Chapter 2 (Kwasi Obeng-Dankwa)

In chapter 2 we are introduced to the difference in the understanding of extinction, from us seeing it as normal and easily understandable to it being a new and controversial concept in the mid-1700s. Many scientists of that time did not believe in a concept such as extinction because they simply did not believe such a thing could happen. As a result, when fossils were found, they would be matched up with similar animals and it would be proclaimed that the fossils found of that animal were still alive without any specific proof of it. The mystery of the fossils unearthed by Longueuil crew was a pivotal step towards the notion of extinction. Scientists were not sure of how to make sense of it and as a result, it led to multiple theories about what animal the fossils belonged to and how it would be classified. Then came Georges Cuvier who stated that the fossils were in fact from a different species and as a result were their own animals. The chapter goes on to discuss more of Cuvier's findings based on more fossils found of different species and eventually, he came to the realization that the fossils of the animals found were not roaming in the areas that they had been found, gradually instilling the idea of them dying off. As stated in the chapter, "With his lecture on "the species of elephants, both living and fossil," Cuvier had succeeded in establishing extinction as a fact." This showed the final acceptance of extinction within the scientific community. Even though he brought up this notion, he did not care for how extinction occurred to the animals but only the fossils. At the end of the chapter, we are revealed to be the cause of the mass extinction and it further proves Cuvier right.

This chapter connected to Science is a process. In the chapter, we are constantly reminded that "Science constantly changes the way we understand the world." This was especially true when the gradual acceptance and understanding of extinction in the 1700s took place in the chapter. For example, in the chapter, it stated "In 1812, Cuvier published a four-volume compendium of his work on fossil animals... Thanks for the most part to his own efforts, there were now forty-nine(38)." This shows the increased knowledge within science as his theory of fossils actually belonging to other species allowed new categories for the fossil animals. A prime example of science changing the way we understand the world in the chapter is when Cuvier changes his position on the causes of extinction. At first, he thought that one disaster was enough for mass extinction, however, as he learned more, "There had, he decided, been multiple cataclysms(44)." This allowed Cuvier to come up with more accurate theories on what were the causes of the mass extinctions and this was a result of science changing and that allowing him to understand the world in a different view.