Beyond Darwin: from the elements to the Universe Authors Sheldon Lee Glashow Abstract The word evolution has and has had many meanings, both before and after Darwins time. For example, to Lamarckians it referred to the first (flawed) theory of biological evolution; to Charles Lyell, the incremental processes that produced the geologic features of the Earth; to Herbert Spencer, the origin and development of cultural and political institutions; and to Darwins grandfather, the gradual development of a young plant or animal from its seed or egg. More recently, it has been used to characterize the development of insect societies, the development of human languages and political institutions, the birth, growth, and death of stars and galaxies, the development of the neonatal Universe, and much more. This article focuses on various aspects of evolution lying outside the biological context, such as the creation and discovery of the chemical elements, stellar evolution with particular reference to our Sun, and the development of certain scientific concepts. Downloads Text complet (Català) Published 2010-06-21 Issue 5-2 Section Celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
