The incredible diversity oflife on this planet, most of which is microbial, can only beunderstood in an evolutionary framework
Interpretation
Life's diversity is rooted in evolution, particularly at the microbial level.
This quote by Carl Woese emphasizes the importance of understanding the vast diversity of life on Earth through the lens of evolution. Specifically, it highlights the prevalence of microorganisms, which are essential to the ecosystem yet often overlooked, underscoring that a comprehensive understanding of biology must include the evolutionary processes that shape life forms.
In practice
In a lecture about ecology, you might use this quote to illustrate the significance of microorganisms.
Our task now is to resynthesize biology; put the organism back into its environment; connect it again to its evolutionary past; and let us feel that complex flow that is organism, evolution, and environment united. The time has come for biology to enter the nonlinear world.
It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon.. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure, I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky.
Most scientific or engineering discoveries would never become successful products without contributions from other scientists or engineers. Every major invention is the child of far-flung parents who may never meet.
Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational evolution, but an entirely new start is, so to speak, made in every generation.
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Who would not have been laughed at if he had said in 1800 that metals could be extracted from their ores by electricity or that portraits could be drawn by chemistry.
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