Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 662 The Birth of the Theory of Evolution
"Friends, if you can open this book, it means you have passed the examinations on Botany and Zoology given by the administrators of the National Library. Here, the two of us, the chief authors, and the entire team that wrote these two books, would like to express our sincere gratitude to you. Thank you for recognizing our hard work."
Of course I passed, and I passed with full marks.
Seeing this passage in the author's preface, Mao Xiang smiled proudly, and then continued to read it carefully.
"I believe that when you read our last two books, you should have noticed that we used the phylum, class, order, family, genus and species method to classify plants and animals. Whether this classification method is the best method is of course a matter of opinion. But we believe that there are tens of thousands of plants and animals in the world. If we do not use a certain method to classify them, we will not be able to summarize the similarities of various plants and animals, nor can we distinguish their differences.
If you agree with our classification method, you must have noticed that the differences between different species of organisms are not very big, while some are very different.
For example, we divide the various insects in the world into the classes Insecta, Arachnida, Myriapoda... Of course, the organisms within the class Insecta have common characteristics, such as the body being divided into three distinct sections: head, thorax and abdomen, having a pair of antennae, a pair of wings and six legs, and undergoing metamorphosis during growth... These characteristics are enough to distinguish them from other insects.
However, in terms of their morphology and living habits, the organisms within the class Insecta are obviously closer to the organisms of the class Arachnida, and very different from organisms such as the class Reptiles and the class Mammals - therefore, the class Insecta is under the phylum Arthropoda, while the class Reptiles and the class Mammals are under the phylum Vertebrata.
So, what is the connection between the phylum Arthropoda and the phylum Vertebrate? Of course there is. This involves the question of cytology...
So, in general, the essence of all living things is actually the same: cells.
So, after reading this, do you have a bold idea?
Yes, we have had this idea for a long time. Over the past decade, we have done a lot of hard and outstanding work to verify this idea.
Under current technological conditions, it is unrealistic to directly prove that all creatures in this world originated from a single source. This book only wants to answer a primary question: the existing high-level animals developed from the existing middle and low-level animals. We call this development process - evolution! "
Swish, swish. In the well-heated reading room of the National Library, Mao Xiang was concentrating on reading this epoch-making book. In the air of nearly 30 degrees, he could not feel any warmth at all. On the contrary, the more he read, the more cold sweat he broke out!
How could this be? How could this be! How could we humans, the most powerful creatures in the universe, evolve from ancient apes? And primates also evolved from other lower-level animals?
However, this kind of outrageous and absurd statement, no, it is not absurd. Because the author provides a lot of detailed evidence and many carefully hand-drawn pictures in the book. For example, fish and amphibians are so different, but they have too many similarities. And amphibians and reptiles have obvious similarities...
What fascinated Mao Xiang the most was what the author mentioned: with the support of the navy, they sailed against the wind to Australia, which was still in the barbaric age at that time, and discovered many creatures in that area far away from the main continents of the world that were significantly different from those in Asia, America and other places.
For example, the platypus, which is clearly between reptiles and mammals. For example, the thylacine, which looks like a fox, has tiger stripes, and has a pouch. And the hopping kangaroos - these creatures, the former fully prove that reptiles and mammals are related. The latter two show that if a continent is isolated from the world and takes an independent development path, the creatures on this continent can evolve into species that are completely different from those on other continents...
The water in the cup has been refilled again and again, and the lower body feels the urge to urinate again and again. But Mao Xiang has no intention of getting up to go to the toilet: this book is so shocking that if you don't finish reading it in one breath, you won't be in the mood to do anything else!
"My friend, thank you for reading to the end of this book. No matter what you think at the moment, we want to explain two things here. First, the theory of evolution we proposed can only be called a hypothesis, because it still has some theoretical flaws that cannot be justified. However, if you agree with the fact that organisms evolve, have you ever thought about how many original organisms gradually became extinct in the process of evolution because they could not adapt to the environment and could not face new competitors? In fact, the Tasmanian tigers we found on the Australian continent are only fossils but no living ones. This is because when the aborigines in Java brought captive dogs to the Australian continent, the Tasmanian tigers failed in the competition with the dogs. We only found living Tasmanian tigers on an island in the southern part of the Australian continent - in fact, the platypus was also found here.
