And the Central Hall was empty again, apart from the fossils.
Charles Darwin awoke. For a moment so brief that a blink ended it, there was a sense of complete disorientation. But then he sat up, feeling unaccountably exhilarated, and looked around at the tangled, busy bank, with its birds and flitting insects, and thought: Yes. That’s right. That’s how it is.
1 See The Science of Discworld and The Science of Discworld II.
AFTERTHOUGHT
The Darwin family motto:
cave et aude.
Watch, and listen.
INDEX
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
A
Abbott, Edwin A. 75
Achilles 67, 68
afterlife 300
al-Qaeda 301
aleph-zero 180–1, 182
aleph-zeroplex 182
algebraic geometry 174
aliens 16
see also Martians
alleles 264–5
amphibians 269, 270–1
ancestors 224
Ancient Egypt 239–41
Anglican Church 118, 120, 143, 311, 323
Ant Country 222–3
Anthrobalanus 144
anthropic principle 198
apes 146
apprenticeship system 320–1
Arago, François 238
archaeopteryx 296–7
Archimedes 172–3
Aristotle 248–9
Arrow paradox 67, 68, 83
Asimov, Isaac 63, 64
B
bacterial flagella 47–9
Barbour, Julian 80–4
Barjavel, René 63
barnacles 143–5
Baxter, Stephen 227
Beagle (ship) 117, 120–5, 140–3, 151, 235
beetles 5, 119
Behe, Michael 47–8
beliefs 298–303
see also faith
Bertotti, Bruno 80–1
Besson, Jacob 241
Bible Belt America 11–12, 13, 21, 49
Big Bang theory 183–4, 190, 222
biological weapons, evolutionary 274
biology 260–1, 263–80
birds 296–7
birth defects 266–7
black holes 18, 95–8, 99
BMPV 105–6
rotating 101
Blackshirts 318
Blind Watchmaker, The (Dawkins)34
Blyth, Edward 146–7
body temperature control 269–70
Bose-Einstein condensate 104–5
Boulton, Matthew 239, 245, 246
Bousso, Raphael 195
Boyle, Robert 243
Boyle’s law 243
Bradbury, Ray 63, 213–14, 295
Brahma 94
brain 82–3, 221–3, 226
branes 105–6, 196–7, 199–201
Braseneck College 6
British Army 321–2
British Empire 311–12
Bront’ sisters 322
Buddhism 302
Burroughs, Edgar Rice 294
C
Caius, Salomon de 241–2
Cambrian explosion 278
canalised development 267
Cantor, Georg 175, 177–8, 180–3
Carrol, Lewis 227
Carter, John 294
Casimir effect 100
causality 212–13, 219–29, 311–12, 324
Cestesibus 240
Chambers, Robert 249–50
change 325
Channel Tunnel Syndrome 313–14
chaos theory 217–20, 229, 236
chaperonins 268
Chernobyl 270–1
Chile 124, 125–6
chimps 278
China 313, 317
Christianity 118, 119, 128–9, 150, 301, 318, 323
Anglican Church 118, 120, 143, 311, 323
fundamentalism 156–7, 291–2
Quakers 311, 318
Roman Catholicism 15
see also Bible Belt America
chronology projection conjecture 65, 105–6
‘City and Guilds’ examinations 321
classics 320
closed timelike curves (CTCs) 93, 94–5, 97, 99, 104, 105–6, 213
Cohen, Paul 183
competition 128, 154
complicity 312–14
consistent fictions 212–13, 226–7
continental drift 36–7, 126, 157–8
convergence/divergence problem 213–14, 217–18
coral islands 125
cosmic microwaves 192–3
cosmology 18–19, 50, 183–4
counterfactuals 211
counting 171, 178
creationism 16–17, 22, 23–5, 49
Crucifixion 63
