Fundamentals of Evolution - O.P. Korzh - 2006

Class="right">There is one very curious aspect to evolutionary theory:

everyone thinks they understand it.

Jacques Monod

INTRODUCTION

In the first half of the 20th century, the works of domestic scientists largely shaped the general level of humanity's evolutionary views; however, accessible publications on this issue are becoming increasingly scarce today. At the same time, The Need for such a study guide is driven not only by the shortage of specialized literature. Every evolutionist has a personal perspective on The Development of various natural processes, which is particularly evident in the case of microevolutionary mechanisms. The current widespread fascination with the genetic and molecular-BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF Evolutionary Processes has inappropriately relegated other, equally important mechanisms of organismal evolution to the Background—a situation that is impossible to accept.

The term evolution is widely used across various fields of science, including social and humanitarian disciplines. It is employed in two Senses: in the broad sense, it denotes development in general, whereas in the narrow sense, it is understood as gradual development, as opposed to revolution. The Evolution of the organic world is the irreversible and directionally constrained development of living nature, which consists in the transformation of certain organic forms into qualitatively different ones through their adaptation to corresponding environmental conditions.

Evolutionary doctrine aims to understand the regularities governing the Development of the organic world. It is often added: with the aim of subsequently controlling this process. However, it is our deep conviction that we should not hope to fully master it. Humans can introduce only minor adjustments, and this situation is unlikely to change in the near future. The entire history of humankind demonstrates that we are thus far capable only of assessing past events in nature—we have yet to learn how to predict the future. This is quite clearly seen in forecasts regarding even

the immediate consequences of our activities—at best, their reliability reaches 50%. Despite this, evolutionary doctrine acquires exceptional both theoretical and practical significance, as today it has become the theoretical foundation for all biological disciplines without exception.

In our view, the problems of THE ORIGIN OF life and its subsequent evolution should be explored by different theories. Such a possibility was anticipated as early as J.B. Lamarck, who noted that everything exists, undoubtedly, solely through the will of the Almighty Creator of all things. But can we, the scientist asked himself, impose rules upon Him and dictate the ways of fulfilling His will, when we are permitted only to apprehend this will through observation? Could not the infinite power of the Creator have established an order of things that led to the gradual emergence of all that we see, and of all that exists in reality yet remains unknown to us? And J.B. Lamarck concludes that it was God's will to endow nature with this capacity and this power.

Thus, while acknowledging the divine origin of nature, Lamarck nevertheless insisted on the reality of the regularities governing its evolution. The Theory of evolution explains precisely the mechanisms that determine the development of living matter, without touching upon the problems of its origin. To this it should be added that some scientists occasionally extend the mechanisms of living Organism evolution to the prebiological level as well, which requires a separate resolution.

The course in evolutionary theory concludes the cycle of fundamental general biological disciplines. A distinctive feature of its study is that students are already familiar with certain tenets of this doctrine and a considerable number of Examples from mastering other biological disciplines, which significantly facilitates the comprehension of new material. At the same time, the limited scope of the study guide requires students to possess a theoretical foundation and The ability to independently master other sources.

Drawing upon the data of specialized disciplines, evolutionary doctrine studies the general patterns and driving forces of the historical development of life. However, the theory of evolution is not an artificial conglomerate of disparate disciplines—it independently addresses tasks arising from the need to study the GENERAL PATTERNS OF evolution, as well as the Causes and Mechanisms of the transformation of living systems at all levels of their Organization.

Work on this study guide over the course of five years has made it clear that evolution cannot be fully comprehended (this applies especially to the second section on macroevolution, which remains a massive biological problem to this day). Just as a particular section seemed complete, new aspects would emerge that had not been given proper attention. This once again testifies to the rather superficial and one-sided approach to covering evolutionary problems found in modern publications such as, for instance, John Horgan's book The End of Science.

The author of the guide by no means claims to provide an exhaustive exposition, realizing that certain aspects will inevitably remain overlooked. Some sections concerning The history of evolutionary views, Evidence for the evolutionary process, analysis of various scientists' viewpoints, and so on, were not intended to be included, as they are thoroughly covered in existing literature (e.g., V.M. Epshtein and M.Yu. Greshner's Lectures on the History of Biology; I.P. Anosov and L.Ya. Kulinich's Fundamentals of Evolutionary Theory; N.N. Vorontsov's The Development of Evolutionary Ideas in Biology, etc.). Minimal attention was also paid to the mathematization of biology because, in our view, N.V. Timofeeff-Ressovsky was entirely correct regarding the minor significance of mathematical biology, or biological mathematics, for the development of biology. It is hard to disagree with the opinion of the classics that when a person does not understand a problem, they write many formulas, and when they finally grasp what it is all about, at best only two formulas remain.

The guide may devote more space to classical works than to modern ones, but this is a matter of principle for the author: it is unacceptable to neglect the views of the classics. Moreover, many fascinating works, particularly concerning macroevolutionary issues, were written before the mid-20th century. Today they are recalled less and less frequently, relying not on primary sources but on citations found in other literature. Here again, one cannot disagree with N.V. Timofeeff-Ressovsky, who believed that good books do not age and that it is far more beneficial for any biologist to reread Darwin's own work than a modern brochure about him.

The material presented in the guide has been tested in the teaching of the "Theory of Evolution" course at Zaporizhzhia National University. The third section, "PATHWAYS OF LIFE's Development," was written with the participation of V.O. Gozhenko and O.V. Dubova. The original illustrations were created by O.V. Karnaukhov.

I express my sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to the realization of this project. Special thanks go to: Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Prof. and Doctor of Biological Sciences I.G. Yemelianov, Prof. and Doctor of Biological Sciences N.V. Kolisnyk, and Prof. and Doctor of Biological Sciences V.O. Lyakh for constructive criticism, valuable comments, and recommendations regarding the content of the guide; Assoc. Prof. and Candidate of Philological Sciences N.D. Semyriak for editing the text; Assoc. Prof. and Candidate of Biological Sciences O.V. Dubova for assistance with the text; O.V. Karnaukhov for creating the original illustrations; D.O. Frolov, A.V. Bunchuk, and N.M. Bunchuk for technical and organizational support; as well as everyone without whom this work would not have been completed.