BOSTON, MA—This fall, NOVA celebrates the 200th anniversary year of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book the Origin of Species with three evolution-themed programs.
Each film will approach the topic of evolution in a different way. To kick off NOVA’s fall season on October 6, Henry Ian Cusick (Lost) and Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park) star in “Darwin’s Darkest Hour,” a two-hour scripted drama that presents the remarkable story behind the birth of Darwin’s radically controversial theory of evolution and reveals his deeply personal crisis: whether to publish his earthshaking ideas, or to keep quiet to avoid potential backlash from the Church. In November, NOVA premieres “Becoming Human,” a three-part special on human evolution. The series combines interviews with world renowned anthropologists and paleoanthropologists and the most recent, groundbreaking
discoveries with vivid images of our earliest ancestors to present a comprehensive picture of our human past. Then, on December 29, “What Darwin Never Knew” reveals answers to evolutionary questions that even Darwin couldn’t explain. Scientists are beginning to expose nature’s biggest secrets on the genetic level, with the hope of one day answering the crucial question: How does evolution really work?Following are descriptions for NOVA films in fall 2009:
Darwin’s Darkest Hour (2 hrs) – Tuesday, October 6
NOVA and National Geographic Television present the extraordinary human drama that led to the birth of the most influential scientific theory of all time. Acclaimed screenwriter John Goldsmith (David Copperfield, Victoria and Albert) brings to life Charles Darwin’s greatest personal crisis: the anguishing decision over whether to “go public” with his theory of evolution. Darwin, portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick (Lost), spent years refining his ideas and penning his book the Origin of Species. Yet, daunted by looming conflict with the orthodox religious values of his day, he resisted publishing—until a letter from naturalist Alfred Wallace forced his hand. In 1858, Darwin learned that Wallace was ready to publish ideas very similar to his own. In a sickened panic, Darwin grasped his dilemma: To delay publishing any longer would be to condemn all of his work to obscurity—his voyage on the Beagle, his adventures in the Andes, the gauchos and bizarre fossils of Patagonia, the finches and giant tortoises of the Galapagos. But to come forward with his ideas risked the fury of the Church and perhaps a rift with his own devoted wife, Emma, portrayed by Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park, The Importance of Being Earnest, Steven Spielberg’s “Artificial Intelligence”), who was a strong believer in the view of creation and honestly feared for her husband’s soul. Darwin’s Darkest Hour is a moving drama about the birth of a great idea seen through the inspiration and personal sufferings of its brilliant originator.Hubble’s Amazing Rescue – Tuesday, October 13
In the spring of 2009, NASA sent a shuttle crew on a risky mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time. Hubble has enthralled scientists and the public by capturing deep views of the cosmos and a wealth of data from distant galaxies. It has helped lead the search for alien planets and is a key tool in cosmology’s quest to investigate and map the universe’s mysterious dark matter. The astronaut servicing team carried out the first-ever in-space repairs of Hubble’s defective instruments, a task that required ingenious engineering fixes and the most intensive NASA spacewalk ever. From training to launch, NOVA presents the inside story of the mission and the extraordinary challenges faced by the rescue crew.Lizard Kings – Tuesday, October 20
Though they may look like dragons and inspire stories of man-eating, fire-spitting monsters with long claws, razor-sharp teeth and muscular, whip-like tails, these creatures are actually monitor lizards, the largest lizards to walk the planet. With their acute intelligence—including the ability to plan ahead— these lizards are a very different kind of reptile, blurring the line between reptiles and mammals. And even though these bizarre reptiles haven’t changed all that much since the dinosaurs, they are a very successful species, versatile at adapting to all kinds of settings. Lizard Kings will look at what makes these tongued reptiles so similar to mammals and what has allowed them to become such unique survivors. But while the creatures can find their way around many different habitats, finding them is no easy task. Natural loners, and always on guard, they sense anything or anyone from hundreds of feet away. NOVA will follow expert lizard hunter Dr. Eric Pianka as he tracks the elusive creatures through Australia’s heartland with cutting-edge “lizard cam” technology for an unparalleled close encounter with these amazingly versatile “living dragons.”Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors – Tuesday, November 3, 10, 17
