beetles, mimicry, 7–8 (figs.)
Bennet-Clark, Henry, 228
‘best of a bad job’ theory
bees, 314
and stable balance theory, 316–7
biomorphs, 30–6, 239 (fig.)
artificial selection, 30–2
Blind Watchmaker program, 33 (fig.) {333}
Colour Watchmaker program, 34
embryology of, 226
kaleidoscopic mirrors, 227 (fig.)
land, 200
trees, 31 (fig.)
birds
evolved from dinosaurs, 123
large grounded, 127–8
long evolutionary journey, 126
start of flying, 125
wings, 127
birth defects, genetic, 97
Biston betularia, evolution of, 87
Blind Snailmaker, 212
Blind Watchmaker, The
bats, 38
genetic space, 200
many ways of being dead, 99
Blind Watchmaker computer program
‘computer biomorphs’, 30–4
no five-way symmetry, 239
Brassica oleracea, artificial selection, 27 (fig.), 26–8
breathing, air, in water-dwelling animals, 130
bulldog, English, artificial selection, 29
butterflies, prey to spiders, 52–3
cabbage, wild, artificial selection, 27 (fig.), 26–8
California, University of, 113
Callaerts, Patrick, 192
camera, and human eye, 19
see also eye camera
caterpillar, segmentation, 240, 241
cells
eucaryotic, 287
generations, 272
light-sensitive, preliminary evolution, 166
machine code of, 271
principles, 287
centipede, segmentation, 240
chance, 79, 101
chihuahua, artificial selection, 29 (fig.)
classification of species, 106
co-evolution, wasps and figs, 262, 301, 308–10, 324
Colour Watchmaker, biomorphs bred by, 34 (fig.)
compound eye, see eye, compound
computer simulations, 68
arthromorphs, segmentation, 243–4
fish, 69–72
lens, 153 (fig.)
model of natural selection, 62
selective breeding, 32
shells: artificial selection, 215 (fig.)
resemblance to real shells, 217 (fig.)
snails, 216 (fig.)
spiders, 57–68
webs, 66–7 (fig.)
see also biomorphs
cone, human retina, 172
convergent evolution, 19–21 (fig.), 21
crayfish spermatozoon, symmetry, 232 (fig.)
creationists
favourite quotation, 197
favourite target, 136
species classification, 106
cross-fertilization, by pollen, 259–60
cup eye, see eye, cup
currency-conversion factor, fly and silk protein, 68
dachshund, artificial selection, 29 (fig.)
Darwin, Charles
and artificial selection model for natural selection, 34
on the eye, 139
theory of evolution, 74
Darwinism
dependent on heredity, 90–1
misunderstood, 80
non-random natural selection, 75
problem of improbability, 77
Dennett, Daniel, 200
design
vs. accident, 6
illusion of, 223
designoid objects
definition, 6
‘second order’, 18
traps, 14
diatoms, kaleidoscopic mirrors, 233 (fig.)
diffraction, problems for pinhole eyes, 150–1
dimensions
four, 200
two, and physics of real life, 36–7
dinosaurs, evolution of birds from, 123
DNA, 4
and exponential growth, 292–3
and heredity, 90
horse as robot vehicle for, 290 (fig.)
living things host to, 268, 276
shuttled by evolution, 326
in trees, 30
virus, 274 {334}
dogs, artificial selection, 29 (fig.)
dolphin, convergent evolution, 21 (fig.)
Douglas-Hamilton, Iain, 92
Douglas-Hamilton, Oria, 92
Drexler, Eric, 294
Drosophila
eye genes, 190
homeotic mutation, 249–51
dugongs, dry-land history, 133
‘Duplicate Me’ program, 269, 282, 297
eagles, use of thermals, 128
Eberhard, William, 53
echinoderms
and biomorphs, 238, 239 (fig.)
five-way symmetry, 236
mirrors of symmetry, 235 (fig.)
Edmonds, Donald, 58
efficiency
of knives, 11–2
measures of, 11–2
of model eye, 161–2
of natural objects, 10–12
of spider webs, 38
of wings, 114
Eldredge, Niles, 105–6
elephants, trunk, evolution of, 4, 92, 94
embryology
biomorphs, 226
insect, 224
kaleidoscopic, 224–55
mammal, 224
model of evolution, 162
mutations dependent on, 224
embryos, changes in, 104
enzymes, improbability of, 75
epiphytes, 265
eucaryotic cells, 287
evolution
alternative routes, 135
co-evolution, 324
convergent, 21 (fig.)
importance of macro-mutation, 103
improvement, recipe for, 136
necessary ingredients for, 88
no reversal allowed, 135
return to old way of life, 130
shuttling DNA codes, 326
exponential growth, 291, 292
eye, 138–97
arrangement of parts, 78
camera and, 19
compound, 147, 177
apposition, 179 (fig.)
on man, 182 (fig.)
primitive, 184 (fig.)
principle, 180
problems with detail, 180
superposition, 188, 189 (fig.)
