Commentary on the Endless Dispute Between Evolution and Creationism
Jason Rosenhouse received his PhD in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 2000. He subsequently spent three years as a post-doc at Kansas State University. Observing the machinations of the Kansas Board of Education led to his unhealthy obsession with issues related to evolution and creationism. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, VA.
June 29, 2006
Category: Administrative
The annual chess extravaganza known as The World Open will be taking place in Philadelphia this weekend. I will be participating, of course. That means I will be out of town for the next week or so. Regular blogging will...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:20 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Administrative
A few people have sent me e-mail to tell me that certain comments, rather than being posted immediately as they should be, are getting placed in a queue waiting for my approval. I now make it part of my daily...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:10 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 28, 2006
Category: Anti-Creationism
Shortly after finishing Monday's post, I discovered that the new issue of the Reports of the National Center for Science Education had turned up in my mailbox. It contained the following item: Arthur Shapiro is a professor in the Department...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:48 PM • 24 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 27, 2006
Category: Politics
The latest attempt to pass a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to pass laws against flag “desecration” failed by one vote in the Senate. It had already passed the House. Had it passed the Senate, it would surely have gotten the...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:52 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
My new essay for CSICOP's Creation and Intelligent Design Watch site is now available. This time: My take on the old tautology argument, inspired by Ann Coulter and Tom Bethell. I argue - surprise! - that natural selection is not...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:10 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 26, 2006
Category: Anti-Creationism
An interview with historian of science Ronald Numbers has been posted. It has already attracted some blog attention. P. Z. Myers rightly criticizes Numbers for some rather bizarre statements about the relationship between science and religion. Over at Telic Thoughts,...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:04 PM • 156 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 23, 2006
Category: Ask a Science Blogger
The latest Ask a Science Blogger Question is: What makes a good science teacher? My fellow SB'ers have already unloaded a wealth of good answers. In one of his essays for Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, Isaac Asimov relates the...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:29 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 22, 2006
Category: Mathematics
Polymathematics has posted another excellent essay on the subject of whether .9999...repeating equals one. This time he is responding, very effectively, to various counter arguments raised by commenters. One small comment of my own, though: The name of the blog...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:32 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 21, 2006
Category: Miscellaneous
I rented The Aristocrats the other day. This was the documentary (for lack of a better description) by Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette in which numerous comedians and comedy writers were asked about a particular joke, called “The Aristocrats.” As...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:35 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Paul Gross has written this useful review of John Brockman's recent anti-ID anthology Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement. I intend to do some posts relating to specific essays in the book, but Gross' overall assessment is the...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:18 PM • 2 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
June 20, 2006
Category: Mathematics
There's an interesting blog discussion going on about the age-old question of whether .99999..., where the nines go on forever, is actually equal to one. The answer is: Yes, it does, and if you think it does not then you...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:50 PM • 20 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
As a counterpoint to yesterday's post about Ann Coulter's place within modern conservatism, check out this post from the blog Conservatives Against Intelligent Design. (Hat tip to Gene Expression for the link. It's nice to see that at least some...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:55 PM • 5 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
June 19, 2006
Category: Politics
If you're wondering why only a small handful of prominent conservatives and Republicans have publicly criticized Ann Coulter, the answer is simple: Most of them agree with her, and the ones who don't are still happy to have her on...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:07 PM • 32 Comments • 11 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
The detailed responses to Ann Coulter's silliness about evolution are now coming in. P.Z Myers illustrates the insanity of claiming that there is no evidence for evolution. See also this post for further examples of Coulterian insanity. Over at the...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:12 PM • 9 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
June 17, 2006
Category: Chess
With all the other things going on, I never got around to acknowledging the fine performance by the United States team at the recently completed chess olympiad in Turin, Italy. Armenia took the gold medal, while China took silver. That...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:14 PM • 8 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: Ask a Science Blogger
Here's the latest question from HQ: How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically? Good question. I often...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:09 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 16, 2006
Category: Anti-Creationism
My old sparring partner Salvador Cordova recently posted this essay over at Uncommon Descent. Salvador describes his intent as follows: Intelligent design will open doors to scientific exploration which Darwinism is too blind to perceive. The ID perspective allows us...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:49 PM • 44 Comments • 38 TrackBacks
June 15, 2006
Category: Evolution
MSNBC is reporting the discovery of yet another transitional form, this time linking ancient and modern birds: Dozens of fossils of an ancient loonlike creature that some say is the missing link in bird evolution have been discovered in northwest...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:02 PM • 8 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: Religion
The current issue of The New York Review of Books features this article by physicist Freeman Dyson. The subject is Daniel Dennett's recent book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Dyson begins as follows: Breaking the spell of...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:23 PM • 10 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
June 14, 2006
Category: Evolution in Pop Culture
P. Z. Myers says all the right things on the subject of replying to Ann Coulter. She's loathsome, dishonest and ignorant. But we can't simply pretend she doesn't exist. I haven't managed to get a copy of her book yet,...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:47 PM • 7 Comments • 2 TrackBacks
Category: Chess
While I was away I managed to find time to play in the U.S. Amateur East chess tournament. You can find the full details here. I managed 4 points out of 6, which was good enough to pick up some...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:05 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 13, 2006
Category: Ask a Science Blogger
The latest Ask a Science Blogger question is: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why? I had to smile a bit when...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:27 PM • 3 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: Administrative
Well, let's just roll up the old sleeves, sit down at the computer, see what's up in the blogosphere. Start with Science Blogs, of course. Ah, yes, there's the link over on the left. Just give it a little click...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:16 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 8, 2006
Category: Administrative
I've been travelling for the last two weeks, which explains the lack of blogging. I had intended to try to keep up with things while I was out of town, but that has proven more difficultthan I had intended. Sorry...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:33 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 1, 2006
I recently received an e-mail Ken Parejko, a biology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Stout. He described his experiences in taking the PRAXIS II Content Exam in science. He points out that the exam is overwhelmingly based on...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:17 PM • 13 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