NOVA presents a three-part, three-hour special—investigating explosive new discoveries that are transforming the picture of how we became human. The first program explores fresh clues about our earliest ancestors in Africa, including the stunningly complete fossil nicknamed “Lucy’s Child.” These three-million-year-old bones from Ethiopia reveal humanity’s oldest and most telltale trait—upright walking rather than a big brain. The second program tackles the mysteries of how our ancestors managed to survive in a savannah teeming with vicious predators, and when and why we first left our African cradle to colonize every corner of the Earth. In the final program, NOVA probes a wave of dramatic new evidence, based partly on cutting-edge DNA analysis, that reveals new insights into how we became the creative and “behaviorally modern” humans of today, and what really happened to the enigmatic Neanderthals who faded into extinction. Shot “in the trenches” where discoveries were unearthed throughout Africa and Europe, each hour of Becoming Human unfolds with a forensic investigation into the life and death of a specific hominid ancestor, such as “Lucy’s Child.” Dry bones spring back to vivid life with stunning animation, the product of a unique NOVA collaboration between top anthropologists and a talented team of movie animators.What Are Dreams? – Tuesday, November 24
What are dreams and why do we have them? NOVA joins the leading dream researchers as they embark on a variety of neurological and psychological experiments to investigate the world of sleep and dreams. Delving deep into the thoughts and brains of a variety of dreamers, scientists are asking important questions about the purpose of this mysterious world we escape to at night. Do dreams allow us to get a good night’s sleep? Do they improve our memory? Do they allow us to be more creative? Can they solve our problems or even help us survive the hazards of everyday life? NOVA follows researchers like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Matthew Wilson who is literally ‘eavesdropping’ on the dreams of rats and takes viewers into a sleep lab for a first-hand look at how scientists do their best to eavesdrop on human dreams. From those who violently act out their dreams to those who can’t stop their nightmares, from sleepwalking cats to people who can’t dream, each fascinating experiment contains a vital clue to the age-old question: What are dreams?What Darwin Never Knew (2 hours) – Tuesday, December 29
Earth teems with a staggering variety of animals, including 9,000 kinds of birds, 28,000 types of fish, and more than 350,000 species of beetles. What explains this explosion of living creatures—1.4 million different species discovered so far, with perhaps another 50 million to go? The source of life’s endless forms was a profound mystery until Charles Darwin’s revolutionary idea of natural selection, which he showed could help explain the gradual development of life on Earth. But Darwin’s radical insights raised as many questions as they answered. What actually drives evolution and turns one species into another? And how did we evolve?Now, on the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s the Origin of Species, NOVA reveals answers to the riddles that Darwin couldn’t explain. Stunning breakthroughs in a brand-new science—nicknamed “evo devo”— are linking the enigma of origins to another of nature’s great mysteries, the development of an embryo. To explore this exciting new idea, NOVA takes viewers on a journey from the Galapagos Islands to the Arctic, and from the Cambrian explosion of animal forms half a billion years ago to the research labs of today. Here scientists are finally beginning to crack nature’s biggest secrets at the genetic level. And, as NOVA shows in this absorbing detective story, the results are confirming the brilliance of Darwin’s insights while exposing clues to life’s breathtaking diversity in ways the great naturalist could scarcely have imagined.
Darwin’s Darkest Hour, debuts on NOVA tonight
October 6, 2009
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Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, Science, Television | Tagged: Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, NOVA, PBS, Science, Television | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
“Crunchy Con” Dreher weighs in on Darwin’s legacy
October 4, 2009We have the privilege, sometimes, of having Rod Dreher sitting on the editorial board of our local newspaper, The Dallas Morning News.
Is it a privilege today? You be the judge: Dreher’s column in the “Points” section today, “When science meets pop culture: Darwin’s example shows that scientists can’t do much to stop the public from abusing their work.”
