Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the Universe (53 page)

Carbon-nitrogen (CN) cycle,
166

Carter, Brandon,
258
,
259

Castle, William Ernest,
58

Catholic Church,
56

Chabad,
97

Chamberlin, Thomas,
75

Chambers, Robert,
20

Chandrasekhar, Subramanyan,
181

Chandrasekhar mass,
301
n

Chargaff, Erwin,
123
,
130
,
138
,
141
–43,
145

Chase, Martha,
131

Christianity,
61
,
278
n

Christian Science Monitor
,
205

Christie, Julie,
158

Clayton, D. D.,
179

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,
124

Cold War,
128

Colgate, S. A.,
179

Columbia University,
102

Common ancestry,
18
,
21
–23,
275
n

Communists,
129

Condon, Edward,
166

Constitution, US,
9

Cookson, Dr.,
279
n

Copenhagen, University of,
120

Copernicus, Nicolaus,
24
–25,
259

Corey, Robert,
104
,
112
–13,
154
,
291
n

DNA research by Pauling and,
132
–33,
142
,
149
,
152
,
291
n

Royal Society meeting attended by,
128
,
129

X-ray crystallography studies of peptides and amino acids by,
106
,
138
,
285
n

Cornell University,
171

Correns, Carl,
53

Coryell, Charles D.,
285
n

Cosmic microwave background,
168
,
185
,
210
–11,
213
–14,
254

“Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity” (Einstein),
222

Cosmological constant,
223
,
229
–65,
301
n

in accelerating universe,
252
–56

anthropic reasoning on,
256
–64

Einstein’s repudiation of,
237
–43,
247
,
267

Gamow’s account of Einstein’s “biggest blunder” remark on,
231
–37

precursors of,
246
–47

quantum mechanics and,
249
–52

scientists’ continuing advocacy of,
243
–45,
300
n

in static universe,
223
–25,
248

theoretical objections to,
229
–31

Cosmological principle,
185
,
198

Cosmology,
2
,
159
,
183
–85,
203
,
210
–11,
235
,
242
,
257

big bang,
see
Big bang theory

Einstein on,
265
–66

inflationary,
244

steady state,
see
Steady state theory

see also
Cosmological constant

Coulomb force,
165
,
169
,
294
n

Courtaulds Research Laboratories,
112

Creation field,
200
,
218

Creationism,
20
,
26
,
32

see also
Intelligent design

Creation myths,
9

Creation of the Universe, The
(Gamow),
168

Crick, Francis,
115
,
131
,
154
,
155

discovery of structure of DNA by Watson and,
103
,
120
–28,
134
–37,
139
–42,
144
–53,
287
n
,
288
n
,
292
n

Critchfield, Charles,
166

Croll, James,
80
,
81

Crommelin, Andrew,
228

Curie, Pierre,
92
,
283
n

Curtis, Heber,
222

Cuvier, Georges,
66

Cygnus,
204
–5

Dark energy,
255
,
300
n

Darlington, Cyril Dean,
58

Darwin, Charles,
10
,
12
,
16
–36,
44
,
47
–59,
158
,
212
,
230
,
269
–71,
277
n
,
281
n
,
298
n

and age-of-Earth controversy,
78
–82,
101
–2,
202

common descent concept of,
18
,
21
–22,
275
n

and Copernican principle,
24
–25

gradualism concept of,
18
,
20
–21,
66
–67

Huxley’s support of,
81
–82,
116

inclusion of humans in evolutionary theory of,
25
–26,
274
n

Jenkin’s criticism of,
39
–41,
44
,
47
–49,
52
,
58
,
59

lack of familiarity with Mendel’s work,
52
–54

mathematical errors of,
44
,
47

Mendel influenced by,
54
–57

on natural selection,
26
–29,
31
–33,
35
–36,
43
,
44
,
269

and nineteenth-century theory of heredity,
37
–38

pangenesis theory of,
50
–51

reductionism of,
25

speciation concept of,
18
,
22
–23

works of,
see titles of specific works

Darwin, Erasmus,
20

Darwin, George Howard,
78
–79,
87
,
92
,
158
,
280
n

Davis, Arthur Sladen,
40
,
49

Dawkins, Richard,
217

Dead of Night
(film),
198

poster for,
186

Death instinct,
7

De Maillet, Benôit,
63
–64

Denial,
217
–18

Dennett, Daniel,
26

Descartes, René,
63
,
65
,
263

Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, The
(Darwin),
18
,
274
n

De Sitter, Willem,
229
–30,
237
,
262
,
265

de Vries, Hugo,
53

Dicke, Robert,
210

Different Approach to Cosmology, A
(Hoyle),
212

Dinosaurs,
20
,
30

feathered,
275
n

Dirac, Paul,
159
,
281
n

Diversity, biological,
12
–14

natural selection as mechanism for,
18
,
34

speciation and,
22

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
41
,
59
,
102
,
116
–51,
146
,
153
–55,
287
–88
nn
,
291
–92
nn

cosmic origins of,
170

early work on,
117
–19,
288
n

as evidence in criminal justice system,
6
,
217

Pauling’s work on,
116
,
119
–20,
122
–23,
126
–28,
130
–44,
288
n
,
291
nn

Watson and Crick discover structure of,
103
,
120
–28,
134
–37,
139
–42,
144
–53,
287
n
,
288
n
,
292
n

X-ray diffraction images of,
120
–29,
126
,
132
,
133
,
138
–40,
150
–52

Dobzhansky, Theodosius,
20

“Don Juan” (Byron),
275
n

Donohue, Jerry,
134
,
145
,
291
n

Draper, John William,
281
n

Drosophila
fruit fly,
58

Dryster, Frederick,
281
n

Dunbar, Noel,
173
,
174

Dunitz, Jack,
112
,
139
,
143
,
144
,
154

Dynamics,
235

molecular,
287
n

see also
Thermodynamics

Earth, age of,
60
–83,
199
,
240
,
281
n

Kelvin’s calculation of,
59
,
69
–79,
81
,
84
–87,
91
–102,
164
,
210
,
280
n

Newton on,
64
–66

Eddington, Arthur,
162
,
191
,
195
–96,
221
,
227
,
293
n

cosmological constant advocated by,
224
,
243
–44

hydrogen fusion concept of,
100
,
161
–62,
164
–65

Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom, The
(Darwin),
53

Eggleton, Peter,
213
–15

Einstein, Albert,
7
,
10
,
101
,
185
,
187
,
220
–45,
242
,
262
–71,
281
n

assumption of large-scale homogeneity and isotropy of space concept of,
185
,
262

and cosmological constant,
223
–25,
229
–33,
252
,
255
–57,
264
–65,
267
,
298
n
,
300
n
,
301
n

and discovery of expanding universe,
187
,
189
–91

Eddington and,
162

general relativity theory of,
see
General relativity

Lemaître and,
250
,
299
n

special relativity theory of,
220
,
225
–26,
264

Elements

formation of,
161
–66 (
see also
Nucleosynthesis)

periodic table of,
160
,
160
–61,
163
,
293
n