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1999 : WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION IN THE PAST TWO THOUSAND YEARS? [1]

In the News [ 7 ] [2]
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Contributors [ 108 ] [3]   |   View All Responses [ 108 ] [4]
paul_w_ewald's picture [5]
Paul W. Ewald [5]
Professor of Biology, Amherst College; Author, Plague Time
Evolutionary Biologist

My nominee is the concept of evolution by selection (which encompasses natural selection, sexual selection, and the selective processes that generate cultural evolution). It offers the best explanation for what we are, where we came from, and the nature of life in the rest of the universe. It also explains why we invent and why we believe the inventions described in this list are important. It is the invention that explains invention.

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Links
[1] https://stage.edge.org/annual-question/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[2] https://stage.edge.org/inthenews/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[3] https://stage.edge.org/contributors/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[4] https://stage.edge.org/responses/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[5] https://stage.edge.org/memberbio/paul_w_ewald