In contrast to Dreher’s previous defenses of intelligent design and other sciency woo, in this piece he mostly gets Darwin correct — which, alas, means he doesn’t talk much about what Darwin actually said. That makes the errors more glaring, to me. But, what do you think?
For example: Dreher discusses abuses of Darwin:
Take Charles Darwin. In 1859, the publication of his On the Origin of Species was an event so earth-shaking that 150 years later, the trembling still reverberates. In their recent book Darwin’s Sacred Cause, Adrian Desmond and James Moore argue that the Darwin family’s deep roots in the British anti-slavery movement caused young Charles to start asking questions about the common origins of humanity. “It is the key to explain why such a gentleman of wealth and standing should risk all to develop his bestial ‘monkey-man’ image of our ancestry in the first place,” they write.
The authors make a case that Darwin, who was never himself a social activist, undermined racial prejudice with his discoveries. That is true – to a point.It is also true that Darwin’s work on evolution and natural selection, as it became popularized, inspired scientists and laymen to take more interest in racial differences, an intellectual passion that would have sinister consequences in the science of eugenics – founded in the late 19th century by Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton.
Did Dreher read Desmond and Moore? Did they get the events right? Britain’s abolishment of slavery occurred when Darwin was a young man. It was a hot controversy while he was asea aboard the Beagle. Was it that controversy that caused Darwin to ask whether humans have a common origin? At the same time, Darwin was quizzing “Jeremy Button,” a dark-skinned native of the area around Tierra del Fuego, who had been essentially kidnapped on a previous voyage of the ship, and who was being returned home on the voyage Darwin was part of. As I’ve read Darwin, I see that he finds hard evidence of evolution in plants, in sea creatures, in other animals — and then wonders how humans could have been exempt from such actions. I don’t see Darwin starting from slavery and reasoning backwards.
But second, I still wait for someone to point me to any clear indication that eugenics advocates were particularly inspired by Darwin, or that eugenics was related in any serious way to the genocides of Europe in the early 20th century. Hitler didn’t think he was improving any race, but was instead getting rid of people he didn’t like. The link from Darwin to genocide gets particularly strained for the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 (regardless the cause). When asked to justify genocide against German Jews, Hitler didn’t refer to Darwin, but instead asked who remembered the Armenians, 25 years later. The question wasn’t, “Is this the thing to do to improve the race,” but was instead, “Can we get away with it?”
It makes me lament again the DMN’s having killed their once-great science section. A newspaper that doesn’t do enough reporting on a subject never feels compelled not to comment on it, but such commentary always suffers from its reading audience having little background in the topic. Full of sound and fury, as Shakespeare wrote.
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Denying Darwin’s God
September 3, 2009While we’re at it, note that Cornelius Hunter is both a propagandist, and a bit of a coward. Truth wins in a fair fight, so Hunter can’t afford to allow a fair fight to break out in the comments section of his blog.
I don’t know what his readership is, but were he to open his blog to comments, he could learn a lot. As it is, he’s spreading false information a lot. Let’s hope his readership is small, as are his arguments against science.
Seriously: Does he really believe in point #1 that DNA does not demonstrate family relationships? Or is this just his subtle way of saying no one is legitimate, trying desperately to avoid the “b” word?
The blog is an embarrassment to Christians.
Oh, but now I see why. He’s a fellow at Discovery Institute. It’s normal for those who can’t be embarrassed by their own errors.
4 Comments | Creationism, Evolution, Hoaxes, Voodoo science | Tagged: Cornelius Hunter, Creationism, Darwin, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Hoaxes, Intelligent Design, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
In comedy, truth, wisdom, and education
June 13, 2009Remember Jonathan Miller and “The Body in Question?”
Dick Cavett remembers, discusses the now-75-years-old man. Plus, delightfully, Cavett has video at his blog at the New York Times.
