I am always amazed how much Darwin’s theory of evolution is now so central to biology; without it nothing really makes much sense. I am reading Eric Beinhocker’s marvelous extension of evolutionary theory to economics, ‘The Origins of Wealth‘. Yet, I guess I am also amazed how few people really understand the theory, especially those who think it is ‘only a theory’ as if there is anything else in science.
Anyway, I don’t want to get into a debate; simply post a photograph I took of the parting of the footpaths a few hundred yards from Darwin’s house Down House South East of London. It is well worth a visit if you are in London.
The photo reminds me of some of my favorite walks in England and that wonderful moment when you choose which of three paths you are going to walk today….Darwin would have had that choice many times in his life: which footpath to take and of course some of his other decisions such as traveling on HMS Beagle and his decision to publish Origin of the Species had momentous consequences. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photograph:
