Hostility as to evolutionary theory gave way to acclaim as scientists vigorously debated, explored, and built on Darwin’s theory of natural selection. As the 20th century unfolded, scientific advances revealed the detailed mechanisms missing from Darwin’s theory. Study of the complex chemistry of all organisms unveiled the structure of genes as well as how they are duplicated, altered, and passed from generation to generation. New molecular biology techniques compare the genetic structures of different species, enabling scientists to determine heretofore undetectable evolutionary relationships between species. Today, evolution is recognized as the cornerstone of modern biology. Uniting such diverse scientific fields as cell biology, genetics, paleontology, and even geology and statistics, the study of evolution reveals an exquisitely complex interaction of the forces that act upon every life form on Earth.
- hostility [hɔsˈtiliti] n. 反对
- give way to [ɡiv - wei - tu] v. 退让
- acclaim [əˈkleim] n.称赞
- vigorously [ˈviɡərəsli] adv. 竭力地
- unfold [ʌnˈfəuld] v.展开
- reveal [riˈvi:l] v.揭示
- unveil [ʌnˈveil] v.揭去
- gene [dʒi:n] n.基因
- duplicate [ˈdju:plikit] v.复制
- alter [ˈɔ:ltə] v.改变
- genetic structure [dʒiˈnetik - ˈstrʌktʃə] n.遗传结构
- heretofore [ˈhiətuˈfɔ:] adv.迄今为止
- undetectable [ˈʌndiˈtektəbl] adj. 未被发现的
- cornerstone [ˌkɔ:nəˈstəun] n.基础
- cell biology [sel - baiˈɔlədʒi] n.细胞生物学
- genetics [dʒiˈnetiks] n.遗传学
- paleontology [ˌpæliɔnˈtɔlədʒi] n.古生物学
- geology [dʒiˈɔlədʒi] n.地质学
- statistics [stəˈtistiks] n.统计学
- exquisitely [ˈekskwizitli] adv. 非常地
