ABSTRACT
This chapter provides Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and explains the role of mutation in the theory of evolution. It explores relate DNA to genes and genetic engineering and distinguishes between the theory of punctuated equilibrium and the theory of continuous equilibrium. It summarizes the evolution of human beings over the last 30 million years. Modern scientists believe that millions of years ago, the process of evolution produced our first human ancestors when a humanlike creature branched off from the apes. A group of scientists called sociobiologists has argued that human behavior evolves in the same direction that anatomy and body chemistry does: to increase the chances of survival of the species. Most primates, including the gibbon and the orangutan, still live in trees, but gorillas, like humans, live on the ground. Perhaps the most important physical difference between human beings and apes is in the size and complexity of the brain.