And here, Miller explains to Cavett just why creationism is in error, and why the study of Darwin and evolution is worthwhile. You’ll have to go to the Times site for the full program; here’s a few minutes’ of of Miller:
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Evolution in Texas
April 14, 2009
From image maker Colin Purrington: Texans' fondness for Biblical literalism indirectly ruins science education for the rest of the country. Texas is the nation's biggest consumer of textbooks, so authors will often write their books "for" the Texas State Board of Education, which usually has at least one delusional freakazoid who believes that fossils are the result of the Great Flood. On the State School Board!! I kid you not. Really amazing, and sad.
Another brilliant creation of Colin Purrington’s Evolution Outreach project.
2 Comments | Biology, Darwin, Education, Science, State school boards, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: Biology, Darwin, Education, Evolution, Science, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
More creationist flapdoodlery
April 2, 2009Reformed Covenanter is a Rushdooney-loving blogger in Northern Ireland. Here, in comments he accepts the bizarre story that Darwin was a nasty man, an atheist groomed from birth by his grandfather, Erasmus, to hate the church.
Great trick, or a miracle: Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus died in 1802. Charles Darwin was born seven years later, in 1809. For people who believe in miracles, this is no problem, I suppose. But I worry that they attribute such astounding miracles to Darwin. That departs a bit from Christian theology, it seems to me.
(It’s a classic wingnut site — comments closed, don’t ask, not no way, not no how.)
5 Comments | Darwin, Rampant stupidity, Religion | Tagged: Darwin, Impossible Things, Rampant stupidity, Religion, Rushdooney | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
God save us from preachers fouling the waters of science
March 25, 2009Waylon and Willie might have done a great service for the world had they sung, instead, “Mamas, don’t let your children grow up to be preachers./ . . . make ’em be biologists and teachers and such.”
I’m moving my response to a poster, lowerleavell, up from the depths of the thread on this old post, “Why intelligent design shouldn’t bully Texas high school kids.”
Among other things creationists do which I find destructive, they tell people stories about what evolution theory “says,” or what happens in nature, that simply are not true. Very simply, creationists, especially preachers, paint such a vivid but false view of human nature “according to science,” that a lot of misbehavior can be blamed on the preachers’ convincing people, especially children, that they are supposed to misbehave.
I’ll just let the post speak for itself; Joe’s words are blockquoted, my response set without indentation:
Joe said:
Every presented “truth” has ramifications. If you tell people long enough and dogmatically enough that they are the result of some massive cosmic accident (Dawkins viewpoint) then eventually they’re going to start getting the picture.
We can hope. As Dawkins notes, the picture they should get is that we need to be human to one another, to treat each other well, to defend human rights, to cherish life while we live it. So far, I don’t see a lot of that happening, at least, not enough — and, as I’ve noted earlier, I think it’s because religion gets in the way.
You tell people that humans are simply evolved animals and are surprised when they act accordingly.
Actually, that’s what preachers say — you won’t find a scientist putting it that crudely, or that inaccurately.
We tell people that humans are evolved animals — a true statement, as any physician can tell you — and we tell them that we expect them to act as animals do. You seem to think that would be bad. But anyone who studies animal behavior will tell you that the bravery and altruism of the tiny sparrow defending her nest against marauding crows matches the bravery of any human, anywhere, any time. You seem to think that animals have no sense of morality, but that’s not what we see in nature. You seem to think that humans’ animal morality is bad, but as Darwin noted (in chapter 5 of Descent of Man), the foundation of our evolved morality is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That’s the principal that allowed us to survive as a species, and to thrive. Darwin even went so far as to lay out a scenario for how genes that produced the behaviors could be selected for in natural selection.
Make no mistake: “Animal behavior” is not immoral behavior. We didn’t thrive as a species by stabbing our friends in the back, at least, not until the invention of religion (the story of Cain and Able is a Bible story, remember — you don’t find siblings going after each other to the point of murder much in nature).
Joe, you’re preaching against the Golden Rule. Leave it to a creationist who claims not to be advocating creationism to preach against Christian morality and claim it’s evolution’s fault.
