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EvolutionBlog

Commentary on the Endless Dispute Between Evolution and Creationism

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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.

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October 31, 2006

Robinson on Dawkins

Category: Religion

Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Marilynne Robinson wrote this lengthy review of The God Delusion for Harpers Magazine. She was unimpressed. The review weighs in at 4599 words, but you'll find yourself almost a thousand words in before hitting anything substantive...

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October 30, 2006

Krauss on Dawkins

Category: Religion

Physicist Lawrence Krauss wrote Nature's review of The God Delusion. The review itself is mixed: strong praise for parts of the book, exasperated criticism for others. But the following two paragraphs are what caught my eye: Dawkins the preacher is...

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Dawkins Week at EvolutionBlog!

Category: Religion

The reviews of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion are coming in, and they are mostly negative. That was predictable. Everyone knows, after all, that Dawkins is just one of those fanatical, frothing at the mouth atheists, who doesn't understand that...

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October 27, 2006

Kinsley on Foley

Category: Politics

My cute little house looked a lot better before my meager possessions were strewn aimlessly across every flat surface. It didn't help that this was an unusually busy week at work. I did, however, manage to catch this spot-on essay...

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October 23, 2006

Moving Day and a Math Conference

Category: Administrative

There's a big pile of bloggable items sitting on my desk, but they will have to wait. I will be moving in to my new house tomorrow! Very exciting. We are also hosting an undergraduate mathematics research conference here at...

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Cline vs. Woit

Category: Science

As an amusing follow-up to Friday's post, have a look at this lengthy op-ed from McGill University physicist Jim Cline, in The Ottawa Citizen. Here's an excerpt: Why is it that string theory has become such a favoured paradigm? Have...

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October 20, 2006

Greene on String Theory

Category: Science

As several other SB'ers have already noted, physicist Brian Greene offers this defense of string theory in today's New York Times. He concludes: I have worked on string theory for more than 20 years because I believe it provides the...

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October 19, 2006

Navier-Stokes Still Open

Category: Mathematics

On October 2, Nature published this news brief about a claim of a solution to the Navier-Stokes equations: A buzz is building that one of mathematics' greatest unsolved problems may have fallen. Blogs and online discussion groups are spreading news...

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Confidence and Math Ability Inversely Related

Category: Mathematics

An amusing item from CNN: Kids who are turned off by math often say they don't enjoy it, they aren't good at it and they see little point in it. Who knew that could be a formula for success? The...

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October 18, 2006

The Legion of Doom

Category: Politics

Check out this photograph. It's Bush meeting with a truly odious collection of sycophants and lickspittles: Sean Hannity, Michael Medved, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, and Michael Gallagher. Gallagher is the only one of the bunch with whom I'm unfamiliar, but...

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Kuo on Hardball

Category: Politics

David Kuo, author of the new book Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, appeared on the MSNBC show Hardball last night. It was a strange interview. I've not yet read Kuo's book, but his main point seems to...

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This is Addicitive...

Category: Chess

Just move the little horsey to all of the unpainted squares. But don't be too impressed if you clear the early levels with little difficulty. It gets hard in a hurry. So far I haven't managed to get past level...

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October 17, 2006

Dembski on Groupthink

Category: Anti-Creationism

It's a been a while since I checked in with Dembski and Co. over at Uncommon Descent. But this entry caught my eye. In it, Dembski reproduces eight criteria indicative of groupthink. He writes, “Read the following and ask yourself...

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October 16, 2006

Evolution vs. Lit Crit. (Part Two)

Category: Evolution

We continue now with our discussion of Brian Boyd's article, “Getting it All Wrong,” from the Autumn 2006 issue of The American Scholar. Click here for Part One. We have already seen Boyd's characterization of modern literary criticism as resting...

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October 13, 2006

House!

Category: Miscellaneous

In other news, I closed on my first house today. Very cool!...

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Kramnik is the Champ!

