An Evolve-By Date

Judson, Olivia. An Evolve-By Date. The New York Times. 24 November 2009. 29 November 2009. .
Olivia Judson’s recent article concerning the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s novel On the Origin of Species introspects into the world of evolution – particularly its faults. Because of the argumentative format of the piece, Judson clearly established logical, emotional, ethical appeals. The author did not seem to have any logical fallacies, thus strengthening her argument and connecting with the reader and her critics. Olivia uses experiments to intensify her logos and states, “Suppose you put bacteria into test tubes where their usual sugar source is in short supply, but an alternative one — which they can’t consume at all — is abundant. (If you put them with just this alternative source, they would all die of starvation at once.) Then, you can watch how long it takes for the bacteria to evolve so they can digest the alternative. The answer, in one famous case, was more than 31,000 generations” (Judson 1). Her clear position as a journalist who has covered the topic of biology (specifically evolution) numerous times adds to her appeal to authority, an ethos appeal. Pathos is founded in her conclusion when Judson writes, “In short, we can expect that — if the environment continues to change as rapidly as it is at the moment — many creatures will fail to meet their evolve-by dates” (Judson 1).

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