One of my concerns is that creationists — especially people who claim to have a ministry — get this animal morality thing exactly wrong. It only strengthens my feeling that we need to keep such people from innocent children.
It’s preachers who tell children that they’re animals, and that they can act evilly, Joe, not science. Preachers probably don’t even intend to do that, but they get the science dead wrong, they tell the kids that’s what science says . . . what’s a kid to think? Would a preacher lie to them?
I agree we shouldn’t teach immorality to children. Joe, will you join me in keeping Baptist ministers from doing that? You guys should stop telling children that evolution is untrue, that animals are immoral, and that our baser, animal instincts trend toward sin.
Incidentally, that’s not what the Bible says, either. It was Man who sinned, not animals. In your zeal to get evolution, you’ve departed a long ways from what the scriptures say. I’d say it’s time to rethink what you’re doing.
You tell people that they are the evolution of nature and are surprised when they act according to their natural impulses and emotions.
I wish they’d do it more often, rather than substituting the morality of organized religion.
Geese mate for life and look out for each other. Bonobos keep peace with an almost literal “make love, not war” ethic — it protects the children very well. Prairie dogs look out for one another, posting guards to keep everybody safe — they double the guards when their children are out foraging, to double the protection. Musk oxen, tiny things, really, defend their young with the entire herd, sacrificing an adult if necessary to protect the offspring. Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, elephants, lions, whales and others protect and venerate their aged, the sages who can guide the herd/troupe/pride/pod/clan through difficult times. Throughout the animal kingdom, we find animals as exemplars of behavior, mostly. Murder is extremely rare in most species. War is even more rare.
What in the devil is wrong with that morality? Why wouldn’t we want our children to “act as animals?”
You know, if one studies the history of evolution in science, one is struck by the remarkable sterling character of most of the scientists involved. With very few exceptions — Haeckel’s dishonesty and rampant nationalism, Watson’s general unpleasantness — these scientists are paragons of moral behavior. Darwin was a giant of morality, an outstanding, faithful and loving husband, a caring and doting father. Wallace was a pillar, too — except for his dabblings in seances later, a function of his Christian beliefs. Dobzhansky, Wilson, the Grants, Simpson, Gould, Eldredge, Coyne, Myers, Majerus, Kettlewell, Mayr — these are people you would be happy to know, whose morality is generally beyond reproach.
Contrast that with the greats of religion — Calvin burned his friend Servetus at the stake. Luther was a rabid anti-semite. Various popes robbed, murdered and fornicated. Rasputin led the Russian court to debauchery and villiany. The occasional Billy Graham is an exception among preachers, it too often appears. We lost count of the famous preachers who were caught with their pants down and their hands on the wallets of their friends.
If evolution produced evil, wouldn’t we see that in its greatest exponents? Instead, we see the opposite — evolutionists living lives of saints, churchmen living lives of evil.
There’s a parable about the fruit of a poisoned tree. Do you know it?
You say that evolution is not immoral and in and of itself it may not be – but what is presented to people can contribute to dramatic ramifications, which is what I’m saying.
Evolution is immoral only when presented, inaccurately and basely, by preachers.
It’s not science, it’s not the study of evolution, and it’s not studying science in school that is the problem here.
You’re making a great case for licensing preachers, insisting on standards, and checking their work. I think I can see where the problem is, from your presentation.
How would you propose to fix it, without taking the pro-ignorance route?
21 Comments | Creationism, Evolution | Tagged: Altruism, Biology, Creationism, Darwin, Evolution, Human Behavior, Morality, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Campolo: Still wrong on evolution
March 18, 2009I’ve been itching to get at Tony Campolo’s republication of his errors on evolution and intelligent design. There’s a lot on my “to do” list.
Mike at Tangled Up In Blue Guy has beat me to it, and probably done it better than I could have. Go read, “Is, and ought, and Darwinism.” I agree.
