The Lost World (Jurassic Park #2)

by Michael Crichton

“One thing I don’t understand.” “Only one?” Malcolm said. “All this business about evolution,” she said. “Darwin wrote his book a long time ago, right?” “Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859,” Malcolm said. “And by now, everybody believes it, isn’t that right?” “I think it’s fair to say that every scientist in the world agrees that evolution is a feature of life on earth,” Malcolm said. “And that we are descended from animal ancestors. Yes.” “Okay,” Kelly said. “So, what’s the big deal now?” Malcolm smiled. “The big deal,” he said, “is that everybody agrees evolution occurs, but nobody understands how it works. There are big problems with the theory. And more and more scientists are admitting it.” Malcolm pushed his plate away. “You have to track the theory,” he said, “over a couple of hundred years. Start with Baron Georges Cuvier: the most famous anatomist in the world in his day, living in the intellectual center of the world, Paris. Around 1800, people began digging up old bones, and Cuvier realized that they belonged to animals no longer found on earth. That was a problem, because back in 1800, everybody believed that all the animal species ever created were still alive. The idea seemed reasonable because the earth was thought to be only a few thousand years old. And because God, who had created all the animals, would never let any of his creations become extinct. So extinction was agreed to be impossible. Cuvier agonized over these dug-up bones, but he fina...