D) adaptive radiation

Question 51

In what ways did Wallace differ from Darwin?

A) Wallace was from a working class family
B) Wallace collected specimens for wealthy patrons rather than for himself
C) Wallace left school at an early age
D) all of these

Question 52

Which of the following best defines adaptive radiation?

A) creatures transform and their offspring inherit those transformations
B) survival of the fittest
C) a process by which many species result from one ancient one
D) none of these define adaptive radiation

Question 53

In the years following his journey on the Beagle, Darwin pursued his ideas of evolution by studying __________.

A) artificial selection
B) animals he found on subsequent journeys
C) the works of Alfred Russel Wallace
D) all of these

Question 54

Charles Darwin was a lackluster student who considered joining the ministry of the Church of England.

Question 55

Upon its first publication, Darwin's On the Origins of Species __________.

A) was not widely read
B) quickly sold out
C) was written only for a scientific audience
D) was not popular with scientists

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT an observation associated with natural selection?

A) all organisms have the potential for explosive population growth
B) populations tend to be stable
C) nature is full of variation
D) creatures can will their own transformations

Question 57

Central to Darwin's ideas is the observation that __________.

A) populations have limited potential for growth
B) creatures within a species all tend to look the same
C) nature is full of variation
D) artificial selection bears no resemblance to natural selection

Question 58

Natural selection can be summarized by which statement?

A) all species are fixed
B) organisms transform and pass these transformations on to their offspring
C) a divine creator creates all species according to an unknowable plan
D) within a population, some variations are favored by environmental conditions and others are not

Question 59

Despite his association with uniformitarianism, Lyell was still an ardent creationist.

Question 60

Wallace's ideas differ from Darwin's in that Wallace __________.

A) rejected artificial selection as analogous to natural selection
B) insisted on the fixity of species
C) supported Lamarckian ideas
D) rejected evolution

Question 61

"Creation science" seeks to __________.

A) prove Darwin correct by using Biblical evidence
B) exploit gaps in the fossil record to dispute evolution
C) exclude religious instruction from science classes
D) disprove evolution by pointing to examples of 'irreducible complexity'.

Question 62

Explain the influence of the Church on the natural sciences from the Renaissance through the Sir Isaac Newton.

Question 63

"Intelligent Design" creationists such as Michael Behe use examples of __________ to support their views on creation.

A) flood geology
B) gaps in the fossil record
C) evidence for irreducible complexity
D) Lamarckian ideas

Question 64

Intelligent Design creationism is unscientific because it does not offer rational explanations.

Question 65

What is uniformitarianism?

Question 66

What does fixity of species mean? Explain the history of this idea from Aristotle to the Renaissance.

Question 67

Describe Lamarckianism. What was Lysenkoism?

Question 68

Whereas evolution happens at the level of the , natural selection occurs at the level of .

A) population, individual organism
B) mutation, population
C) individual organism, population
D) mutation, DNA

Question 69

Describe the famous Scopes Monkey Trial. What are some reasons people have trouble accepting evolution by natural selection?

Question 70

What does it mean to say that science is self-correcting? Be sure to include the terms data, falsifiable, and paradigm in your discussion.

Question 71

The Bible is not considered scientific evidence because __________.

A) its contents are not testable
B) it is so old
C) no one takes it literally
D) all of these

Question 72

All scientists immediately accepted Darwin's revolutionary ideas.

Question 73

Explain the mechanics of the scientific method in detail.

Question 74

An organism's fitness can be best measured by observing its __________.

A) strength
B) size
C) number of offspring
D) color

Question 75

Describe the contributions of Linnaeus, de Buffon, and Cuvier. In what ways did their ideas pave the way for the "Darwinian revolution"?

Question 76

What was it that Darwin observed while abroad on the Beagle? In what ways did Darwin use what he learned on the Galapagos Islands?

Question 77

In order for evolution by natural selection to occur, __________.

A) the trait in question must be inherited
B) the trait in question must vary between individuals
C) there must be environmental pressure
D) all of these

Question 78

Explain the artistic, scientific, and social developments in the Renaissance that contributed to our modern understanding of the world.

Question 79

Pope John Paul II has stated that evolution is false and only a literal translation of the Genesis story is acceptable.

Question 80

All creationists believe that __________.

A) species are fixed
B) the world is only 4,000 years old
C) a single divine creator made the world
D) today's geology is the result of Noah's flood