Evolution works by selection, not by instruction. There is no final cause, no teleology, no purpose guiding the overall process
Interpretation
Evolution occurs through natural selection rather than a predetermined plan or purpose.
Gerald Edelman's quote emphasizes the fundamental principle of evolution, which is driven by the process of selection among variations rather than a clear, designed instruction or end goal. It suggests that the evolution of life is a complex, unguided process where random mutations and environmental pressures shape species over time, devoid of any inherent purpose or final destination.
In practice
In a discussion about the principles of evolution in a biology class.
I am persuaded that this method [for calculating the volume of a sphere] will be of no little service to mathematics. For I foresee that once it is understood and established, it will be used to discover other theorems which have not yet occurred to me, by other mathematicians, now living or yet unborn.
Science has a culture that is inherently cautious and that is normally not a bad thing. You could even say conservative, because of the peer review process and because the scientific method prizes uncertainty and penalises anyone who goes out on any sort of a limb that is not held in place by abundant and well-documented evidence.
Taking mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time when Newton lived, what he had done was much the better half.
Ever since the dawn of civilization, people have not been content to see events as unconnected and inexplicable. They have craved an understanding of the underlying order in the world. Today we still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity's deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest. And our goal is nothing less than a complete description of the universe we live in.
The history of science shows that theories are perishable. With every new truth that is revealed we get a better understanding of Nature and our conceptions and views are modified.
Carbon has this genius of making a chemically stable, two-dimensional, one-atom-thick membrane in a three-dimensional world. And that, I believe, is going to be very important in the future of chemistry and technology in general.
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