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, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
The only thing left was the big planetarium show. I managed to hook up with my posse on line, and together we went inside. Alas, we ended up sitting in the front row. This meant that even when we took...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:43 PM • 56 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 28, 2007
Category: Religion
My SciBling Matthew Nisbet says no. I think he really means it, since he put the title of his post in all caps. Matthew writes: One of the common claims that has been amplified by the Dawkins/Hitchens PR campaign is...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:16 PM • 138 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
There was one final movie to be viewed. This one dealt with dinosaurs and dragons. I think the point was that dragon legends have their origin in the experiences people had interacting with dinosaurs. If this is correct, then all...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:07 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 27, 2007
Category: Science
Blogging over at The Huffington Post, my SciBling Chris Mooney has an excellent post up on the subject of global warming. He is responding to this op-ed from Emily Yoffe, a writer for Slate. Yoffe was trying to present herself...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:22 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Ken Miller has now published his review of Behe's latest. He did an excellent job. I think he really nailed some of Behe's more egregious mathematical errors:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:06 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
We now come to what one helpful museum employee described to me as “the climax of the museum.” The previous exhibits took us through the first four of the seven C's (Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion). Now, with one further fifteen...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:42 PM • 26 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 26, 2007
Category: Evolution
Today's New York Times has a series of articles up about various aspects of evolution. One that caught my eye was this essay by paleontologist Douglas Erwin. It discusses various challenges to the Neo-Darwinian synthesis. Not the silly, brain-dead challenges...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:31 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Let us now ponder more closely a few of the specific exhibits at the big museum. One surprising item in the exhibits is the blunt contempt for human reason. We are constantly told that apostasy begins when human reason is...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:27 PM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 25, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
You might also enjoy having a look at Professor Steve Steve's account of his trip to the Creation Museum. Many pictures....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
After leaving the theater it was time to enter the museum proper. The nice fellow at the door scanned the barcode on my ticket to verify that I wasn't trying to sneak in. He advised me that I should allow...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:49 PM • 30 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 24, 2007
Category: Science
P.Z. Myers has a very helpful post up explaining the biological details behind the Michael Behe quote mine I reported on here. Basically, Behe's treatment of the subject was even worse than I realized. Recall that Behe was arguing that...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:05 PM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 23, 2007
Category: Politics
You might think that our corrupt and incompetant Attorney General would find it difficult to find a sympathetic audience these days. But you'd be wrong: Gonzales is scheduled to deliver a 45-minute speech at the Seattle Westin Hotel's Grand Ballroom...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:23 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Along with the rest of my crew, I entered the theater. Not just any theater, mind you, but a special effects theater. This meant that at certain points during the film your seat would vibrate ominously and a small spritz...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:11 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 22, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Due to some conflicts between MapQuest's directions and my map of Kentucky, I was nervous during the final leg of my drive to The Creation Museum. After all those hours of driving, the only thing that would have been worse...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:36 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 21, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
A new ID book, a new selection of yummy delicious quote mines. Michael Behe's The Edge of Evolution (EoE) offers quite the smorgasbord I'm not surprised that Jerry Coyne would have such a visceral negative reaction to anything Michael Behe...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:41 PM • 80 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 15, 2007
Category: Administrative
From tomorrow through next Wednesday I will be on the road. First up: A trip to the big creationism museum. Then, a visit to a friend and collaborator who live in Bowling Green, KY to talk about math and whatever...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:20 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
So after writing that last post and fretting that Coyne had provided the ID bloggers with ample fodder for demonstrating the intemperance of their critics, I decided to look around to see if any of the ID blogs had responded....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:17 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Ronald Reagan famously defined the eleventh commandment to be, “Thou shalt not criticize a fellow Republican.” I'm a big fan of the spirit, if not the substance, of that statement. Generally speaking, I try to avoid criticizing my own side....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:00 PM • 28 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
This past Wednesday I saw Michael Behe's talk at the Washington D.C. offices of the Discovery Institute. The talk, alas, was staggeringly dull, and I frequently found my attention wandering. Unlike Thomas Woodward, who was lying through his teeth at...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:03 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 10, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Woodward closed by gushing about Ralph Seelke, who is a biologist at the University of Wisconsin, Superior. His web page carries a large disclaimer that his views do not represent the views of the university. That's never a good sign....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:31 PM • 46 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
We left off with Woodward about to launch into his favorite talking points. Let's have a look. Number One: Haeckel's Embryos. Woodward spent a few minutes gushing about how Icons of Evolution author Jonathan Wells represented a “great success story”...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:38 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 8, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
As so often happens, this write-up requires more space than I expected it to when I sat down to begin writing it. I had intended this to be the last part of my write-up on Woodward's presentation, but, having written...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:05 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 6, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Thomas Woodward, author of the new book Darwin Strikes Back: Defending the Science of Intelliigent Design turned up at the Washington D.C. offices of the Discovery Intstitute last night. Since it's alays nice to have an excuse to hang out...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 9:39 PM • 25 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
June 4, 2007
Category: Religion
Let us end the day's blogging by noting this happy story from The Australian: AN unholy war has erupted between a star of the US evangelical movement and his Australian flock, with claims of bullying and unbiblical behaviour. Former NSW...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:23 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science
Meanwhile, the Gonzalez case continues. The President of ISU has turned down Gonzalez's appeal: Because the issue of tenure is a personnel matter, I am not able to share the detailed rationale for the decision, although that has been provided...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:07 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Meanwhile, writing in The New York Times, Senator Sam Brownback clarifies his views on evolution. Recall that Brownback was one of three Republican candidates to admit to rejecting evolution in a recent debate. He writes:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:13 PM • 45 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Meanwhile, the reviews of Michael Behe's new book The Edge of Evolution are starting to appear. Michael Ruse weighs in with a short review for The Globe and Mail. His verdict:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:30 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
Sorry for the light blogging lately. I'm furiously trying to finish up some writing projects that have been festering for a while. I'm a painfully slow writer, and there's a limit to how many hours a day I can stand...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:06 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
