[ClearCase_guy]

current text-books teach that Britain - once a peninsula of continental Europe - split from the great land mass after a long process of erosion and rises in sea levels.

Current textbooks are often wrong in these details. The Theory of Evolution used to depend on small changes over many millions of years. But, when evidence of rapid change was found, the concept of puncturated equilibrium was introduced. A lot of stuff that appeared to require "a long process" now appears to have happened quite quickly indeed.

[Kirkwood]

"A lot of stuff that appeared to require "a long process" now appears to have happened quite quickly indeed."

Some stuff. I wouldn't say a lot.

[thomaswest]

"quite quickly" is a very fuzzy-minded term. The age of the earth is vastly longer than a human life-span. Humans only developed during the last 2.5 million years. Human language--speech--developed perhaps 250,000 years ago (informed estimates range from 100,000 to 500,000 years ago.

Before speech involving words and primitive grammar, there was posture, arm language, facial expressions, as means of communication.

The {poof} notion of geology and biology is long ago discredited.

[RobbyS]

Gradualism took such a strong hold in Darwin because it was so congruent with Whig political history. If the theory of evolution still stands in 100 years, it probably will be as different from Darwin's as Ptolemy's view of the cosmos is from that of the Hubble telescope.

[stands2reason]

After major changes to the enviroment, evolution happens much faster, because most of the flora and fauna of the region have been wiped out.