The incredible diversity oflife on this planet, most of which is microbial, can only beunderstood in an evolutionary framework
Interpretation
Life's diversity is rooted in evolution, particularly at the microbial level.
This quote by Carl Woese emphasizes the importance of understanding the vast diversity of life on Earth through the lens of evolution. Specifically, it highlights the prevalence of microorganisms, which are essential to the ecosystem yet often overlooked, underscoring that a comprehensive understanding of biology must include the evolutionary processes that shape life forms.
In practice
In a lecture about ecology, you might use this quote to illustrate the significance of microorganisms.
Our task now is to resynthesize biology; put the organism back into its environment; connect it again to its evolutionary past; and let us feel that complex flow that is organism, evolution, and environment united. The time has come for biology to enter the nonlinear world.
We need more science in the world. Train me.
The kitchen's a laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science. It's biology, chemistry, physics. Yes, there's history. Yes, there's artistry. Yes, to all of that. But what happened there, what actually happens to the food is all science.
Facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away while scientists debate rival theories for explaining them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air pending the outcome.
The bottom line for mathematicians is that the architecture has to be right. In all the mathematics that I did, the essential point was to find the right architecture. It's like building a bridge. Once the main lines of the structure are right, then the details miraculously fit. The problem is the overall design.
Simplification of modes of proof is not merely an indication of advance in our knowledge of a subject, but is also the surest guarantee of readiness for farther progress.
Imagine a survivor of a failed civilization with only a tattered book on aromatherapy for guidance in arresting a cholera epidemic. Yet, such a book would more likely be found amid the debris than a comprehensible medical text.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.