What is the relationship between observation and explanation?

from almost the creation of the first true maps of the earth, people started seeing how continents would be able to fit together.   in particular, people noticed that south america fits almost exactly into africa.

you should be aware that while world maps were around early in the 1600’s and better defined by the end of the 1700’s, those maps were not ‘public’ but were treated as state secrets.   and so it was not till much later that the broader ‘science’ community had access to good quality and accurate world maps.

get the whole story here…

it is now known that most of the major continental masses can be fit together in a jigsaw process.   in fact we now know that the continents were indeed once all joined together as one land mass – the supercontinent of pangaea.

if you look at most world maps you will ponder how this is evidence, as the continents really don’t appear to ‘fit’ together very well.   what you need to understand is that the vast majority of maps are drawn using a map projection that has the north and south poles (which are points) are a line the width of the map at the top and bottom.   this means that the map distorts the true shape of the earth’s land and oceans as you love closer to the poles.     some other map projections distort less, but have the map shape looking like segments of an orange.   see here for a range of map projections.   check out the way greenland changes size in each!

what is more remarkable, is the next piece of evidence when added to the shape of continents.

location of mountains and fossils

what is remarkable, when you reassemble all the continents together, the ancient mountain ranges (many now eroded to their cores) and the location of rock types and fossils all match up.

synovial joints are characterized by the presence of a joint cavity. the walls of this space are formed by the articular capsule, a fibrous connective tissue structure that is attached to each bone just outside the area of the bone’s articulating surface. the bones of the joint articulate with each other within the joint cavity.

friction between the bones at a synovial joint is prevented by the presence of the articular cartilage, a thin layer of hyaline cartilage that covers the entire articulating surface of each bone. however, unlike at a cartilaginous joint, the articular cartilages of each bone are not continuous with each other. instead, the articular cartilage acts like a teflon® coating over the bone surface, allowing the articulating bones to move smoothly against each other without damaging the underlying bone tissue. lining the inner surface of the articular capsule is a thin synovial membrane. the cells of this membrane secrete synovial fluid (synovia = “a thick fluid”), a thick, slimy fluid that provides lubrication to further reduce friction between the bones of the joint. this fluid also provides nourishment to the articular cartilage, which does not contain blood vessels. the ability of the bones to move smoothly against each other within the joint cavity, and the freedom of joint movement this provides, means that each synovial joint is functionally classified as a diarthrosis.

outside of their articulating surfaces, the bones are connected together by ligaments, which are strong bands of fibrous connective tissue. these strengthen and support the joint by anchoring the bones together and preventing their separation. ligaments allow for normal movements at a joint, but limit the range of these motions, thus preventing excessive or abnormal joint movements. ligaments are classified based on their relationship to the fibrous articular capsule. an extrinsic ligament is located outside of the articular capsule, an intrinsic ligament is fused to or incorporated into the wall of the articular capsule, and an intracapsular ligament is located inside of the articular capsule.

at many synovial joints, additional support is provided by the muscles and their tendons that act across the joint. a tendon is the dense connective tissue structure that attaches a muscle to bone. as forces acting on a joint increase, the body will automatically increase the overall strength of contraction of the muscles crossing that joint, thus allowing the muscle and its tendon to serve as a “dynamic ligament” to resist forces and support the joint. this type of indirect support by muscles is very important at the shoulder joint, for example, where the ligaments are relatively weak.

additional structures associated with synovial joints

a few synovial joints of the body have a fibrocartilage structure located between the articulating bones. this is called an articular disc, which is generally small and oval-shaped, or a meniscus, which is larger and c-shaped. these structures can serve several functions, depending on the specific joint. in some places, an articular disc may act to strongly unite the bones of the joint to each other. examples of this include the articular discs found at the sternoclavicular joint or between the distal ends of the radius and ulna bones. at other synovial joints, the disc can provide shock absorption and cushioning between the bones, which is the function of each meniscus within the knee joint. finally, an articular disc can serve to smooth the movements between the articulating bones, as seen at the temporomandibular joint. some synovial joints also have a fat pad, which can serve as a cushion between the bones.