For the past few centuries, and although it is still a rather young discipline, science has produced some of the greatest discoveries about the world around and within us. In today's episode of this documentary series, we explore, in no particular order, ten of the most dramatic discoveries related to the origin and evolution of life: the K-T asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction, the discovery of the first dinosaur fossils, Stanley Miller's experiments creating the potential for life, thriving flora and fauna around hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, the Burgess Shale that led to the discovery of Cambrian diversity, Linnaeus' system for classification of species, Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection, the discovery of Australopithecus Afarensis ("Lucy"), the Laetoli footprints, and the Toumai skull.Yes, a few details seem to be outdated by now, but rather than concentrating on the errors, I prefer to admire the self-correcting mechanisms built into the scientific method, which allows better theories to replace more deficient ones, however wonderful and beautiful they may have been when first proposed.
Click here to check out more episodes of this series (when I get to post them).
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