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Old 04-April-2008, 05:28 PM
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Gillianren Gillianren is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jens View Post
There are a lot of things that can be tested without numbers. I don't think Darwin required numbers to demonstrate natural selection.
Population statistics are numbers. Beak size measurements are numbers. Years are numbers. I joke and say that the reason I took biology and geology for college math is that there's no numbers involved, but it isn't true. The ratio of predators to prey (1:40, I believe, but I could be wrong) is an equation of sorts. I actually had to do by-Gods equations in my oceanography class; we studied tsunami, and we had to work out the length of time it would take for them to travel x distance--and those numbers work.

No, Darwin used numbers, too. He just didn't need calculus for them.
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