ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Clifford-

    Maybe what we need is an exhibit on the inquisition.  Or throw in book
burnings, too.

                                                Ed


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Clifford Wagner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: IMAX and evolution


> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>
****************************************************************************
*
>
> From:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: IMAX and evolution
> Date: March 23, 2005 10:49:28 AM EST
> To:   [log in to unmask]
>
>
> Anybody remember some guy called Galileo and his struggles when the
> science he discovered clashed with the bible?
>
>
> Jared Diamond in his latest book, "Collapse" gives a great definition
> of Science:  "Science is the acquisition of reliable knowledge about
> our world."
>
> Well, Galileo had reliable knowledge.  Even the Catholic church now
> thinks so:
> One of the first steps of John Paul's papacy, which began in 1978, was
> to begin procedures leading to the rehabilitation in 1992 of Galileo,
> the Italian astronomer persecuted by the Church for teaching that the
> Earth revolved around the sun.
>
> The Inquisition condemned Galileo in 1633 because his teachings
> clashed with the Bible, which read: "God fixed the earth upon its
> foundation, not to be moved forever." Galileo was rehabilitated after
> 359 years.
>
> Evolution is reliable knowledge.  Scientists don't make this stuff up
> to fit preconceived ideas.  It comes from studying all the evidence and
> figuring out what fits the facts.   My personal opinion  is that those
> of us who believe in God can look at evolution and say Wow! that's how
> s/he did it!
>
> Here is a great web resource for Science and Evolution.
> http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/evolution/index.shtml
>
> Their take on this  is probably the best route for science centers to
> take:  science is science and religion is religion.
>
> Science can never prove or disprove there is a God, but science can say
> this is the way our world is, whether or not there is a God behind it.
>
> The other fact that gets mentioned  with complaints about evolution is
> the age of our world.   The layers, counting back from present trees,
> to layers of dirt and ice to layers of rock laid down, are proof, as
> much as science ever has proof, that the Earth and it's biological
> world are as old as biologists and geologists say; hundreds of millions
> of years for life and five or so billions of years for the planet.
> It's the interpretation of the layers that makes sense; we see in our
> recent past layers of tree rings and ice, laid down on the yearly cycle
> of seasons, match up to the recent layers in stone and get a scientific
> idea how to interpret the stone evidence in terms of time.
> Irrefutable.  Stick up for it.  It is reliable knowledge about our
> world.
>
> Those who let their religious beliefs deny or try to alter the facts of
> science to fit those beliefs make science no longer reliable.  Guess
> what?  It stops being science.
> If you give creationism equal billing with evolution please remove the
> word science from your name, because you are no longer about science.
>
> Peter Anderson is right.  We have to stand on our principals.
>
> We need to write a position statement that we can post for our visitors
> to see, most especially for the Science Centers in the most religious
> communities, based on Science is Science and Religion is Religion with
> a positive tone.  I'm not a good writer.  Anyone want to do a first
> pass to post for feedback and tuning so we all have it as a tool?
>
>
> Clifford Wagner
>
>
> On Mar 23, 2005, at 3:18 AM, Peter A. Anderson wrote:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> > Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> > institutions.
> > ***********************************************************************
> > ******
> >
> > Charlie,
> >
> > If we can't stand on principal on important items because of our
> > financial
> > support system, surely, we need to work to change  that support system
> > so that we can stand on the principles.
> >
> > Being fanatically principled is unproductive indeed; we must roll with
> > the
> > punches to a degree, but there comes a time .......
> >
> > Regards,  Peter Anderson
> >
> > ***********************************************************************
> > More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
> > Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at
> > http://www.astc.org.
> > To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
> > message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
>
> ***********************************************************************
> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
> Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at
http://www.astc.org.
> To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
> message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
> [log in to unmask]

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]