Anthropology 1

I had a dream last night that I was a professor. Well I don't see that happening soon but one of the reasons I gave in my dream for being in this profession was that I wanted to share what I knew before I forgot. It struck home when I awoke so I will be adding more of my old college articles ;-) In my Anth 101 class we had to read two articles and do a write up on one of choice... some of my siting my not be correct as it wasn't necessary for that class and it's been a few years since I attended these courses. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Article two, assignment one

Having read both the first and second articles in a short period of time, I found large similarities in their bodies. The stand out of the two articles is Darwin‘s Influence on Modern Thought by Ernst Mayr. Mr. Mayr goes so far as to say “no biologist has been responsible for more-and for more drastic-modifications of the average person’s worldview than Charles Darwin” (13) within the first two paragraphs. This is a brave statement that pulls the reader into the body of the article trying to prove the statement false.

Darwin may have published first but only because he had gotten wind of Alfred Russell Wallace drawing similar conclusions independently of Darwin. Had Wallace not lived at the same time as Darwin, there is a chance Darwin may not have published. Though Mr. Mayr does mention Wallace, he fails to mention Darwin’s reluctance to publish, and to give a nod to Wallace for being the great instigator. Nowhere in the text of Mr. Mayr’s article is there mention of the race to the printing press.

Charles Darwin did print first, however. The courage needed to print must have been great but his hesitation nearly cost him. In the end Mr. Mayr is correct in saying Darwin is responsible for vast changes in the layman’s view, but Darwin did not get there without a bit of provocation. Mr. Mayr’s lack of detail to the origins of Origins was an irritation that could have been eased with an acknowledgement of Wallace being on the same track. Had Wallace been a bit quicker the article could have just as easily been Wallace’s Influence on Modern Thought. The rest of the article was well composed and concurred with other studies of mine so much so no larger impression was made. Ernst Mayr merely found a new way to paraphrase the acknowledge fruits of Charles Darwin, which in itself is an accomplishment.