There is a saying in Latin: verba volant, scripta manent (words fly, writings remain). The evolution of science further sharpens the cutting edge of this truth: writings fly, laws remain.
Scott Turner’s essay illustrates this dictum with a captivating story about the evolution of the view of evolution in biology, from before Darwin to today. A big field ensued—if not the biggest, then certainly the most impactful for humankind. It is not about subparticles and entropy death of the universe. The story begins with the fittest, heritability, stasis, genes, and natural selection through random mutations. It highlights the dead end that arises from the argument of adaptation by natural selection. It then opens the view to the bigger picture, organisms that modify their environments, niche construction and the extended organism, all happening as if driven with purpose.