The evolution of life on our planet. What could be a more interesting
and important example of a creative process? Randomness plays a crucial
role in this process--for example, randomly occurring mutations,
random changes in weather patterns, and random catastrophic events.
It is this aspect of the evolution of life that will be the topic of this
page. We should emphasize that the role of randomness is just one
ingredient. Animals and plants on our planet eventually die.
The continuation of life therefore depends on its ability to reproduce.
This creates the possibility of change, and an opportunity for both randomness
and natural selection to play a role. There are many difficult and controversial
issues surrounding the role of randomness in the origin and evolution of
life. For now, I will simply collect interesting and relevant links.
Biopages
Talk Origins
Evidence for Evolution
Theory
and History
Chance
Genetic
Drift
Evolutionary
Theory
Objections to Evolution
Towards the Third Evolutionary Synthesis
How the Genome Readies Itself for Evolution
LURIA-DELBRUCK EXPERIMENT
Max Delbruck
The Luria-Delbruck Experiment
Bacterial Mutations
Microbial Genetics
CAIRNS
Evolution Evolving
Directed Mutations
Back to Randomness Page