Description
THE EUKARYOTIC CELL – 2012
ORIGINAL PAINTING HAND-PAINTED IN BLACK CALLIGRAPHY INK ON PAPER BY EMMA J V HOGG
PRINT DIMENSIONS | UNFRAMED –
A4 – 21 X 29.7 CM / 8 X 12″
A3 – 29.7 x 42 CM / 12 x 16.5″
A2 – 42 x 59.4 CM / 16.5 x 23.4″
‘The Eukaryotic Cell’ – Science theory – Creation “myth”
Text in painting reads :
The most common explanation for the existence of life on earth is mythological. Cultures worldwide simultaneously developed myths to explain the origins of life. Some of these myths are incorporated into religions, almost always involving complex metaphorical or supernatural elements.
With the development of science there have been many attempts at an explanation of the origin of life from within the laws of nature that we experience. Theories range from spontaneous generation from nonliving materials, the planting of life from outer space and the autotrophic, (the use of energy and predominantly inorganic material to live, e.g. plants), and heterotrophic, (the use of other organisms as food to survive, e.g. animals), hypotheses.
The most widely accepted scientific hypothesis is that the first living beings were simple aquatic heterotrophic bacteria that emerged from the gradual association of organic molecules into organised structures, coacervates, which themselves appeared from substances in the earths primitive atmosphere affected by electrical discharges, solar radiation and high temperatures.
A eukaryote is a more evolved organism whose cells contain complex structures, each enclosed within its own membrane. For example the presence of the nucleus, which carries the genetic material for the organism.
Although the exact origin of the eukaryotic cell is unknown, its formation is considered a milestone in the evolution of life since all species of large complex organisms, including animals, plants and fungi, and a multitude of microscopic organisms, are eukaryotes. The eukaryotic cell represents the flourishing of life on earth into a staggering variety of forms. But we simply do not know how this life began.
“Man” is an animal:
The long history of scientific research has blurred the once clear distinction people held between humans and other animals. The current extent of our knowledge about animals and aspects of their behaviour and biology has closed this perceived gap in our relation to them. We now know that various animal species use complex verbal communication, tools and show signs of having moral boundaries.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, when published in 1859, began this shift in how people viewed other animals. With Darwin’s argument of animals and humans evolving from the same ancestor, the importance of “man” as the centre of creation was challenged. Darwin believed there was only a degree of difference, not of kind, between the mind of humans and that of other animals. An 1838 note written by Darwin reads, “Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy of the interposition of a deity, more humble and I believe true to consider him created from animals”.
Many religions and philosophies believe “man” to be the reason for life on earth, for example the great 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that “Animals are not self-conscious and are there merely as the means to an end. That end is man”.
But humans, like all other animal species, are at the complete mercy of the natural world.
Written by Emma J V Hogg
