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.
July 25, 2007
Category: Miscellaneous
There are many reasons, of course. But here's an especially compelling one: DON'T jump to conclusions now. Just because Wendy Bullard of Raleigh, N.C., isn't allowed to walk her dog through the Streets at Southpoint, an outdoor mall in Durham,...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:17 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 24, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here's Discovery Institute flak Casey Luskin commenting on an article about evolution posted at MSNBC's website. The MSNBC article is available here.: Question: What do you do when a theory logically predicts both (a) and not (a)? Answer: Apparently you...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:58 PM • 24 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
Here is one of the questions from last night's bizarre CNN/You Tube debate with the Democratic candidates: QUESTION: Hi, I'm Zenne Abraham in Oakland, California. The cathedral behind me is the perfect backdrop for this question. This quarter reads “United...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:14 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
Have you seen that show Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel? I first saw it a few months ago and was hooked after one episode. I quickly placed it in the pantheon of all-time great non-fiction series, right alongside...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:32 PM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 23, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Incidentally, I think Kevin Padian gets things just about right in his review of the three books on the Dover trial. For the record, the three books are Monkey Girl, by Edward Humes, 40 Days and 40 Nights by Matthew...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:51 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here's William Dembski protesting a recent book review in the journal Nature: Indeed, the review and its inclusion in NATURE are emblematic of the new low to which the scientific community has sunk in discussing ID. Bigotry, cluelessness, and misrepresentation...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 2:18 PM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
One of the sillier myths to have widespread acceptance in our culture is that the mainstream media, especially The New York Times, has a liberal bias. Anyone who actually reads the Times knows better. After all, these are the folks...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:32 PM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 19, 2007
Category: Anti-Creationism
Via David Heddle, I came across this announcement for a conference in Texas entitled “Intelligent Design in Business Practice.” From the announcement:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:00 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
In a brief essay describing renewed efforts to raise the profile of science in the national discourse, Time magazine writer Michael Lemonick offers the following (see the original for links):...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:37 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
During my absence it seems that Larry Moran, one of my favorite science bloggers, has declined an invitation to join ScienceBlogs. Outrageous! Though I find it regrettable, I fear he now has to be crushed. I mean, if one blogger...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:34 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Religion
I see that my fellow bloggers have not been idle during my absence. Matt Nisbet has another one of his Dawkins bashing posts up. This time his champion is philosopher Phillip Kitcher. Nisbet quotes Kitcher as follows, from a recent...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:57 PM • 42 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Miscellaneous
Okay, I'm back. Did I miss anything? England ended up being a lot of fun, though it didn't start out that way. For reasons I won't try to explain here, Dominic and I took different flights. His landed early. Mine...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 1:41 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 5, 2007
Category: Mathematics
On Sunday I will be flying across the ocean to participate in the 2007 British Combinatorics Conference, at the University of Reading. If you peruse the book of abstracts, you will see that I will be delievering an edge-of-your-seat barn-burner...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:51 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
The Center for Inquiry offers up this excellent summary (PDF format) of the nature and goals of Intelligent Design Creationism. Its author is philosopher Barbara Forrest, whose expert testimony in the Dover trial played a significant role in the successful...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:26 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 2, 2007
Category: Religion
In his post on atheism and civil rights, Ed Brayton takes me to task for my assertion that books like those written by Dawkins and Hitchens are not the cause of the public image problem faced by atheists. I had...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:27 PM • 242 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Religion
Rereading my post from Friday, I notice that I never actually answered the question I posed in the title. Is atheism a civil rights issue? Happily, other bloggers have stepped into the breach. Mike Dunford gets us started:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 5:02 PM • 91 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Anti-Creationism
The only parts of the museum I have not reviewed are the bookstore (pretty much what you'd expect) and the men's room (impressively clean). So what conclusions should we draw? Is this the end of civilization as we know it?...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:12 PM • 65 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
