Emergence as cornerstone in understanding evolution : examples from zoology

Abstract

Science is the way in which humankind explore and understand the physical universe. The biological sciences and especially the zoological sciences provide us with an understanding of ourselves – how we function, how we evolved and how we relate to the rest of nature. During our first tentative steps on the road of rational thought biology played a pivotal role in unlocking the nature of humankind, opened our eyes to natural processes and laid the foundation for the scientific method of inquiry. Over the past three millennia the biological sciences evolved into many subjects including medicine, anatomy, comparative morphology, embryology, palaeontology, genetics, biochemistry and physiology. Although biologists are interested in every aspect of life, it is primarily through the study of humans and human interests that we gained access to the natural world. Genetics grew from our interest in promoting agriculture and animal husbandry and the study of genetic deviations in humans. The study of human evolution dominates palaeontology. The study of embryology, comparative morphology and anatomy began with and is still dominated by the study of humans. Human needs dominate the endeavours in the fields of biochemistry, physiology and medicine.