Natural Selection through Competition and Isolation of Species Essay Example for Free

Natural Selection through Competition and Isolation of Species Essay The struggle for life results in differences in form which Darwin called â€Å"incipient species. † Darwin says that variations, no matter how small or big they are, will necessarily be passed down to offsprings because they will tend to make those individuals survive. He called this process natural selection to relate it to mans ability to select objects in their lives. Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, had previously described the struggle for life as the â€Å"survival of the fittest,† which Darwin though was also appropriate for the process of evolution that goes on among organisms. Competition is constantly happening between organisms because of the rate of population increase. This leads into a Malthusian struggle that eliminates the nonadaptive individuals from the group (Cuvier et al. , 2003, p. 20). The divergence in the forms of species may result from changes in living conditions. Darwin pointed out that some species may be wiped out because of the immigration of other groups more adapted to the environment where they live in. Man-induced selection practiced by breeders of animals often results in sharp cases of divergence within species, although this is also possible through natural processes (Cuvier et al. , 2003, p. 24). Some experts point out that Darwin anticipated the concept of â€Å"ecological niche† because he suggested that all individuals who survive in the environment were not necessarily higher or better. They just have their own features that made them better adapted to the environment. According to Darwin, natural selection is facilitated by the isolation or seclusion of a population of organisms. Its pace can also quicken if the species is composed of a large population in open areas, since this indicates that there are many variations within the group (Cuvier et al. , 2003, p. 26). Darwin measured and described the divergence in species through a tree diagram with branches that stopped or fell off while extinction happens. New buds also spring from the tree to symbolize new species, leading to Darwin call it the â€Å"tree of life. † Heredity in Darwins Theory of Natural Selection Evolution had already been discussed before Darwins theory was published. Darwin only added substance to the science of evolution by proposing the idea of natural selection as a tool of evolution. Despite the soundness of his theory however, it was still difficult to form a coherent story of the evolution of organisms because there was no acceptable model or standard of heredity to explain natural selection. In fact, Darwin admits that the laws of heredity are still unclear (Endler Endler, 1986, p. 36). Since there was no guiding standard for heredity, Darwin borrowed Lamarck’s idea of acquired characteristics through use and disuse. He believed that when animals regularly use certain parts of their body, those parts become stronger or larger. In contrast, disuse results in certain parts being weaker or decreasing in size. These acquired characteristics are then passed on to newer generations either through domestication or through nature. While use and disuse had some role in evolution, Darwin said that some developments in the characteristics of animals, such as the loss of wings of some insects, might have resulted from natural selection.

Old Man and Sea Essay -- essays research papers

Perserverance, Courage, and Wisdom Used in Everyday Life Throughout a life, people have to overcome obstacle after obstacle to be successful in the world. Humans are thrown challenges day after day, week after week. Everyone must try hard at something to be truly happy in their life. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea, he used the marlin and the sharks as symbols, and gave Santiago certain character attributes to depict the perserverance, courage, and smarts needed to get through the ups and downs that life hands everyone. Santiago had gone 84 days without catching a fish and was about to surpass his previous record of 87 days, when there was a pull on his line. Santiago had finally caught a something. To make it even better, it was a marlin larger than his boat. Hemingway used this marlin to symbolize the struggle for life. Santiago was matched up against his perfect opponent to bring out the best in him. The marlin brought out his strength and courage to fight the fish for 3 days in his old age. Santiago had to overcome the fish to survive, to be a hero is his community and to himself. Towards the end of the story, Santiago told the fish, â€Å"I shouldn’t have gone out so far fish, neither for you nor for me. I’m sorry fish† (110). Santiago was telling himself the experience brought out so much strength and courage in him, but it was hard for him to accept the defeat of the sharks devouring the marlin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One contrast to the marlin...

