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.
August 30, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Time to wrap this up. So here are a few more interesting moments from the conference. The one genuinely interesting talk I attended had nothing to do with science at all. It was entitled “A Critique of the Precreation Chaos...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:59 PM • 76 Comments •
August 29, 2008
Category: Politics
By now I'm sure you have heard that John McCain has chosen Alaska governor Sarah “Teach the Controversy” Palin to be his running mate. I think The New Republic has the most sensible take, by Peter Scoblic:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:13 PM • 17 Comments •
Category: Anti-Creationism
This article, from Mother Jones, has some smirk-worthy quotable bits. It's subject is the recent convention of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:48 PM • 5 Comments •
August 27, 2008
Category: Mathematics
The big Monty Hall book is working its way through production. Just received the proposed catalog copy on my destined for a Pulitzer masterpiece. Seems my book is, among other things, “light-hearted yet ultimately serious.” Why yes, come to think...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:18 PM • 58 Comments •
August 26, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here are a few more vignettes from the big conference. A fellow named Mark Matthews gave a presentation arguing that the Earth was located at or near the center of the universe. Most of the talk was given over to...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:28 PM • 74 Comments •
August 24, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
An interesting exchange took place during the Q and A of a talk entitled “Georgia Public School Board Members' Beliefs Concerning the Inclusion of Creationism in the Science Curriculum.” The speaker was Kathie Morgan of LIberty University. The talk itself...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:11 PM • 78 Comments •
August 21, 2008
Category: Mathematics
As the Beijing Olympics comes to a close, let us take a moment to congratulate the United States Team for their third place finish in the recently completed International Mathematical Olympiad, held in Madrid. The U.S. Team included Alex Zhai,...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:51 PM • 9 Comments •
Category: Anti-Creationism
Only time for quick blogging today, so go have a look at Peter Buckland's interesting post in response to my reports of the big creationism confab. Here's a taste: That stereotype exists, but it's not nearly complete as I have...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 4:23 PM • 2 Comments •
August 20, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Some of the comments to my posts on the creationism conference reminded me of a scene from the movie Heat, released in 1995. Al Pacino played Vincent Hannah, a detective for the LAPD investigating a crew of professional bank robbers....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:59 PM • 32 Comments •
Category: Mathematics
My account of the big creationism conference will resume shortly, but I really must take time out to discuss this article by Brian Hayes of American Scientist. He is discussing the Monty Hall problem, you see....
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 6:27 PM • 40 Comments •
August 18, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Here's a picture to warm your heart: It comes from the closing presentation of the conference, entitled “The Creation Model: It's Past, Present and Necessary Future,” by Andrew Snelling. Here's another one:...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:10 PM • 78 Comments •
August 17, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
Usually I write these accounts in strict chronological order. I will break from that tradition this time since one of my most interesting experiences at the conference came right near the end. I had made a pest of myself...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 8:12 PM • 95 Comments •
August 13, 2008
Category: Evolution
My account of the big creationism conference will go up soon, but in the meantime you can tide yourself over with this op-ed from yesterday's New York Times. Olivia Judson explains a few of the reasons it is important to...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 3:49 PM • 39 Comments •
August 1, 2008
Category: Anti-Creationism
EvolutionBlog will be going dark for the next two weeks or so. I will be leaving my cozy digs in Harrisonburg to enjoy some serious wandering. First is a drive up to Pittsburgh for the International Conference of Creationism. How...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:53 PM • 12 Comments •
Category: Miscellaneous
The all-consuming, all-devouring, ScienceBlogs collective has assimilated another victim. Go say hi to Matt Springer, who blogs about physics over at Built on Facts. Matt is a graduate student in physics at Texas A & M university. He writes: New...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:41 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Evolution
A few posts back I engaged a discussion about Richard Dawkins' metaphor of “Cimbing Mount Improbable” for the proces by which evolution by natural selection crafts complex structures from simpler precursors. Since I did not have his book in front...
Posted by Jason Rosenhouse at 7:27 PM • 16 Comments •
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