February 9, 2010
Category: Anti-Creationism
Writing in the religious journal First Things University of Delaware physics professor Stephen Barr lays into the ID Movement. Here's the first paragraph:
It is time to take stock: What has the intelligent design movement achieved? As science, nothing. The goal of science is to increase our understanding of the natural world, and there is not a single phenomenon that we understand better today or are likely to understand better in the future through the efforts of ID theorists. If we are to look for ID achievements, then, it must be in the realm of natural theology. And there, I think, the movement must be judged not only a failure, but a debacle.
Preach it, brother!
Sadly, much of what comes after this most excellent opening is not very persuasive. Let us take a more detailed look:
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:03 PM • 27 Comments
February 8, 2010
Category: Religion
I am currently reading the book Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America by Jeffery Sheler, published in 2006. There is a chapter about Wheaton College in Illinois, which is generally considered one of the best, if not the best, evangelical college in the nation. Sheler recounts part of a conversation he had with Dorothy Chappell, dean of natural and social sciences.
“Our students are recognized as among the best,” she said. “That must say something about our program. We don't teach Christian science here. We teach science, period. It's the same science as the University of Illinois teaches, or the University of Chicago.”
Sounds good, but things soon start getting weird.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 12:21 AM • 35 Comments
February 4, 2010
Category: Religion • Science
In a couple of recent posts I have mentioned the book Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion edited by Ronald Numbers. Since I have now finished reading it, I figure it is time for a proper review.
Short review: Mixed. As a compendium of interesting facts about the history of science and religion the book works rather well. The myth/reality format, however, is not always successful.
Longer review below the fold.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:15 PM • 19 Comments
February 1, 2010
Category: Evolution • Religion
Blogging will continue to be sporadic for a while, sorry about that. But having dragged myself down to Washington D.C. last weekend to see the new movie Creation, I figured I should at least get a blog post out of it.
Short review: Excellent! Completely engrossing, and historically accurate on the important things.
Longer review, and minor spoilers, below the fold.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:45 PM • 18 Comments
January 22, 2010
Category: Religion • Science
Here's a quote from the book Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion:
In Augustine's influential view, then, knowledge of the things of this world is not a legitimate end in itself, but as a means to other ends it is indispensable. The classical sciences must accept a subordinate position as the handmaiden of theology and religion -- the temporal serving the eternal. The knowledge contained in classical sciences is not to be loved, but it may legitimately be used. This attitude toward scientific knowledge cam to prevail throughout the Middle Ages and survived well into the modern period. Augustine's handmaiden science was defended explicitly and at great length, for example, by Roger Bacon in the thirteenth century, whose defense of useful knowledge contributed to notoriety as one of the founders of experimental science.
That's historian David Lindberg. For the record, the “myth” he was addressing was, “That the Rise of Christianity was Responsible for the Demise of Ancient Science.” But that's not really what interests me about this.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:52 PM • 45 Comments
Category: Politics
Well, this is just great:
The White House Correspondents Association has picked Jay Leno -- also known as this week's most publicly unpopular stand-up comic -- to headline the White House Correspondents Dinner in May.
An NBC rep confirmed the invitation to The TV Column.
To be clear, the association asked Leno weeks ago -- when he was simply the host of a prime-time show that was failing five nights a week. But when he appears at the annual Washington bash -- which over the past few years has become a Hollywood petting zoo -- Leno will be the guy who pushed aside Conan O'Brien to become the newly returned host of NBC's “Tonight” show. He has also been the butt of pretty much every other late-night talk-show host's jokes for the past couple of weeks.
Splendid visual, don't you think? President Obama sharing a stage with the comedic embodiment of big corporations screwing the little guy. (Yes, in this context Conan O'Brien is the little guy, forty million dollar severance package or not.)
Of course, the WHCD is an obscenity to begin with. If you are not familiar with it you should be picturing the final scene of Animal Farm, the one where the other animals can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. The picture of supposed journalists yukking it up with the politicians they are supposed to be covering is not very pleasant.
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:02 PM • 7 Comments
January 21, 2010
Category: Politics
I thought Rachel Maddow had a very smart take on the fallout from the Massachusetts Senate race. I've placed a lengthy excerpt below the fold.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:43 PM • 28 Comments
January 20, 2010
Category: Religion
Just in case you were thinking that religious institutions have not always bathed themselves in glory in their relations with science, here's Ronald Numbers to set you straight:
Historians of science have known for years that White's and Draper's accounts are more propaganda than history. ... Yet the message has rarely escaped the ivory tower. The secular public, if it thinks about such issues at all, knows that organized religion has always opposed scientific progress (witness the attacks on Galileo, Darwin, and Scopes). The religious public knows that science has taken the leading role in corroding faith (through naturalism and antibiblicism) . As a first step toward correcting these misconceptions we must dispel the hoary myths that continue to pass as historical truths. No scientist, to our knowledge, ever lost his life because of his scientific views, though, ... the Italian Inquisition did incinerate the sixteenth century Copernican Giordano Bruno for his heretical theological notions. (Emphasis in original)
That's from the introduction to his recent edited anthology, Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion.
Read on »
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:38 PM • 79 Comments
Category: Politics
Here's a prominent Democratic congressman commenting on the effect of the Massachusetts Senate race on health care reform:
I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results.
If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate healthcare bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate.
I am hopeful that some Republican senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of healthcare reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the healthcare status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a healthcare bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened.
Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the healthcare bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of this process.
Some Blue Dog pseudo-Democrat? No. That was Barney Frank, one of my heroes in the Congress.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:46 PM • 23 Comments
January 18, 2010
Category: Mathematics
After a lengthy trip that involved not just planes and trains, but automobiles as well, I made it back from San Francisco in one piece. Yay! The conference was a big success, both mathematically and socially. Saw lots of old friends, which is, after all, the point of the conference, and also hopefully made some new ones.
As the sign says, this was the 2010 Joint Mathematics Meetings. The “Joint” refers to the joint sponsorship between the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. No Monty Python jokes, please. Roughly speaking, the AMS deals with the research side of the profession, while the MAA does the educational side.
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Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:28 PM • 4 Comments