cup, 146–9, 147 (fig.)
direction of light, 147–8 (fig.)
inside out, 179 (fig.)
problems with, 149
Darwin's discussion of, 139
double, 196 (fig.)
fish, model of evolution, 163, 164 (fig.)
focus, changing, 166–7
intermediates between compound and camera, 181
invertebrate, 152 (fig.)
mirror, 177
model, efficiency assessment, 161
mutational damage to genes, 193
necessary size, 141
non-image forming, 142
pinhole, see pinhole eye
problems for evolutionists, 136
snails, 141, 141 (fig.)
types, 139–40
eye camera
jumping spiders, 173
rate of evolution, 190
face
human eagerness to see, 24
mimicry, on insects, 24
feathers
insulation, 124
modified scales, 124
feathertail glider, 117 (fig.)
fertilization, cross., by pollen, 260
figs (Pints spp.), 3–4, 299, 305–6
agreement between male and female, 322
co-evolution with wasp, 262, 301, 307–9, 320, 324–5
cup, 301
dioecious, 318
flowers, 301
literary, 3
mimicry, 321
po
llinators, 301
pores, 303–4
two kinds of female flower, 304
strangling, 306
fire, reproduction of, 88–9
fish
computer simulation, 69–70 {335}
eye, model of evolution, 163, 164 (fig.)
flying, 120–3, 121 (fig.)
four-eyed, 196 (fig.)
Fisher, R. A., 79, 104
flapping, 127
flare (shells), 204, 206 (fig.), 207 (fig.)
expansion rate of spiral, 204
flat-fish, alternative positions, 134 (fig.)
fleas, segmentation, 242
flies
halteres, 242 (fig.)
protein, spider calculations, 65
segmentation, 242
flight, 108
evolution of, 113–30
origin in birds, 129
beginning on ground, 120
different uses by birds, 126
flapping, 127
and physics, 108
problems of size, 113
floating, in air, small animals, 113
flounder, and skate, 134 (fig.)
flowers
figs, 301
preferred pollination strategy, 262–3
purpose of, 256–68
transmission of DNA, 273
flying, see flight
focus, eye, 166, 167
fossils
classification, 106–7
elephant tusks, 92–4
evidence of evolution, 91–2
Fuchs, Peter, 58
Gehring, Walter, 192–4
generation time, and size, 109 (fig.)
generations, of cells, 292
genes
‘clean up’ following mutation, 105
control of mutation rate, 82
DNA instructions, 298
‘Duplicate Me’ program, 297–8
effect on embryo, 104
gradient, 248–9
for cooperative digging, 309
kaleidoscopic, 253
mammals’ eyes, 194
modifier of others, 105
mutational damage to, effect on eye, 193
naming convention, 190
phenotypic effect, 104
rearranged by sexual reproduction, 83–4
segment, 247
tagma, 247
spontaneous, arthromorph evolution, 244
survival climates, 86
transfusions, 136
variation, 199
genetic space, 199–200
geode, designoid stones, 10
Gigantocypris, mirror solutions to image-forming, 173–7, 175 (fig.)
giraffe
evolution of long neck, 101–3, 102 (fig.)
and okapi, 101
glass, principle of refraction, 155
glider, feathertail, 117 (fig.)
gliding
off surface of water, 121 (fig.)
vertebrates, 116–23, 119 (fig.)
God
control over nature, 74–5
as mountaineer, 77
Godfray, Charles, 321
Goldschmidt, Richard, 98
Gould, Stephen, 105–6
Grafen, Alan, 321
grass, 267
Great Dane, artificial selection, 29 (fig.)
growth, exponential, 291–3
Grzeszczuk, Radek, 69–71
Haeckel, Ernst, 232
Haemoglobin Number, 78
Haider, George, 192–4
Halley's Comet, photons from, 144
halteres, 242 (fig.)
Hamilton, W. D., 304, 309–10, 316
Hardy, Alister, 176
hedgehogs, 20 (fig.)
heredity
Darwinism dependent on, 91
different from reproduction, 88
and DNA, 90
heritability, 165
‘hopeful monster’ theory, 98
horse, as robot vehicle for DNA, 290 (fig.)
Hoyle, Fred, 77, 100
human-centred view of the world, 258
Hyptiotes, variable tension web, 54–5
Iberian Ophrys, 261 (fig.)
imagination, 19
immunoglobulins, nanotechnology, 295–6
insects
catching methods, efficiency, 38
compound eye, 147
flight, 114
garden inclosed for benefit of, 310 {336}
lenses, different development, 171 (fig.)
pots, 15–6
trapping, pitcher plant, 12–4
Internet Worm, 271
Israel, mason bees, 16
jellyfish, stalked, four-way symmetry, 231 (fig.)
Juniper, Barrie, 12
Kaehler, Ted, 243, 248
kaleidoscope, embryos, 224–5
Kelvin, Lord, 76
Keplerian telescope, 187
Kettlewell, Bernard, 87
Kingdon, Jonathan, 40
Kingsolver, Joel, 113
Kirby, Reverend William, 256
Kirschfeld, Kuno, 182 (fig.)
