July 15, 2009
Writing in the British newspaper The Independent, Michael Reiss and John White have an interesting suggestion about the school curriculum in England:
It is a laudable aim of the current National Curriculum that pupils "know about big ideas and events that shape the world". But one of the biggest…
July 13, 2009
Writing at the Huffington Post, Robert Wright has a very bad post up about the New Atheists and foreign policy. Let's have a look"
It must strike progressive atheists as a stroke of bad luck that Christopher Hitchens, leading atheist spokesperson, happens to have hawkish views on foreign policy.…
July 9, 2009
Good news for chess fans:
The newspaper Marca (journalist Jesus J. Boyero) broke the news that Kasparov and Karpov will play a 12 game (4 Rapid and 8 blitz) match in Valencia 21st-24th September 2009. The match is on the 25th Anniversary of the start of their infamous first aborted match in Moscow…
July 9, 2009
Via Jerry Coyne comes this report, from Daniel Dennett, of a symposium on science and faith held at Cambridge. It sounds like his experience was very similar to mine at the recent NAPC conference. Dennett writes:
I am attending and participating in the big Cambridge University Darwin Week bash,…
July 8, 2009
The Big Monty Hall Book just got a favorable review in The Columbus Dispatch. The reviewer is Rob Hardy. He writes:
Indeed, some of the chapters here are full-power mathematics, with unknowns x, y and z, summation or conditional probability symbols, and complicated equations choked with…
July 1, 2009
Thursday morning started bright and early, since the first talk was at eight. It goes against my grain to be out of bed at that hour, but sometimes in life you just have to make sacrifices.
I was at the big meeting room by 7:45. Got to schmooze with some of the big shots, like Genie Scott and Ken…
June 30, 2009
Here's an interesting tidbit from a blogger for the Indianapolis Star:
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett hurriedly called this morning to be removed from the speakers list at an annual conference on Creationism after accidentally agreeing to speak, said Cam Savage, his…
June 29, 2009
A few weeks ago I took notice of a looming book fight between Richard Dawkins' forthcoming The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution and Jerry Coyne's book Why Evolution is True.
I gave Round One to Dawkins on the grounds of having a better title. Now Round Two goes to ... Coyne!
His…
June 29, 2009
Kenneth Chang of The New York Times has now weighed in with an article about the big trip to the Creation Museum. A couple of interesting tidbits:
Arnold I. Miller, a professor of geology at the University of Cincinnati and head of the meeting's organizing committee, suggested the trip. “Too…
June 28, 2009
For me the big paleontology conference began on Wednesday morning when a group of us gathered to go to the Creation Museum. There were a couple of luminaries in attendence, including Eugenie Scott:
If you look carefully you can make out my reflection in the glass.
I have made several visits to…
June 27, 2009
Had a great time in Cincinnati, and will be doing a couple of posts about it shortly. In the meantime, how about some cat pictures to tide you over.
Here's Emily in a pensive mood:
And here she is on her favorite bookshelf:
Here's Big Ol' Isaac engaged in a favorite activity:
And here…
June 21, 2009
Tomorrow I will be leaving for sunny Cincinnati, Ohio to participate in the 9th North American Paleontological Convention. On Thursday I, along with fellow Panda's Thumbers Art Hunt and Richard Hoppe, will be participating in a panel discussion on “Countering Creationism.” Of course, I will be…
June 21, 2009
Meghan McCain appeared on Bill Maher's show the other night. One of the other guests was Democratic strategist Paul Begala. The following exchange took place:
McCAIN: The Obama administration really has to stop completely blaming everything on its predecessor, completely. And I'm really sick of…
June 18, 2009
In 2002 I attended an ID conference near Kansas City. Among the speakers was philosopher J. P. Moreland. During his talk he unleashed a broadside against Michael Ruse, accusing him not only of perjuring himself during the famous 1981 Arkansas creationism trial but also of having publicly admitted…
June 17, 2009
It doesn't happen often, but there are times when MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews really comes through. Here he is commenting on the difference between Obama's handling of the aftermath of the Iranian elections and the reaction of his Republican critics:
MATTHEWS: What strikes me, David and Bob…
June 15, 2009
A relative of mine just sent me the following brainteaser. Since it never hurts to flex one's mental muscles, I thought I'd pass it along:
It is the month of August; a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times,…
June 11, 2009
Ken Miller has now weighed in with a lengthy post criticizing Jerry Coyne's views on the compatibility of science and religion.
