EVOLUTION: WHICH THEORY?

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 105, 6 May 1929, Page 6

EVOLUTION: WHICH THEORY?

I have read with interest Mr. Mulvihill's letters regarding the teaching of the theory of evolution in our State schools. But which theory? There are probably a dozen conflicting theories of evolution, and all of them cannot be true. Darwin's theory is out of fashion. Natural selection has been deposed from its place as the main factor in the evolutionary process. Some scientists hold that evolution has been a series of sudden jumps. Rival theories have been put forward by Lamarck, De Vries, Weismann, Driesch and Mendel, and, quite recently, Dr. Austin Clark, who is described as "a noted biologist," has announced that "man is not cousin to the ape; he is an accident, an abnormality, and to all intents and purposes a product of special creation." Dr. Clark does not abandon., evolution; he merely produces a new theory. Bergson's "Creative Evolution" and Lloyd Morgan's "Emergent Evolution" must also be considered. Will the teacher be allowed to choose the theory he likes best, or will he be required to explain all the theories and tell the children to make their own selection? Personally, I am an evolutionist. I accept evolution as a fact, and I am waiting with an open mind for the appearance of a theory regarding the method of evolution which will have the general assent of the experts. Is OHM AX BURTON.