Related material at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
3 Comments | Accuracy, Bogus history, Charles Darwin, Darwin, Education, History, Racism, Science | Tagged: Accuracy, Culture, Darwin, Evolution, History, Racism, Science, Social Darwinism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Cecil Adams’ forum honors Darwin!
February 12, 2009Interesting compilation: In honor of Darwin’s 200th anniversary, take Steve Bratteng’s 13 questions evolution answers that intellligent design cannot; add to that some almost-recent polling data on creationism among Republicans, and kick off a discussion.
Someone posting at the Cecil Adams’ site, Straight Dope, did just that. Go join the discussion.
Trying to flatter me, of course, they linked to this blog — but it’s all Steve Bratteng’s work.
His questionnaire deserves a much broader audience. So, Welcome Straight Dopers.
Update: Goin’ viral now — A forum at Free Republic picked up on the quiz, too (from Straight Dope?). Go check out the discussion there — lots of concern that the malaria question is answered by the existence of Rachel Carson, which means those who propose that don’t understand evolution and haven’t read Rachel Carson, either. Welcome, Freepers.
6 Comments | Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, Health care, Intelligent Design, Science | Tagged: Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, evolutionary medicine, Intelligent Design, Science, Steve Bratteng | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Lincoln and Darwin, both born 200 years ago today
February 12, 2009Is it an unprecedented coincidence? 200 years ago today, just minutes apart according to some unconfirmed accounts, Abraham Lincoln was born in a rude log cabin on Nolin Creek, in Kentucky, and Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy family at the family home in Shrewsbury, England.
Gutzon Borglum’s 1908 bust of Abraham Lincoln in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol – Architect of the Capitol photo
Lincoln would become one of our most endeared presidents, though endearment would come after his assassination. Lincoln’s bust rides the crest of Mt. Rushmore (next to two slaveholders), with George Washington, the Father of His Country, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and Theodore Roosevelt, the man who made the modern presidency, and the only man ever to have won both a Congressional Medal of Honor and a Nobel Prize, the only president to have won the Medal of Honor. In his effort to keep the Union together, Lincoln freed the slaves of the states in rebellion during the civil war, becoming an icon to freedom and human rights for all history. Upon his death the entire nation mourned; his funeral procession from Washington, D.C., to his tomb in Springfield, Illinois, stopped twelve times along the way for full funeral services. Lying in state in the Illinois House of Representatives, beneath a two-times lifesize portrait of George Washington, a banner proclaimed, “Washington the Father, Lincoln the Savior.”
Charles Darwin statue, Natural History Museum, London – NHM photo
Darwin would become one of the greatest scientists of all time. He would be credited with discovering the theory of evolution by natural and sexual selection. His meticulous footnoting and careful observations formed the data for ground-breaking papers in geology (the creation of coral atolls), zoology (barnacles, and the expression of emotions in animals and man), botany (climbing vines and insectivorous plants), ecology (worms and leaf mould), and travel (the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle). At his death he was honored with a state funeral, attended by the great scientists and statesmen of London in his day. Hymns were specially written for the occasion. Darwin is interred in Westminster Abbey near Sir Isaac Newton, England’s other great scientist, who knocked God out of the heavens.
Lincoln would be known as the man who saved the Union of the United States and set the standard for civil and human rights, vindicating the religious beliefs of many and challenging the beliefs of many more. Darwin’s theory would become one of the greatest ideas of western civilization, changing forever all the sciences, and especially agriculture, animal husbandry, and the rest of biology, while also provoking crises in religious sects.
Lincoln, the politician known for freeing the slaves, also was the first U.S. president to formally consult with scientists, calling on the National Science Foundation (whose creation he oversaw) to advise his administration. Darwin, the scientist, advocated that his family put the weight of its fortune behind the effort to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Each held an interest in the other’s disciplines.
