"Joseph Delaney - Brainchild" - читать интересную книгу автора (Delaney Joseph)

didn't, we'd all walk slightly stooped."
"Go on, Doctor. What other differences are there?"
"Those are the big ones. Aside from that I can't think of any that are
really that remarkable. He still has the prehensile feet, for instance, with
the opposible great toes. Possibly his face is a little less
prognathousтАФsnoutlikeтАФand he doesn't seem to have the massive brow
ridges the others have. We don't know how long that will last, though,
since he's far from mature, and this is a characteristic of the adult
chimp."
"So these are the physical dissimilarities, right?"
"Yes."
"Would you not agree that although they might represent
dissimilarities between Adam and the apes, they appear to also represent
similarities between Adam and a human being, such as you and I?"
"Well, they do give him a resemblance. I can't tell about myself, but yes,
I guess he does look something like you." He patted his bald head.
There was laughter. Even the judge had to hide a snicker. Ruth looked
at the jury, hoping they wouldn't characterize Blatchley as a wise guy
because of this. But they appeared to be staying awake and enjoying the
entertainment. Blatchley's face retained its open, friendly look, and that
touch of the angelic some older men have. He waited patiently for Monte's
next question and Monte was striving mightily to maintain composure.
"Tell us about neoteny, Doctor."
So, thought Ruth. Monte's been hitting the books, or else he's got his
own expert socked away somewhere, priming him. She herself had only
heard the term a couple of days ago.
"Neoteny is a term we use to describe arrested fetal development,"
Blatchley answered.
"How is it significant to the subject of Dr. Schoonover's work?"
"The presence of the effect in Adam was confirmation that Dr.
Schoonover was on the right track with his experiment."
"Does the effect have physical characteristics?"
"Yes, several."
"What are they?"
"I would say that the most notable is the lack of body hair, which I
already mentioned. Then there's a prolonged infancy, delayed sexual
development, and generally a longer life span with dramatically increased
intelligence. That's what we expect, anyhow."
"Isn't it a fact. Dr. Blatchley, that this effect is best known as a human
characteristic?"
"Yes, it is."
 "Would you explain to the jury what that means?"
Blatchley cleared his throat and turned slightly to his left. "Well, I'll try.
The arrested fetal development I just mentioned prevents man from going
into the last stage of his biological physical development. He stops just
before that happens, and you might say that birth, whenever it occurs, is
premature. He is unfinished. He emerges unprepared for life on his own,
has a protracted and helpless infancy, a long childhood, and
physiologically speaking, a lifelong adolescence. Somehow, this is related
to intelligence. We don't know all the reasons, but we believe it involves