The Origin Of Man, Science

Man As The Centre Of Science 


Man in his capacity is a singular creature and the most remarkable of all the creatures that live on earth. He is highly equipped with enormous qualities which made him different from the rest of the animals. Only man, among the other creatures has intellectual faculties, spiritual and physical qualities. The spiritual nature of man is called his soul. His intellectual capacities are attributed to his possession of complex brain that is very superior to that of other creatures. His physical qualities involved his ability to stand erect and the possession of creative working hands.

The unique nature of man, makes him not to be just a figure in the landscape. He is ubiquitous animal, who is able to modify the environment to suit him. He has developed for himself, means of surviving in different environments, makes and uses different tools for different purposes, makes fire, builds houses with varying materials, and is able to manipulate almost everything around him to suit himself including the ability to travel through the air, even when he is not physically made to fly. Man has been able to improve himself and his environment through his singular abilities to think, reason, question, make plans without relying only on instinct. Man has, in addition, developed for himself very efficient ways of communication. In body and in mind, man is the explorer of nature, who did not find but has made his home in every continent. He has also domesticated other animals and plants; controls their life's pattern as well as their evolutionary trend, to suit his needs. 

The inquisitive and exploratory nature of man, as well as his insatiable quest for knowledge, led to the discovery of science. Science is precisely defined as a systematic study of nature. It can be seen by several scientific scholars as a hazardous activity of the spirit of man, which is mainly an artistic understanding, excited mostly by curiosity, served largely by disciplined imagination and based greatly on faith in the probability of the regularity and beauty of the universe of which man forms a part. Man is not unique because he studies science but because science is an expression of marvelous plasticity of his mind. Through science, man has been able to unlock many secrets of the universe including the structure of atoms, composition of plants and animals, composition of the earth, even the shape of the earth as well as the world outside the earth. Through science also, man has been able to learn about himself and ways to improve himself as well as enhance his survival on earth. Science covers the broad field of human knowledge concerned with facts, which are held together by principles or rules. People who devote themselves to the study of science are called scientists. Scientists probe, discover as well as test facts and principles through an orderly system, known as the scientific method. 


The Origin Of Man       


Man has been on earth for more than two and half million years. However, details on his origin are still not complete and ascertained. Members of the Christian Religion believed that God created man, forming him from the sand of the earth "in his own image", and breathing into him, his breath of life. A lot of scientists however, believed otherwise. Over the years, a lot of scientists have devoted themselves to the study of the prehistoric man (men who lived in the period before man invented writing) and almost all of them believed that man developed from manlike apes that first lived on earth more than five million years ago. This manlike apes were called Australopithecus (southern apes). Fossils of these manlike apes have been found in some parts of Africa (East and South), Java Island in South-Eastern Asia. The Australopithecus walked erect, had a brain about one-third of the size of modern man's brain. Two basic types of Australopithecus were believed to have existed; the larger type which stood about 5 feet (1.50 meters) tall and weighed about 54 to 68 kilograms; and the smaller type which stood 4 feet (1.20 meters) tall with a weight of about 45 to 54 kilograms. Many scientists believed that the first human beings developed from the smaller Australopithecus while the larger ones become extinct. This belief is based on fossil records of smaller Australopithecus found mainly in Eastern Africa, which showed that these creatures looked more like man than the larger type. Some scientists believed that these creatures were possibly the first human beings and should be called Homo habilis (skillful man) because there's an evidence that they made and used tools, lived together in groups like humans.

Over the years, at about 1,200 B.C a form of early man emerged. This early man was mentally and physically more advanced than the Australopithecus with a height of 5 feet (1.50 meters), a sloping forehead, large chinless jaw, and a brain about twice to the size of  Australopithecus. He was called Homo erectus (erect man) by the scientists. The Homo erectus lived in Africa, Asia and Europe. He made and used choppers, chopping tools and hand axes. He also made and used fire, wore clothes as well. Fossils of Homo erectus have been found in Java, near Heidelberg Germany and near Peking China. 

Homo erectus was followed by Homo sapiens (wise man). Scientists, however, know little about how and where Homo sapiens developed from and replaced Homo erectus. Fossil records found in Swanscombe near London, Steinheim in Southern West Germany, showed that the Homo sapiens were the same size as the Homo erectus, but had a larger brain. Further, the shape of their skull resembled closely to that of a modern man. The best known example of early Homo sapiens is the Neanderthal man, who lived in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe from about 100,000 B.C, to about 35,000 B.C. The Neanderthal man was heavily built, had a height of more than 5 feet (1.50 meters), with brain as large as that of modern man. Fossils of these more modern looking man have been found in Omo River Valley in Southern Ethiopia, Solo, Java (near Surakarta, Indonesia). A fossil of another more modern looking man, called Rhodesian man, was found in Southern Africa. Scientists, however, do not know the age of the Rhodesian man, nor do they know how these early men and the Neanderthals are related to modern man.

Fossils found and later shown human forms resembling various people of today. An example is the Cro-Magnon man, who lived in Northern Africa, Western and Central Asia, and Southern Europe. The Cro-Magnon man, had a height of five and half feet (1.70 meters), he also had a very close resemblance to the present-day Scandinavians. 

Till date, there is no conclusive evidence on the origin of man. The Christian belief of his creation from the biblical account is based on faith, while the scientists base most of their observations on fossil records. Fossil records are however not conclusive because they do not provide information on exactly how, when and why these developments occurred, thus unable to trace man's development in details.   


The Origin Of Science       


Science is as old as man himself. It started thousands of years ago, even before man learnt to write. Science started as man studied his environment, learnt through the centuries to make and use more complicated tools, cultivate wild plants as well as improve them, harvest the crops quickly and store it in an edible condition for the lean months, domesticate animals thereby providing for himself source of meat, milk, hides for clothing and even companionship.  Science prevailed as man continually increased his knowledge about his environment, learning more and more to control the biosphere, as his urge to explore, as well as control nature increased. It is not known who first discovered fire, developed bow and arrow, invented writing, invented the wheel, tried to explain the rising and setting of the sun as well as using it to tell the time. These are all major advances in science, handed down and improved upon over the centuries. 

Today science is very important in our daily lives. Science has made it possible for man to communicate with one another anywhere in the world, even outside the earth, in space, through the use of devices such as telephones, radios, computers, televisions, satellites dishes etc. Through science, man can travel through the air, land and water. Even in our homes, science has made life much easier and more pleasant. There is electricity to light the houses, run machines such as refrigerators, air conditioners, sewing machines, heaters for houses in temperate regions, washing machines, electric cookers, microwave ovens etc. Man has through science give himself a longer, healthier and more pleasant life.


                           References    

• Butzer, K. W. (1977). "Prehistoric man" In The World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago: Field Enterprises Education Corporation, p. Vol. 15.
• Ezigbo J, C. (1982). "Man's Position in the Plant and Animal Kingdom" in Nwankiti O. C. (ed) Man and His Environment Lagos: Longman Nigeria. 
• Krogman, W. M. (1977). "Man" In The World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago: Field Enterprises Education Corporation, Vol. 13.
• Mecha, I. (1982). "Science as a Social Institution and Need" in Nwankiti O. C. (ed), Man and His Environment Lagos: Longman Nigeria.
• Members of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. (1980). "The Book of Genesis 2:7" The New American Bible Kansas: Catholic Bible Publishers. 
• Nwalozie, M. C., Nwoke B. E. B., Dozie, I. N. S. (2000). "History and Philosophy of Science" an Integrated Aproach: Novelty Industrial Enterprises Limited: Owerri.