Both men were catapulted to fame in 1858. Lincoln’s notoriety came from a series of debates on the nation’s dealing with slavery, in his losing campaign against Stephen A. Douglas to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. On the fame of that campaign, he won the nomination to the presidency of the fledgling Republican Party in 1860. Darwin was spurred to publicly reveal his ideas about the power of natural and sexual selection as the force behind evolution, in a paper co-authored by Alfred Russel Wallace, presented to the Linnean Society in London on July 1, 1858. On the strength of that paper, barely noticed at the time, Darwin published his most famous work, On the Origin of Species, in November 1859.
The two men might have got along well, but they never met.
What unusual coincidences. Today is the first day of a year-long commemoration of the lives of both men. Wise historians and history teachers, and probably wise science teachers, will watch for historical accounts in mass media, and save them.
Go celebrate human rights, good science, and the stories about these men.
Resources:
Charles Darwin:
- Darwin 200
- About Darwin.com; links to Darwin texts online
- On the Origin of Species online
- C. Warren Irvin Collection of Darwin and Darwiniana, University of South Carolina
Abraham Lincoln:
10 Comments | Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Civil Rights, Civil War, Evolution, History, Holidays, Human Rights, Politics, Science | Tagged: Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Darwin, Emancipation, Evolution, History, Lincoln, Politics, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Joe Lapp’s “flat earth” testimony to the Texas SBOE
January 23, 2009[Another in a series of posts highlighting testimony supporting evolution offered to the Texas State Board of Education this week.]
Joe Lapp, Testimony to the Texas SBOE, January 21, 2009 - click picture for link to original image at Teach Them Science.com
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Darwin, Evolution, Religion, Science, State school boards, Teach Them Science.org, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Creationism, Darwin, Education, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Science, Texas, Texas SBOE | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Dick Neavel’s Testimony on evolution, to Texas Education Board
January 22, 2009Testimony of Richard Neavel, PhD, to the Texas State Board of Education January 21, 2009
I oppose the inclusion of strengths and weaknesses in the TEKS and I’m going to do a show and tell about why.
At the last public hearing, Board member Gail Lowe asked me whether I was familiar with “polystrate fossils.” I had to admit that I wasn’t.
I Googled the term, and found creationist Paul Ackerman writing: “Polystrate fossils in numerous places around the world are one dramatic piece of evidence that the [young earth] creationists may be right [about earth’s history].” (Footnote [1])
Now I know why I wasn’t familiar with them. Geologists don’t refer to polystrate fossils – creationists do.
Ms. Lowe questioned me about the Lompoc whale fossil that was supposed to be “standing up” within many strata, that is layers of rock. How could this happen, she asked if the strata accumulated over millions of years. (See Figure 1 – next page and Footnote [2].)
That’s the kind of question a student might ask to demonstrate weaknesses of geologic theories.
I didn’t have an answer, so I researched it and here’s what I found.
The fossil is found in Miocene-age rocks about 10 million years old near Lompoc, California.
Creationists have cited it as an anomaly ever since it was uncovered.
Creationists explain it by saying a catastrophe, such as Noah’s flood, buried the whale very quickly.
Here’s what really happened.
Lompy, the whale, is eating plankton in a lagoon off the California coast 10 million years ago.
The ones he doesn’t eat die and their shells drift down to make a silica-rich, oozy sediment.
OH!. OH! Heart attack. Lompy dies, rolls over and sinks to the bottom of the lagoon. (Figure 2)
He rots away, and his skeleton gets covered with more sediment. (Figure 3)
The sediments harden to rock. Along comes a mountain-building force and the rocks are tilted up.
A company mines the rock, called diatomaceous earth, and uncovers Lompy’s skeleton. (Figure 4)
Creationists go wild – it’s a miracle – a whale on its tail.
I’m a PhD geologist and I didn’t have a ready answer to Ms. Lowe’s questions about polystrate fossils.
Do you think a high school science teacher would be able to answer a student’s questions about Lompy?
Members of the Board: Do you really want students to waste time discussing this kind of creationist nonsense in science class? Not weaknesses – just nonsense.
Every other creationist so-called “scientific weakness” can be explained just like this by real scientists — but not necessarily by high school teachers.
