Saturday I opened the EB to the word "Abiogenesis." Here is part of what
it said:
"Abiogenesis, as a name for the production of living by non-living
matter, has, of late, superseded the less accurate phrase "spontaneous
generation." Professor Huxley, who made use of this word ... in 1870... .
Haeckel expressly embraces abiogenesis as a necessary and integral part
of the theory of universal evolution."
Oh yes -- the edition of the EB I opened was published in 1894! < G >
I suspect that there have been, in the years the EB has been published, a
great many "definitions" of the term, as well as whether (or not) it is
part of "evolution." Words, and word definitions do change. We need to
remember this -- and strive for more preciseness in our discourse -- and
cut the other fellow some slack sometimes when his use of word
definitions seems a bit askew!
Burgy
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