cults 15–17
cumulative audience paradox 63
D
D-branes 105–6
D’Alembert, Jean Le Rond 73, 76
Dali, Salvador 47
Damasio, Antonio 221–2, 225, 227, 229, 293
dark energy 19
dark matter 19
Darwin, Charles 11–13, 21–3, 40–2, 49–50, 117–28, 140–55, 158–60, 211, 213, 263, 273, 290
against the notion of a cosmic designer 40, 44–5, 47
B Notebook 127, 248
and the Beagle voyage 117, 120–5, 140–3, 151, 235
destined for the clergy 118–19
discoveries 124
early books 141–3, 145
on the eye 44–5, 47
on geology 117–18, 123, 125–6
impact of 19
on the influence of books 322
influence of Paley on 119–20, 152, 153
initial interest in evolution 127–9, 143–51
modern additions to the work of 259–60
Origin of Species 44, 145–55, 235, 246–52, 319, 325–6
originality 235–6, 239, 246–7, 248–52
Red Notebook 127
social class 319
summary of his theory of evolution 154
and Wallace 146–9, 150
and the wizards (fictional) 5, 31–3, 53–60, 64, 87–8, 91–2, 111–16, 130–8, 140–2, 162–7, 203, 230–1, 253–7, 282, 284–5, 304–10, 324, 327–33
Darwin, Erasmus 119, 124, 246–8
Darwin Fox, William 118, 119
Darwinism 322–3
Darwin’s finches 41, 43–4, 114, 126, 127, 155
Dawkins, Richard 31, 32, 34, 266, 275
decimal places 182
Deep Time 118, 156–7, 158, 160, 247
degrees, honorary 321
deists 301–2
Dembski, William 17, 34
Dennett, Daniel 13, 220, 228
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) 260, 262–3, 266–7, 270–1, 274–80
junk DNA 262–3, 275–6, 278–80
Depew, David 46
Desmond, Adrian 118
destiny 76
determinism 76, 108–9, 220–1, 229
see also free will
Deutsch, David 107
Diana, Princess 292
Dichotomy 67
Dickens, Charles 62, 319, 322, 329
difference, social 317–19, 323–5
dinosaurs 261–2, 296
discovery 237–8
Discworld novels
Pyramids 66
Small Gods 298
Thief of time 65–6, 68–70, 84
dodos 296–7
dogs 155–6, 265
domestication 155
double helix 262
Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas Père) 226–7
Dyson, Lisa 106
E
earth 36–9
age 50, 118, 157
escape velocity 95
magnetic field 158
Schwarszschild radius 96
East India Company 311
eclipses 79
Eddington, Sir Arthur Stanley 79
Edis, Taner 17
education 320–1, 323
Einstein, Albert 18, 62, 75–80, 94–7, 101–2, 195, 236, 263, 290, 325
Ellis, Havelock 74
emotions 221–2, 293
energy
dark 19
negative 100, 103
vacuum 197–200
entropy, negative 298
environment, effect on genetic potential 267
ERV-3 (Endogenous Retrovirus) 278–80
escape velocity 95
eukaryotes 274, 276, 278
Euler, Leonard 173
event horizon 96, 97
Everett, Hugh III 106, 184, 189
Everything, Theory of 105, 195
evolution 15, 19–22, 32–6, 39–49, 223–5
alternative evolutions 215–17, 225
of birds 296–7
common interpretations of 260–3
and competition 128, 154
consensus regarding 260
constantly changing nature of 42–4
Darwin’s early interest in 127–9, 143–51
driving force behind 41–2
and genetics 260–80
impact of the theory of 259
modification over time 259–60
Origin of Species 44, 145–55, 235, 246–52, 319, 325–6
origins of the theory 127–9
as parallel process 46–7