This is true for animals and humans. Our dynasty has supported the American Indians for many years. You should know that when the Atlantic route was not yet opened, the Indians, who had no connection with Europe, Asia, and Africa, developed a brilliant and unique civilization on the American continent. However, these civilizations quickly died out after encountering Spain, which had more advanced weapons and higher technology. If it were not for the great help of our Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that the Indians would have been completely destroyed in a short time.
Therefore, at the end of this book, the first question we raise for everyone to think about is: Does the survival of the fittest in the biological world exist in human society? In today's world, in the competition between the three major powers in the world, will the loser be destroyed like the Indians?
The second one is not a question, but an invitation. During our 17-year scientific expedition, we deeply realized the serious damage to biodiversity caused by the development of human society. Many times, some of the data we need have disappeared forever from nature due to human activities.
But in the past two years, we have found a huge surprise in Australia. This place has been isolated from the outside world for too long. Except for a few aborigines, the vast land has basically retained its original appearance. The species of organisms here are also extremely unique... So, if you see this and agree with the theory of evolution we proposed, then we sincerely welcome you to join our team. We will conduct a five-year scientific expedition in Australia. For specific contact information, please ask the librarian here..."
"Huh~" After having a great time in front of the white porcelain urinal in the library's bathroom, Mao Xiang washed his hands and walked into the library's lobby with a lot on his mind.
Evolution, hey! Evolution. It is indeed a world-shaking theory! Although I feel a little uncomfortable when I think that apes and monkeys may have the same ancestor. But, but what this book says really makes sense!
Tsk tsk! Should I go to Australia? Or not? If I go, how can I explain to my father? Will the girls in Piaoxiangyuan be sad if they can't see me for a long time? And if I go to the wild mountains, I can't even think about fancy clothes and delicious food. If I'm not careful, I will have to eat raw meat and drink blood. And can my body really withstand a long journey in the wild?
Before he knew it, he had walked to the front desk. Then, facing the administrator who was looking at him inquiringly, he asked, "Excuse me, how can I participate in the field scientific research project in Australia?"
…
Books like "The Theory of Evolution" are different from "Botany" and "Zoology". The latter two are pure natural science books. After reviewing the drafts submitted by Zheng Guangyuan and Xu Xiake, Zhu Youdong quickly instructed the printing factory in Da Nei to start producing the books. In addition to putting them on the market for sale, he also instructed Zhang Yicheng's Ministry of Education to excerpt and adapt the two books, and then include their contents in the textbooks of primary and secondary schools across the country.
But the theory of evolution is different. After all, on the one hand, the Chinese people of this era were not yet enlightened. If such a book were really published to the whole society, it would cause confusion among the people. I am afraid that Zheng Guangyuan and Xu Xiake would be expelled from their family tree. On the other hand, seventeen years is too short a research period. The evidence produced by Zheng Guangyuan's team is too little. In fact, even in the 21st century, the theory of evolution has been proposed for hundreds of years, but it is still denounced as pseudoscience because there is no conclusive evidence. At the same time, because the theory of evolution denies the claim that God created man, it is also not tolerated by countries with strong religious authority in the world.
However, at Zhu Youdong's level, he didn't really care whether this theory was scientific or not. His greatest hope for the theory of evolution was to extend the cruel competition between organisms and the law of survival of the fittest to the competition between human civilizations. He wanted all the people of the Ming Dynasty to recognize from the bottom of their hearts that the competition between human civilizations was even more cruel, and if the Ming Dynasty wanted to survive and live well, it had to face all future challenges and defeat all opponents.
In this way, in the grand, truly global war that is about to begin in the near future, the people of the Ming Dynasty will be able to endure the huge sacrifices brought about by the war.
Therefore, although the theory of evolution was so shocking in this era, and this book had many problems due to the limitations of scientific research technology and time, Zhu Youdong still let it enter the National Library - first let the elite group read it in a small range. Then through word of mouth, it gradually had an impact. After this influence reached a certain level, it was fully disclosed, and finally achieved his desired goal.
In short, the time has come to 1638, and more than a third of the time of this century-long competition has passed . Only three of the seven time travelers are left. The scale of future competition will inevitably become larger and more brutal. In addition to being prepared materially, the Ming Dynasty must also be prepared ideologically. This is the significance of the theory of evolution at this time!