Koehl, Mimi, 113
Krink, Thiemo, 58
ladder web, 53 (fig.)
land animals, return to water, 130–3
Land, Michael, 172–6, 195
Langton, Christopher, 69
Laputan authorship, 77
leafy sea dragon, 9–10
legs, caterpillar, 240–1
lenses
complex, 160 (fig.), 159
computed, 153 (fig.)
evolution of, 154, 160–3, 170–2
insect, different development, 171 (fig.)
makeshift, 157 (fig.)
pebble, 156
principle of, 149
life
existence elsewhere, 283
in nanoworld, 297
origin of, 283–4
rarity of, 283
light
detection of, 146–7
principle of refraction, 155 (fig.)
rays, bending, 154–5
light-sensitive cells, preliminary evolution, 166
Lin, Lorraine, 58
lobsters, homeotic mutation, 253
local doubling, 291
luck, ‘smearing out’, 91
lung, evolutionary origin of, 96
Machina speculatrix (robot ‘tortoise’), 280
macro-mutation, 96, 99
and natural selection, 97
favoured by natural selection, 253
importance in evolution, 103
no connection with punctuated equilibrium, 105–6
males, two types, 313–4
man, dominion over living things, 256
marlin, blue, convergent evolution, 21 (fig.)
marsupial gliders, 116
Mastopbora, single-thread web, 56
Maynard Smith, John, 95
Medawar, Sir Peter, 228
medusae, six-way symmetry, 237 (fig.)
Meinhardt, Hans, 220
membranes, retinal cell, 144
mimicry, 7–8
between human eye and camera, 19
face on insects, 23–4
mirror eye, 173–5 (fig.)
More, Henry, 257
moths
evolution of, 87–8
prey to spiders, 52–3, 56
Mount Improbable
eye region, 195 (fig.)
parable of, 73
Mount Rushmore, 3–37
Move Watch, spider simulation, 58–60, 59
Muller's Ratchet, explanation for sex, 85
Museum of All Possible Animals, 201
Museum of All Possible Shells, 207, 211–2, 219
mutation bias, 81
chance in Darwinism, 80
‘clean up’ following, 104–5
controlled by genes, 83
directed, 82
good and bad, 84–5
homeotic, 249, 251 (fig.)
macro-mutation, 96, 97
different kinds, 100
importance in evolution, 103
no connection with punctuated equilibrium, 105–6
and natural selection, 86, 97, 224
non-random, 80
and stress, 83
nanotechnology, 294 (fig.)
immunoglobins, 294
nanoworld, life in, 297
Natural History Museum, 4
natural selection
and artificial selection, 34–5
illusion of design, 222
and macro-mutation, 97, 253 {337}
male wasps, 316–7
mimicry in animals, 7–8
misapprehension, 101
mutation and, 86, 97, 224
non-random cumulative, 75
penalising mutation, 86
pressure on evolution, 198
similarities to Laputan authorship, 76
simulations, 36–7, 62, 64–5
and variation, 165
neck, evolution of, 101–3, 102 (fig.)
nectar
bribery of bees, 258
fuel for insect, 260
Nesse, Randolph, 293
NetSpinner simulator, 162
overnight evolution of web, 63 (fig.)
theoretical spiders, 60–8
Nilsson, Dan, 161–5, 182, 190, 196
Noctuidae, prey for bolus spider, 56
O'Toole, Christopher, 16
okapi, evolution of neck, 102 (fig.), 101–3
ommatidia, 180–1
dark pigment, side effects of, 185
orchid
bucket, 261–2
hammer, 262 (fig.)
insect-mimicking, 261 (fig.)
Paecilopachys, horizontal orb web, 56
partnerships, flowers and bees, 264
Pasilobus, triangular web, 55 (fig.)
pebble, as lens, 156
Pelger, Susanne, 161–6
penguin, galapagos, convergent evolution, 21 (fig.)
Pennycuick, Colin, 128
photocell, biological, 142, 145 (fig.)
photons
economics of, 144
from Halley's Comet, 144
random nature of, 144
remote sensing technology, 138
photosynthesis, 142
physics
artificial, in simulation of natural selection, 68–9
flapping flight, 127
and flying, 108
of real life, not two-dimensional, 36
Pilkington, James, 256
pinhole eye, 160–3
problem with diffraction, 151
remedy for shortcomings, 173
pitcher plant, economy ratio, 12
poison, spiders, 52
pollen
fig wasps, 301
transmission of, 259–60
pollination, strategy, 262–3
pollinators
of figs, 301
specialist, 262–3
population, exponential growth, 291
possums, flying, 117 (fig.)
pots
efficiency of, 10–6
insect, 15–6
pre-adaptation, 95
primeval soup, 282
printer, 3-D, 278
pseudo-design, recognition of, 18
punctuated equilibrium, no connection with macro-mutation, 905–6
Climbing Mount Improbable Page 32