purpose 42
and religion 11–13, 291–2
summary of Darwin’s thinking on 154
see also natural selection
exons 274, 276
exotic matter 100, 101, 102
extelligence 252
eyes 39–40, 44–7
F
facts 289–90
faith 50–1
see also beliefs
fascism 318
Feynman, Richard 185, 187
fictions, consistent 212–13, 226–7
finite 171, 173, 175–6, 183–4
fish 223–4, 225
Fisher, Sir Ronald 264–6
FitzRoy, Robert 120–2, 140–1, 142
flagella 47–9
flooding 242–4
Follett, Sir Brian 299
Fourier analysis 107
free will 107, 108–9, 219–21, 227–9
see also determinism
Freud, Sigmund 290
frogs 269–71
fruit flies 272
fundamentalism 11–13, 156–7, 291–2, 299
future 93–4, 212, 229
see also past; present; time travel
G
Galápagos islands 41, 43–4, 112, 114, 124, 126, 127
Galileo 15, 301
Garay, Balso de 241
Generalised Continuum Hypothesis 183
genes 260, 262, 264–8, 270, 274, 277–8
heterozygous 264–5
homozygous 264
selfish 275
genetic assimilation 272
genetics 260–80
alleles 264–5
deoxyribonucleic acid 260, 262–3, 266–7, 270–1, 274–80
environmental influences on 267
eukaryotes 274, 276, 278
genes 260, 262, 264–8, 270, 274–5, 277–8
genomes 262, 265, 274, 275–80
heterozygosity 264–5
homozygosity 264
hybrids 156
mutation 261, 263–5, 268, 270–2
variation 156, 160, 265, 268
genomes 262, 265, 274, 275–80
geodesics 79, 80
geology 36–9, 41,143, 156–8
age of the Earth 50, 118, 157
continental drift 36–7, 126, 157–8
Darwin on 117–18, 123, 125–6
Deep Time 118, 156–7, 158, 160, 247
zircon and 36, 37–9
geometry
algebraic 174
projective 174
Geroch, Robert 100
Gerrold, David 64
ghosts 74
God
and creation 12–13, 21–2, 26, 32–3, 39, 42, 126–9, 150, 250, 273, 300
necessity of 301
rejection of 302
relegation of 323
Goddelson, Joshua 58
Gödel, Kurt 93–4, 109
gods 52–3
googol 169–70
googolplex 170
Gould, John 126
Gould, Stephen Jay 225
Grand Canyon 158
‘grandfather paradox’ 63, 64, 107–8, 223–4
granite 36, 37
Grant, Peter 44
Grant, Rosemary 44
gravitational fields 95–7, 100
gravitational lensing 79–80
gravitons 106
gravity 18, 78, 79, 80, 314
magnetic 101
quantum 105
group II introns 277
Guthrie, Thomas Anstey 71
H
Haack, Susan 14
Haldane, J.B.S. 264–5
Hamilton, Sir William Rowan 68
Hamiltonian mechanics 68, 83
Hardy, Thomas 322
Harry, Owen 321
Hau, Lene 104–5
Hawking, Stephen 65, 105–6
heat shock proteins (HSPs) 267–8, 270
Heaven 300
Heinlein, Robert 64, 295
Hell 300
heretics 300
heritable variability 156, 160, 265, 268
hermaphrodites 144
Hero of Alexandria 239–40
Herschel, Sir John 120
heterozygous genes 264–5
Hilbert, David 174–7, 180, 183
Hilbert’s Hotel 175–7, 180
Hinduism 94
Hinton, Charles Howard 73–5
Hinton, James 74
historical inertia 210, 214
historical romances 227
history 82–4, 217–18, 226–9, 311–12
Hofstadter, Douglas 222–3
Homes, Sherlock 211–12
homozygous genes 264
Hooke, Robert 236
Hooker, Joseph Dalton 143–4, 148–9, 151, 251
Hubble volumes 191, 193
human genome 262, 265, 275–80
Humboldt, Alexander von 120
Huxley, Thomas Henry 151, 211, 251, 319, 322–3
hybrids 156
hypotheses 19–20, 290
