Letters, Dec. 25, 1995

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WHEN LIFE EXPLODED

"This report should end discussions about whether God created the earth. Now there is no way to deny the theory of evolution." MARTIN WOLF Karlsdorf, Germany

YOUR ARTICLE WAS A REFRESHING LOOK at the new discoveries related to evolution [COVER STORY, Dec. 4]. Darwin's theory is regarded by many as the best explanation of the evolution of life on this planet and is not questioned by most people. Biology classes teach Darwinian theory as one that is basically accepted by scientists. I was surprised and excited to see the idea of sudden bursts of evolution brought into public discussion. These are legitimate possibilities, presented by the explosion of biological diversity, that do not fit nicely into Darwin's theory. I had studied them in my biology class but found it frustrating that many others were not familiar with them. This report was a bold move. KEVIN SMITH Aurora, Illinois

I AM NOT A ZEALOT ON ANY SIDE OF THE origin-of-species debate, but when I read the headline "Evolution's Big Bang," I got excited. It implied that a group of scientists has somehow figured everything out and that the Big Bang is no longer a theory but fact. But actually this concept of evolving life should still only be referred to as a theory, because it cannot be scientifically proved. DOUG WEST Lebanon, Oregon Via E-mail

IT REALLY TAKES A WRITER WITH IMAGInation to be able to describe the blow to the current theories of evolution as crossing "a critical threshold." All the phyla of Earth "appear" so suddenly that this is called an "explosion." Darwin himself would have been blown away. But Canadian paleontologist Guy Narbonne absorbs this gigantic problem by saying, "...there also seems to be a non-Darwinian kind of evolution that functions over extremely short time periods--and that's where all the action is." TIME's nonscientific speculation is the height of gullibility. You tell us that after the Cambrian explosion, everything else was a piece of cake. Even the human brain might be just the result of elaborate tinkering with details. Could some human brains be tinkering with details to try to prop up entrenched dogmas that are being severely undermined by marvelous discoveries like this one? JULIA HENDRICKSON Calistoga, California

IF STEVEN JAY GOULD'S BOOK WONDERful Life, which described the strangeness of early fossils, was fascinating, your update of new scientific findings is more so. It not only adds pieces to this intriguing puzzle but also goes one step further: making an analogy between the events of the Cambrian explosion and the characteristics of a chaotic system. In so doing, you raise a disturbing question: Might not theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman's idea of the intrinsic instability of the evolving system be greatest when the gradient of change is at its steepest? If so, is the closing paragraph of your report pointing out the precariousness of human existence in the face of the current technological ''big bang''? CHARLES F. (''CHICK'') KELLER Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos, New Mexico Via E-mail

A MORE APPROPRIATE TITLE FOR YOUR article could have been "Evolution's Big Bust." One hundred and thirty five years of Darwinism out the window just like that? What a poor excuse for the absence of transitional forms. The Book of Genesis is looking better all the time. MIKE CHRISTIAN Tallmadge, Ohio