PLEASE! PLEASE! DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS EDUCATION. IT’S TOO IMPORTANT TO AMERICA’S FUTURE.
PLEASE BE PATRIOTIC. THANK YOU.
ANY QUESTIONS, CLASS?
[Pictures coming when I can get them to stick in the file! — E.D.]
3 Comments | Creationism, Evolution, History, Science, State school boards, TEKS, Texas, Texas Citizens for Science, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Creationism, Darwin, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Texas, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Anniversary of evolution
December 2, 2008Almost let one slip by — Larry Moran at Sandwalk remembered it, though, and probably better than I could here.
November 24 was the 149th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “big book,” On the Origin of Species. If history studies turning points, that’s one date that needs to be remembered.
Even better, David Quammen published a copy of Darwin’s first edition, supplemented with historic illustrations – the layout of the Beagle, some of the plants and animals Darwin saw, the people who went along, and more. See Moran’s post, check out the book.
David Quammen's new version of Darwin's Origin of Species, illustrated
Leave a Comment » | Charles Darwin, Darwin, Education, Evolution, History, Science | Tagged: Biology, Darwin, Education, Evolution, Origin of Species, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Book collectors value Darwin more than school boards do
November 4, 2008Abe Books’ e-newsletter features “Bookshelves of the Rich and Famous,” showing off a number of volumes one could purchase, if one had the inclination and a very large pocketbook.
This one caught my eye:
1st edition, Darwin's On the Origin of Species
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
$179,090.31If your collection includes books on genetics and evolution, this first edition, first issue from the Father of Evolution is a must have. It was published in 1859, and in a true testament to survival of the fittest, is in handsome condition 149 years later. It’s one of only 1250 copies issued. For only $179,000 and change, it would be a fantastic addition to any library. However, if you want to study the species a little more intently, you could put your cash toward 140 life-sized, hand-finished, fully flexible model human skeletons.
The book’s 1,250 copies sold out the first day of sales. In 1859, that counted as a massive best seller.
Turns out the book is for sale in England, at Peter Harrington, Antiquarian Bookseller. That listing has a few more details:
Description: [On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,] or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. First Edition, first issue of “the most influential scientific work of the 19th century” (Horblit) and “the most important biological book ever written” (Freeman), one of 1250 copies. “The publication of the Origin of species ushered in a new era in our thinking about the nature of man. The intellectual revolution it caused and the impact it had on man’s concept of himself and the world were greater than those caused by the works of Copernicus, Newton, and the great physicists of more recent times Every modern discussion of man’s future, the population explosion, the struggle for existence, the purpose of man and the universe, and man’s place in nature rests on Darwin” (Ernst Mayr). 8vo, with adverts dated June 1859. Original green cloth, titles to spine gilt, decoration to boards in blind, chocolate brown coated endpapers, all edges untrimmed, Edmonds & Remnants binder’s ticket. Folding diagram, slit at fold. Slightly cocked, small ink mark to edge of spine, else a very nice copy with cloth bright and fresh, hinges uncracked and with no repairs. Rare thus. Bookseller Inventory # 40762
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: London: John Murray, 1859
Publication Date: 1859
Edition: 1st Edition
Nine more gems, for the rich, at Abe Books. One of them is Dashiell Hammett’s Maltese Falcon. C’mon, lottery ticket!
Leave a Comment » | Biology, Books, Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, History, Life, Literature, Science | Tagged: Biology, Books, Darwin, Evolution, History, Life, Literature, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The very secret Darwin letter you never hoped to see
August 11, 2008You can see it here, at the Sneer Review.
What do you think? Is Darwin outed forever?
Gotta run. Someone is knocking at the door — Mencken’s Ghost, probably.
Could be Ben Stein, I suppose.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kevin Fisher, Texas Citizens for Science.
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Darwin, Evolution, History, Hoaxes, Humor, Religion, Science | Tagged: Ben Stein, Darwin, Evolution, History, hoax, Religion, Satire, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 