Category: Chess

Vladimir Kramnik won the four game, rapid chess, tie-break match this morning. It was a real nail-biter of an event! Game one was a blunder-filled draw. Kramnik won game two in his usual style, grinding Topalov down in a difficult,...

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October 12, 2006

Game Twelve Drawn

Category: Chess

Well, regulation play has run out in the big chess match. Game Twelve was another interesting affair, but it ultimately petered out to a draw. Officially the score is tied at six points each. In chess matches of this sort,...

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A Mystery Solved

Category: Politics

From the time George W. Bush first appeared on the national scene there has been one big question: Does he actually believe all the Evangelical Christian rhetoric he uses, or is he just playing religious voters for fools. As reported...

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October 11, 2006

Evolution vs. Lit Crit (Part One)

Category: Evolution

The Autumn 2006 issue of The American Scholar features a lengthy article entitled, “Getting it All Wrong: Biolculture Critiques Cultural Critique. It's author is Brian Boyd, a professor of English at The University of Auckland in New Zealand. The premise...

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October 10, 2006

Shermer in Virginia

Category: Anti-Creationism

Skeptic Magazine publisher Michael Shermer will be in Oakton, Virginia this Thursday, October 12, to discuss his new book Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design. The talk is being cohosted by The Alliance for Science and the National...

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Game Eleven Drawn

Category: Chess

Game Eleven of the big chess match ended in a draw after a long, difficult endgame. Kramnik, playing black, stuck to his beloved Slav Defense despite the catastrophe in game nine. Topalov again tried a new idea, but Kramnik defended...

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What Does Slate Have Against Physicists?

Category: Science

Benjamin over at The World's Fair and Chad over at Uncertain Principles have already blogged this, but neither acheves the proper level of indignation in my opinion. In this post from September 15, I discussed an astonishingly poor discussion of...

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October 8, 2006

Kramnik Strikes Back!

Category: Chess

And to think that just a few days ago it seemed like this match would end abruptly because of an insane dispute over visits to the bathroom. Topalov scored back-to-back victories in games eight and nine to take a one...

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October 7, 2006

Topalov Wins Again!

Category: Chess

A dramatic turn of events in the big chess match. Topalov won game nine in convincing fashion, his second win in a row. Topalov now has a one point lead in the match (including the point he got when Kramnik...

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October 6, 2006

Out of Body Experiences

Category: Science

From Tuesday's New York Times: They are eerie sensations, more common than one might think: A man describes feeling a shadowy figure standing behind him, then turning around to find no one there. A woman feels herself leaving her body...

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Are Teenagers Leaving the Church?

Category: Religion

Mixed messages from this article in today's New York Times. From early in the article: Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers...

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October 5, 2006

Topalov Wins Game Eight!

Category: Chess

The final position makes a pretty picture: Topalov, playing black, whipped out a novelty in the well-trodden Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav. He managed to produce an objectively equal but materially imbalanced endgame where he had two knights against Kramnik's...

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October 4, 2006

Game Seven Drawn

Category: Chess

Only have time for a quick post today, so let me just mention that Game Seven of the big chess match ended in a draw in 60 moves. Topalov once again had white, and once again failed to get anywhere...

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October 3, 2006

Senior on Lapham and Blumenthal

Category: Politics

Jennifer Senior has this essay, reviewing new anti-Bush books by Lewis Lapham and Sidney Blumenthal, in a recent issue of The York Times Book Review. Her verdict? Now, just in time for the midterm elections, the collected columns of two...

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October 2, 2006

I Grow Weary of ID

Category: Anti-Creationism

Check out the Dsicovery Institute's Bruce Chapman explaining away the complete inability of ID to produce anything of scientific importance: I keep getting asked about the scientific research projects underway that relate to Darwinism and intelligent design. So why aren't...

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Chess Match Resumes

Category: Chess

Well, the big chess match has resumed. There are still unresolved issues, but I don't have the patience to wade through them. The bottom line is that game six was this morning, and it was a fairly uneventful draw. Topalov...

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