Honda Environmental Leadership Essay

Honda Motor Co. is the largest motor cycle manufacturer and a leading automaker in the world. With a worldwide network of over 501 subsidiaries, Honda’s diverse portfolio includes small sized general purpose engines to scooters and sports cars. The philosophy of Honda Motor Co. is well entrenched with the Japanese culture of pursuing the ‘triple joys’. The triple joys reflect the joys of buying, selling and creating. The company has been particularly recognized world over for its initiatives in tackling environmental challenges. Although environmental concerns and need for reciprocative action became eminent in the mid 1980s, Honda’s efforts in this direction can be attributed to the 1960s when air pollution was first understood. The environmental leadership at Honda is deeply rooted in the company’s vision to be ‘a company that the society wants to exist’ (Honda Motors, 2010). Today people throughout the world have become conscious of the damages automobiles can do to our environment. Thus we see environment friendly automotive technologies emerging in response to uncovering environmental situation. The concept of Green Motoring has taken shape, which involves using alternative fuels in order to reduce air pollution. Among the efforts automotive manufacturers take to contribute to the environment, is the use of fuels generated from bio alcohols and bio mass. Green motoring is now focused on using hydrogen as a fuel (Green Field H 2008). The vision of the company is indeed too radical, at least with respect to environment protection. Wanting to see itself as an entity that the society doesn’t object, is indeed an unprecedented thought, reflecting its understanding of public thinking. This philosophy also highlights the importance it attaches to public perception of environmental degradation. The company seems to believe that the society will allow it to exist only if it is compliance with its expectations. It is therefore no wonder that Honda had taken a leadership role well ahead of its competitors, proactively. The environmental impact has been fully analyzed, encompassing its manufacturing process, the vehicles manufactured, the support activities like administration, transportation etc. The environment friendly initiatives are reflected in all its subsidiaries throughout the world. Honda seems to have made environmental concern a part of its global strategy. All Honda operations throughout the world, have a significant bearing with respect to environment protection for the countries in which they operate. Discussion Honda seeks to create new value by incorporating innovative ideas that reflect the changing needs. The company is committed to the future, by minimizing its effects on the environment and its intake of earth’s resources. A recent survey by DuPont and the Society of Automotive Industry (SAE) has identified environmental concerns as being the biggest challenge for the industry. According to Chris Murphy DuPont director, environmental considerations are transforming vehicle design and development and have become a differentiator in the marketplace. About 54% of the respondents saw fuel efficient vehicles with reduced environmental impact as being primary to the consumers (Laura 2008). On its part, Honda seeks to address climate change, produced due to higher concentration of CO2, CFC and other greenhouses gases. By introducing hybrid and fuel economizing technologies, CO2 emissions are not only reduced in Honda vehicles, but throughout its entire corporate activity. With regard to depletion of resources, Honda has been developing technologies, solar cell development and energy saving technologies. The company is well set to be ahead of the stipulations expected of it, as a vehicle manufacturer. The ongoing regulations are only expected to get tougher with time, and vehicle manufacturer in particular have to be well prepared to achieve the required standards. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requires cars and SUVs to increase their fuel efficiency by about 4% each year. Thus by 2020, a fuel efficiency of about 35 miles per gallon has to be achieved (Crawley, 2007). The compliance of Honda to environmental concerns is evident from its 1972 development of the CVCC engine in compliance with the US Clean Air Act, which was the world’s toughest emission regulation of the time. The company pursued its development of catalytic converter and other such clean emission technologies in the last four decades resulting in its vehicles emissions being reduced to 1/1000 of its 1970 levels. Honda is currently promoting its Green Factory initiative worldwide, together with energy conservation and waste reduction initiatives in its non-production activities. About 324 subsidiaries including 224 non-manufacturing companies have been covered by this (Honda Motors, 2010). The direct and indirect energy consumption at Honda Motors is shown in Appendix 1, while region wise energy, water consumption and waste are shown in Appendix 2. The genuine efforts in wanting to pass a beautiful natural environment to the future generation is reflected in the company setting up its own independent goals and working towards the same. Some of the notable concepts in Honda environmental aspirations are: Green Vehicle development: Striving towards development of zero emission for all its vehicles, Honda became the first Japanese company to comply with the recent emission regulations. The company developed a special exhaust air injection system and a programmed system for fuel injection which is currently used in its VFR motorcycle. The company’s 50cc Giorno Crea scooter is highly fuel efficient and also environment friendly. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV): Even as early as 1986, Honda had been involved in the development of a hydrogen powered fuel cell electric vehicle, today seen in the form of FCX Clarity FCEV. The car has been the result of two decades of work by Honda’s engineers, in an effort to truly preserve the earth’s environment. The car uses an electric motor and a fuel cell stack and does not emit any CO2. When the fuel cell stack was developed for the first time in 1999, it was too large and bulky. Through continuous research and development the fuel cell stack underwent transformation to become smaller and lighter and yet more powerful (American Honda, 2010). This in turn enabled the vehicle to become elegant and comfortable. The highlights of FCX Clarity FCEV are: †¢ Only water vapor emission †¢ Reduces carbon dioxide emissions significantly †¢ Certified as a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) Green Dealer: The Green dealer concept streamlines and enables efficient use of water, electricity and paper through continuous assessments and improvements of existing systems. The concept is directed at conservation of the environment and keeping the polluting activities to a minimum (HMSI, 2007). Creating an awareness of environment among the employees and the general public is also a part of this scheme. Goal setting: Honda’s efforts towards environmental preservation are reflected through individually defined targets. In 2006 it set emission reduction goals for CO2 emission, to be reached by 2010. In 2007 the company set targets for reducing environmental impact, also intended to be achieved by 2010. The company is on track to reach targets. The future is only getting tougher for the vehicle manufacturers, though Honda is firmly set to meet the required goals. While setting environmental goals for itself, across global operations, Honda has been too detailed in its approach. The company approached the environment problem from several perspectives. As part of its global environmental policy, Honda sets specific goals with regard to its Life Cycle Assessment System, by which the environmental impact is measured and analyzed. Apart from monitoring and reducing its emissions, it also studied and monitored the impact on environment due to its emissions. The company through its suppliers and partners, thus sought solutions through innovations and technologies, to look for ways to be in harmony with nature. Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM) was among the first auto manufacturers to receive the ISO 14001 certification. HCM today recycles about 99% of its production waste and is working towards 100% recycling (Cambridge Center Honda, 2010). The company is credited with bringing the first Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) to Canada. In 2003 when it started production of the Civic GX, the car was rated by the EPA as having the cleanest IC engine in the world. In 2002 March, Honda introduced the Honda life cycle assessment system (LCA) to estimate the environmental impact of its products. CO2 is one of the main elements that are monitored through this assessment of products, from manufacturing to disposal. Corresponding to the levels detected, targets are set for all domains including production, sales and service, and administration, with initiatives implemented to achieve targets. In 2007 Honda introduced the product life cycle assessment system (LCA) which revolves on the CO2 emissions from a single vehicle through its lifetime. The calculations revealed that 78% of CO2 emissions are associated with product use and 6% during its emission. The company can now assess CO2 emissions more accurately, for every aspect of the vehicle’s life, thus contributing to reduction efforts. The CO2 targeted reductions are thus directed at 80% of the total emissions, with regard to LCA. Conclusion and recommendations All sectors of global economy are increasingly coming under environmental regulations to ensure that all business practices, no longer continue with disregard to the environment. The vehicle manufacturers are among the earliest to receive such stipulations as vehicles are a major contributor to pollution. These manufacturers are faced with a challenge of optimizing lean manufacturing and environment conservation. While the two aspects of manufacturing are important, the approaches to both are different, and have a huge bearing on the organization’s success. Honda is indeed an automaker with a vision for a sustained future, as evident from its setting up environment based goals and policies, proactively. The waste reduction culture at Honda indeed has obvious benefits for the environment (Maxwell, 1998). There are several societies and organizations that make up this world of ours. The culture and priorities of these are widely varied. Not all their approaches and intentions are the same. This reflects their attitude towards environment too. Although we share the same environment, there is no guarantee that competitors would be equally concerned of the environment. When some organizations take immense pain and effort to protect the environment, investing immensely in it, their competitors can easily make profits by avoiding or manipulating these. Environmental protection requires fundamentally an understanding, a concern of one’s actions on the environment. Honda has set an exceptional example by understanding its actions on the environment, and taking cautious and big steps towards ensuring a sustainable environment. The environment is a common habitat for all, whether one indulges in pollution or not. Organizations should follow the footsteps of Honda with a sense of same involvement and dedication, for only then we can give a future to the following generations.

