<h4 class="foo">Concerning Evolution – or “I Don't Want to Live on This Planet Anymore”.</h4>

I've been fascinated by natural sciences ever since I was a kid. I remember getting Ranger Rick magazines, and watching Marty Stouffer's Wild America on T.V. I always imagined that I would grow up to be a zoologist, chemist, etymologist, or something along those lines. I changed my mind when I got older, but I still enjoy reading books of a scientific nature and watching the wonderfully presented documentaries on Discovery and National Geographic channels.

A lot of the books I read are more or less randomly selected from the library I work at. I'll be organizing a shelf, or checking items in, and I'll come across something that looks interesting. I ran into one of those just recently. The book is was actually published in 1999 so it's not breaking news, but the concept was completely new to me and it completely fascinated me. The book was The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis by Elaine Morgan. The concept is that when the first hominids evolved from ancestral apes they came down from the trees into a semi-aquatic environment.

Ms. Morgan presents that some of our most unique traits, skin, hair and hairlessness, our high percentage of body fat, and the power of speech, can all be better explained by theorizing that we spent some time in water instead of the Savannah Plains as previously speculated. I spent several days reading this book and another The Scars of Evolution, thoroughly engrossed by the idea. I think I might have annoyed several friends by giving them enthusiastic details from the book. Now I'm not going to say I agree 100% with Ms. Morgan, or that I fully agree with the Savannah view either. I think that as with most well thought out theories, the truth is either somewhere in-between, or something completely unimaginable.

After finishing the two books by Elaine Morgan, I tried to find something specifically mentioning, and refuting or supporting her theory. I wasn't able to find much, a few short essays, citing her work, and a brief news article about a presentation she had done in England. It seems that her theory has not been taken seriously and has not been explored and further beyond her writings. This was a bit disappointing. But, I plan on reading more books on human evolution to see if there are any other recent discoveries or other new theories, because even though we will never know the whole story, it's still exciting to search for the truth.

I think evolution is a proven fact of life. It happened, and is still happening in many species. I did run into a few people who do not 'believe in evolution' and clearly disapproved of the book. That's where we get to the part where I don't want to live on this planet anymore. 
While the details can be argued, and we will never have every 'missing link' in the human fossil record, I just don't understand how anyone can simple say "I don't believe in evolution".  And that brings me to my next famous quote, posted to the right.  Perhaps if Professor Farnsworth, had remembered this he wouldn't have despaired so.  I'll stick to a 'live and leave 'em alone' motto, and continue to further my personal knowledge in regard to evolution and the scientific evidence behind it.  After all, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.