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FYI, 'survival of the fittest' is not a Darwinian formulation, it was  
actually from Spencer, who tried to sample some Darwin to justify  
(mid-19th c.) market capitalism. (and isn't _that_ interesting in light  
of the current discourse.)

But then, there's a lot of obfuscation 'out there' regarding the  
science of evolution. Moving in the opposite direction, then, I highly  
recommend, for starters:

Kennedy, Donald, et al. [Working Group on Teaching Evolution, NAS]  
"Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science." Washington, D.C.:  
National Academy of Sciences. 1998.

National Academy Press in D.C., offers discounts for orders of multiple  
copies.

-Kevin


On Jun 9, 2005, at 12:18 PM, David Smith wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *********************************************************************** 
> ******
>
> There is a wonderful cartoon book on evolution, called the Sandwalk
> Adventures (http://www.jayhosler.com/Sandwalk.html) that I just  
> received
> after months on back-order at Amazon.  In the lengthy end notes there  
> is
> an excellent discussion on fitness.  The author, Jay Hosler, a biology
> professor at Juniata College in PA reminds his readers that fitness is
> defined only by how many offspring you have.
>
> Dave Smith, Da Vinci Discovery Center
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Siegel
> Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 11:40 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Evolution frantics, semantics and romantics
>
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and  
> related
> institutions.
> *********************************************************************** 
> *
> *****
>
> Speaking of semantics, I am struck by the drift of the word "fit" (as
> in survival of the fittest).  It now synonymous with buff, or tough,
> or strong.  As I understand it, the original meaning (not from
> Darwin, but from Malthus? I think) was those qualities which make the
> organism most "fit" the environment.   Does that seem right?
>
> Eric Siegel
> Executive VP
>     Programs and Planning
> NY Hall of Science
> 47-01 111th Street
> Queens, NY 11368
> www.nyscience.org
>
> ***********************************************************************

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