Communicating evolution with a Dynamic Evolutionary Map

Sonia Stephens

doi:10.22323/2.13010204

Communicating evolution with a Dynamic Evolutionary Map

Journal of Science Communication ◽

10.22323/2.13010204 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (01) ◽

pp. A04

Author(s):

Sonia Stephens

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Biological Evolution ◽

Interactive Visualization ◽

Visual Metaphors ◽

Map Metaphor

Metaphors and visualizations are important for science communication, though they may have limitations. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a novel interactive visualization, the "Dynamic Evolutionary Map"' (DEM), which communicates biological evolution using a non-standard metaphor. The DEM uses a map metaphor and interactivity to address conceptual limitations of traditional tree-based evolutionary representations. In a pilot evaluation biology novices used the DEM to answer questions about evolution. The results suggest that this visualization communicates some conceptual affordances differently than trees. Therefore, the described approach of building alternative visual metaphors for challenging concepts appears useful for science communication.

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Muslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Science, Belief and Society ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781529206944.003.0008 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 147-170

Author(s):

Jessica Carlisle ◽

Salman Hameed ◽

Fern Elsdon-Baker

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Biological Evolution ◽

Science Research ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Or Education ◽

Deficit Model ◽

Theory Of Evolution ◽

Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽

Understanding Of Science ◽

Science In Society

The topic of Muslims’ attitudes towards the theory of biological evolution has received increasing attention at the margins of the fields of public understanding of society, science communication or education and science in society. The methodology and methods employed in this work are primarily informed by research on attitudes towards evolution in the ‘West’, particularly in the US where the issue is highly politicized. Small, interview based qualitative and larger, survey based quantitative studies have explored degrees of acceptance or rejection of non-human and human evolution in a number of Muslim majority and Muslim minority contexts. The underlying rationale for these studies is often underpinned by a ‘deficit model’ in which Islam, or being Muslim, is usually posited as a particular obstacle to public understanding and acceptance of theory of evolution. This chapter summarizes these studies, analyzes the particularities of how deficit model approaches might be implicitly informing their findings, and reflects on the lack of reflexivity in much public understanding of science research on Muslim contexts.

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The Tempo and mode(S) of Prebiotic Evolution

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100014937 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 161 ◽

pp. 419-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Antonio Lazcano

Keyword(s):

Origin Of Life ◽

Organic Compounds ◽

Biological Evolution ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Early Diversification ◽

Time Period ◽

The Galaxy ◽

History Of ◽

Widespread Phenomenon ◽

The Origin Of Life

AbstractDifferent current ideas on the origin of life are critically examined. Comparison of the now fashionable FeS/H2S pyrite-based autotrophic theory of the origin of life with the heterotrophic viewpoint suggest that the later is still the most fertile explanation for the emergence of life. However, the theory of chemical evolution and heterotrophic origins of life requires major updating, which should include the abandonment of the idea that the appearance of life was a slow process involving billions of years. Stability of organic compounds and the genetics of bacteria suggest that the origin and early diversification of life took place in a time period of the order of 10 million years. Current evidence suggest that the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds may be a widespread phenomenon in the Galaxy and may have a deterministic nature. However, the history of the biosphere does not exhibits any obvious trend towards greater complexity or «higher» forms of life. Therefore, the role of contingency in biological evolution should not be understimated in the discussions of the possibilities of life in the Universe.

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