Applied evolutionary thinking: Darwin meets Washington
Charles Darwin, perhaps one of the greatest scholars of all time, thought about his theory of mutation, inheritance, and selection of biological traits for more than 20 years, and finally published it as a book in 1859. At that time, many animal breeders must have said something like this: “So what? We knew this already.” In fact George Washington, who died in 1799 (many years before Darwin ’s famous book came out), had tried his hand at what today would be called “genetic engineering.” He produced at least a few notable breeds of domestic animals through selective breeding. Those include a breed of giant mules – the “Mammoth Jackstock” breed. Those mules are so big and strong that they were used to pull large boats filled with coal along artificial canals in Pennsylvania . Washington learned the basic principles of animal breeding from others, who learned it from others, and so on. Animal breeding has a long tradition. So, not only did animal breeders, like George Washington, ha...