Essay On The Yellow Wallpaper - 1400 Words

The Yellow Wallpaper, a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and published in 1892 is both haunting psychological story and a feminist masterpiece Gilman women’s rights activist writer wife and mother lived during a time when she felt women were kept in a position that prevented them from existing beyond the sphere of their home effectively hindering any kind of intellectual or creative growth marriage as a result of a sticky situation family life. Gilman felt that he could never really satisfy everyone in the family and things needed to change women needed to have the opportunity to work, to grow, and to make connections outside of the home while Gilman wrote many essays concerning concepts of social reform and progressive†¦show more content†¦The female narrator who remains nameless in the stew and her husband John have come to vacation in a large house for the summer after the birth of their daughter. It seems as though John believes this would be good f or the narrator as she’s been suffering from hysterical behaviors postpartum which led to her rest cure treatments until she improves. John feels it is the best room for her during this time is an upstairs room believed to be a former nursery one with bars on the windows scratches on the floors and busy yellow wallpaper. The narrator reveals that she does not agree with John who also happens to be to be a doctor. He has told her that should not write anything which she loves to do and an improvement will come by sticking to a strict regimen of doing almost nothing. She disagrees and feels that distraction would be best for her so she continues to write hiding her journal her entries consist of descriptions of the house imagining of things going on nearby. Elevation of the narrator’s true feelings for her husband’s ideas (which feel oppressive), she does come back to a description of her room and specifically the wallpaper, More often she finds it ugly and then a bit scary. She imagines designs in it and tries to figure out its pattern. She believes she sees a small pattern behind behind a large one. A woman stooping in front of bars at this point our narrator is fixated our narrator’s descent into madness is clear herShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay1041 Words   |  5 PagesLike Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a backbone of the feminism study. The story was first published in 1892 and it is in the form of a secret journal entries recorded by a woman who is supposed to be recovering from what her husband, a physician refers to as a ‘nervous condition’. This persistent psychological horror of the woman in the story chronicles the narrator’s descent into madness or paranormal but an analysis of the story revealsRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Essay1260 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,à ¢â‚¬  written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the idea of â€Å"true womanhood† is challenged. The white woman portrayed in the story is prescribed what is known as the â€Å"rest cure† due to the overwhelming pressure of being the perfect woman, wife, and mother. Driven mad by the smothering of her husband and her inability to do anything for herself, the woman in this story goes crazy attempting to free herself from the constraints. In stark contrast to the woman in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† SojournerRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Essay1851 Words   |  8 Pagesthe story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Gilman a woman and her husband move into a large secluded house. The husband, being an intelligent physician, informs his wife that this would be the best cure for her illness. The wife wanting to please her husband does as he says. She becomes fascinated and oddly obsessed with the wallpaper in the bedroom. This fascination causes her to become even more i nsane then she was in the beginning. Charlotte Gilman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper and other worksRead MoreYellow Wallpaper Essay999 Words   |  4 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper† Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Full name Charlotte Anna Perkins Stetson Gilman) American short story writer, essayist, novelist, and autobiographer. The following entry presents criticism of Gilman s short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† (1892). The short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† by nineteenth-century feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was first published in 1892 in New England Magazine. Gilman s story, based upon her own experience with a â€Å"rest cure† for mental illness, wasRead MoreEssay On The Yellow Wallpaper1601 Words   |  7 PagesShannon McCann Literature I Dr. Rizzo 18 Sep 2017 â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper† In the book â€Å"The Art of The Short Story† the story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman stood out. Through the earlier period of the twentieth century, there were gender roles taken place in this specific time period. As history has it, men, were more dominant than women in premature time periods. Women faced everyday being treated as if they were inferior individuals, that had limited rights and lack of ineffectualnessRead MoreEssay On The Yellow Wallpaper916 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† the narrator becomes increasing mad throughout the short story. The narrator has a â€Å"nervous condition† (151) after the birth of her child; under recommendations by her husband and her brother, who are both physicians, her treatment was a Rest Cure which is that narrator cannot nothing anything but lay down and only have two hours of intellectual work a day. The â€Å"dreadful† yellow wallpaper that the narrator com es to hate is, of course, a symbol in the story. The yellow wallpaperRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Short Story Essay810 Words   |  4 Pages27th, 2017 Short Story Essay â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a 6,000 word short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This story first appeared in The New England Magazine in January 1892 and became a classic in the realm of gothic literature. Although this story does provide information regarding feminism, the ghostly horror prevails itself throughout this story. Gilman’s story depicts elements that definitely link it to the Gothic genre. Not only does â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† contain haunting featuresRead MoreA Comparative Essay Yellow Wallpaper And Room19 Essay778 Words   |  4 PagesA Comparative Essay on the Protagonists Isolation in â€Å"Yellow Wallpaper† and â€Å"Room19† In To Room 19 by Doris Lessing and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonists, Susan Rawlings and The Yellow Wallpaper’s narrator become increasingly isolated. What are the causes of this isolation? How did Susan and the narrator cope with their crisis, and what is the ultimate outcome of their isolation? In To Room 19, Susan Rawlings becomes emotionally and physically isolated from her familyRead MoreYellow Wallpaper Feminism Essay1435 Words   |  6 Pagesyellow wallpaper The restrictions on the women movement in the world and the movement of women easily facilitates the mobility of men. Equality requires women to live in a society with no legislation on their bodies and to be able to live free of the sword and threat of sexual violence. It is not just the feminism of gender, it is also about racial and ethnic equality, equal capacity, gender, spirituality, class, and all the signs that define one of us. As we see the feminist novel deals notRead More Essay on The Yellow Wallpaper: Imprisoned785 Words   |  4 PagesImprisoned in  The Yellow Wallpaper    As man developed more complex social systems, society placed more emphasis of childbearing. Over time, motherhood was raised to the status of â€Å"saintly†. This was certainly true in western cultures during the late 19th/early 20th century.   Charlotte Perkins Gilman did not agree with the image of motherhood that society proposed to its members at the time. â€Å"Arguably ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ reveals women’s frustration in a culture that seemingly glorifies motherhood