I have noted before (Evolution and timelines) that any history can be represented as a timeline, but a timeline diagram does not necessarily show an evolutionary history. Unfortunately, this does not stop people from putting the word "evolution" on their timeline diagrams.
One ambitious example is The Evolution of the Web. Two images are shown below, which illustrate some of the transformational history of web browsers and technology, depicted as complex timelines. This represents complex transformational evolution (see The evolutionary March of Progress in popular culture), rather than variational evolution.
The full majesty, and complexity, of the timline can be seen at the interactive version linked above.
No comments:
Post a Comment