Moments in science

"British astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington photographed the 1919 solar eclipse to prove Einstein's theory of general relativity by demonstrating that the sun's gravity could pull and bend light"--Provided by publisher.

In 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids, including the Madagascar star orchid. It had an 11.5 inch nectary, the place where flowers make the nectar that insects and birds eat. He determined that the only way this flower was pollinated was by a giant moth with an 11.5 inch proboscis. A moth with a long proboscis was cataloged on Madagascar in 1903, but it took almost ninety years to prove Darwin's theory. Includes information on the Madagascar hawk moth, the Madagascar star orchid, and pollination.

"How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem? On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5" nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid? It took 130 years to find the answer. After experiments, he made a prediction. There must be a giant moth with a 11.5" proboscis, a straw-like tongue. Darwin died without ever seeing the moth, which was catalogued by entomologists in 1903. But still no one had actually observed the moth pollinating the orchid. In 1992, German entomologist, Lutz Thilo Wasserthal, Ph.D. traveled to Madagascar. By then, the moths were rare. He managed to capture two moths and released them in a cage with the orchid. He captured the first photo of the moth pollinating the flower, as Darwin had predicted 130 years before"--Provided by the publisher.