Since most of Miller's essay is focused on specific statements made by Coyne I won't go point by point through it. I suspect Coyne will post his own reply at his blog,…
June 10, 2009
Jerry Coyne has posted his thoughts on the subject of methodological naturalism. Here's a sample:
I am a methodological naturalist, but I don't think that all supernatural claims defy scientific analysis. Moreover, I don't see that the methodological/philosophical distinction has a lot to do…
June 9, 2009
I had not intended to go another round with Chris Mooney. But since his latest post mentions me specifically, and does so in a very unfair way, I feel compelled to respond.
Chris has decided that Jerry Coyne is confused about the distinction between methodological and philosophical naturalism. In…
June 6, 2009
Encouraging news from Newt Gingrich:
Two leading voices of the Republican Party's evangelical wing visited Rock Church on Friday for a forum aimed at recapturing some of the movement's political momentum.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee…
June 5, 2009
Chris Mooney has posted his latest salvo in his ongoing discussion with Jerry Coyne. Sadly, I think he has muffed it pretty badly.
Coyne, of course, can take care of himself. I am inserting myself into this discussion simply because I think this is an important and interesting topic. So let's…
June 4, 2009
I have a cat named Isaac who is currently tipping the scales at around twenty pounds. In an attempt to control his weight I feed him light cat food (Science Diet, to be exact), and give him the absolute minimum he will let me get away with.
A number of people have suggested getting a laser…
June 3, 2009
Another little blogfracas has erupted on the subject of accommodtaionism between science and religion. Chris Mooney, channeling Barbara Forrest, reiterated the standard complaints against those of us who argue that science and religion generally, and evolution and Christianity in particular, are…
June 2, 2009
Looks like Richard Dawkins has a new book coming out. It's called The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence For Evolution. I can't wait to read it!
But wait a sec? Didn't Jerry Coyne just write that book? Yes, I believe he did. It was called Why Evolution is True. No subtitle needed; the title…
June 1, 2009
Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He is also a contributor to the crazy right-wing website Town Hall, which does not bode well for anything he writes.
Let's have a look at his latest offering:
Recently, I received a rare student complaint…
May 18, 2009
One of the nice things about summer vacation is the chance to visit beautiful and scenic locales. Like Bowling Green, Kentucky. That is the home of Western Kentucky University, which in turn is hosting the 22nd Annual Cumberland Conference on Graph Theory, Combinatorics and Computing. Figured I'…
May 15, 2009
Jeffrey Shallit was kind enough to mention my book over at his blog. He writes:
A pleasant surprise arrived in the mail today: Jason Rosenhouse's new book, The Monty Hall Problem. I read a first draft of the book and found it excellent.
The second draft is even better, thanks in large part to…
May 14, 2009
Update, 10:27 pm: It turns out the book is available for sale right now! So go buy one right this very second! Don't know what that June 4 date was all about...
And it's a good one! The official release date for the Big Monty Hall Book (BMHB) is June 4, but some review copies have already…
May 14, 2009
You remember the story, don't you? On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart did a segment showing how thoroughly inept CNBC had been in the build up to the big recession. The segment was very funny and painfully true, which led to it getting a lot of play. One small piece of the segment dealt with Jim…
May 13, 2009
Jerry Coyne has a post up on the subject of whether a highly-intelligent, self-aware species is the inevitable end result of the evolutionary process. He begins:
Over at that hilarious goldmine of accommodationism, Francis Collins's BioLogos website (generously supported by The Templeton…
