Unit 2 Critical Thinking
Chapter One 1. When Darwin was young, his family wanted him to assume their role and become a doctor but he never wanted to. Darwin was always interested in exploring new horizons and trying to figure out the world. One of the most important things that persuaded Darwin to travel was when Henslow persuaded Darwin to read the seven volume book about someone’s traveling experiences and viewing the new world. The training that Darwin did with Sedgwick prepared him for his voyage and geological experience. 2. Darwin witnessed the corals and the band of shells above sea level and started to wonder if the water has always been at that level. When he finally arrived on the islands, he noticed how the same animals adapted to different environments. 3. When Darwin arrived in the Galapagos Islands, he noticed that there were various types of animals and species. He observed that although some of the animals looked similar they had distinctive traits. After comparing his findings in the Galapagos to other islands he visited, he concluded that the animals adapted to their environments. 4. Thomas Malthus had the idea that there were different checks in the world such as famine, and disease to control the population. Malthus called it the Principles of Population and Darwin agreed with his principles but wanted to expand and go deeper into his principles, thus creating the “species theory.” 5. Darwin delayed publishing his theory because he thought that it could ruin his reputation and career based on a theory. In addition, he did not want his theory to affect his relationship between him and his first cousin, Emma.

Chapter Two 1. Wallace choose to go to the Malay Archipelago for several reasons, the main reason being that the land had never been explored before and it had potential to contain new things. In addition, the Malay Archipelago was the size of the entire South American continent and contained many unidentified species. 2. The birds common to the western islands and Borneo were different from those of Aru and the eastern islands. On the western islands, there were big animals such as rhinos and monkeys and on the eastern islands; there were smaller rat like animals and different kinds of marsupials. Despite the different climates, Borneo and New Guinea had the same types of animals on them. 3. The full effort of all their abilities and all their energies is required to preserve their own existence and provide for that of their infant offspring. Wallace knew from a decade in the jungle that finding food and escaping danger rules animals’ lives. These ideas were very similar to the ides of Darwin and natural selection.
Chapter 3 1. Bates noticed many differences between the various species within nature. In the book, Bates noticed that there were different species of butterflies and moths and that they had inherited different traits. 2. Bates argued that different animals used camouflage (mimicry) to hide from there predators and to make sure they were not eaten. Since the predators enjoy eating the camouflaging prey, the prey decides to disguise himself or herself in an unappetizing look. 3. Darwin was admired with Bates’ discovery because he impressed with how easily mimicry could manipulate predators. In addition, due to the discoveries by Bates, Darwin was able to create the Batesian mimicry theory.