I
immune system, maternal 279–80
infinity 168–83, 190–5
actual 169
alternatives 181
Cantorian 178–83
context-dependent nature 174
Hilbert on 175–7, 180, 183
potential 169
inflation 191
‘intelligent design’ theory 12–13, 16, 17, 34–6, 39–40, 47–9, 126–7, 160
intervals 78–9
introns 274, 276, 277, 279
invention 236–8
‘irreducible complexity’ 47–9
Islam 291–2
J
Jack the Ripper 211
John Paul II, Pope 12, 22
Jorgensen, Richard 276–7
Judaism/Jews 300, 301, 318
Jurassic Park (film) 212
K
Kali 301
Kasner, Edward 169–70
Kingsley, Charles 150, 319, 322
Kirby, William 117
Krasnikov, Sergei 102–3
Kronecker, Leopold 181
L
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis 73, 76
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste 248, 249, 290
Lamarckism 271–2
Langevin, Paul 98
Laplace, Pierre Simon de 95, 299–300
Lawson, Nicholas 124
lens 39–40, 45
Leonardo da Vinci 241
Levi-Civita, Tullio 100–1, 104
Lewontin, Richard 264–5
, 268
life on earth
ancient 39
see also evolution
light
faster-than-light speeds 100, 102–3
gravitational lensing 79–80
photons 77, 78
slow 104–5
speed of 75–8, 95–6, 98, 102
light cones 77, 79
light-years 77, 78
limbs 216
Lincoln, Abraham 210–11, 214, 218, 219, 235
Linnaean Society 149
Lunar Society 247, 311
Lyell, Charles 118, 123, 125–6, 143, 146–9, 151, 157, 247
M
Maccone, Claudio 101
McCormick, Robert 121
magnetic fields 100–1, 104, 158
magnetic gravity 101
Mallett, Ronald 103–4, 105
Malthus, Thomas 127–8, 147–8, 159
mammals 261–2, 268–70, 279–80
Manson killers 295
many worlds interpretation 107, 184–5, 187–9, 191, 221
Markov chain 84
Mars 293–6
Martians 294–5
martyrdom 301
matching 178–80, 181
maternal immune system 279–80
mathematics 72–4, 76, 185–8, 195–200, 291
of infinity 168–83
sets 178–80, 181, 183
matter
dark 19
exotic 100, 101, 102
Maxwell, James Clerk 76
Mead, George Herbert 212, 221
mechanics
classical 186
Hamiltonian 68, 83
see also quantum mechanics
memeplexes 300–1
messenger RNA 275–6
Michell, John 95
microwaves, cosmic background 192–3
middle classes 311, 313, 320
Miller, Kenneth 49
mind, theory of 220
mines, flooding of 242–4
Minkowski, Hermann 76, 236
Minkowski spacetime 76, 77–8, 80, 93–5
Mitchell, Edward 70
momentum 68, 83
Montevideo 141
Moore, James 118
Morland, Sir Samuel 242
Morris, Michael 99, 104
Mosley, Sir Oswald 318
motion 66–8, 77–80
Newton’s law of 18, 186, 188, 210, 314–15
Moving Rows paradox 67
Moya, Miguel Alcubierre 102–3
multiculturalism 300–1
Murray, John 150, 151
mutation 261, 263–5, 268, 270–2
mysticism 302
N
Napoleon 300
narrativium 1–3, 52, 63, 77, 84, 103–4, 140
natural selection 13, 34, 40–2, 45, 142, 144, 147, 160, 217
common interpretations of 260, 263
and competition 128, 154
fundamental nature of 259
and mutation 265
originality of 235–6, 246–7, 248–52
summary of the theory of 153–4
see also evolution
Nazism 318
negative energy 100, 103
negentropy 298
neo-Darwinism 263
New Scientist 80–1
Newcomb, Simon 73, 74
Newcomen, Thomas 244
Newman, James 169–70