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In the 1970's I had a wonderful time visiting Dinosaur State Park. My
somewhat sketchy recollection is that shortly there after, maybe in
the '80s––some industrious creationists carved human footprint in the
nearby rock, so that future creationists would have some "evidence" of
contemporaneous existence. Adjacent to the park, and visible from
it's higher hills, one can look down on the footprints of dinosaurs
and across to the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power plant, an interesting,
thought-provoking juxtaposition.
Charlie
On Mar 31, 2008, at 10:26 AM, Martin Weiss wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I think this is the "news" item Jeff was referring to re: BC Tours
> of the Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences evolution exhibitions.
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaithMatters/story?id=4467337&page=1
>
> It may have served no useful function to confront them with their
> belief that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. However, I might have
> been interested in engaging them in conversation about the facts of
> the supposed co existence. I guess I'd really like to see the
> footprints also.
>
> Martin
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>> This weekend, I had the pleasure of taking my two sons to Dinosaur
>> State Park, southwest of Ft. Worth, Texas. It is a place I highly
>> recommend - there are dinosaur footprints visible in the riverbed.
>> In the summer, one can wade and swim in the shallow pools. The
>> most spectacular are two sets side by side - one showing a
>> carnivore, the other a herbivore. While there is no way to know if
>> the hunter was stalking its prey, it certainly fires the imagination.
>>
>> But this is really about the issue of pseudo museums. As I was
>> watching my boys on the other side of the river, skipping stones,
>> of course, two twenty-something men came down to the bank. After
>> exchanging pleasantries, how cold is the water, etc. they asked a
>> question which stunned me: "Do you know where the set of tracks
>> are showing the human footprints right next to the dinosaurs'?"
>> Of course I said no. To which they replied, "We stopped at the
>> Museum on the way in and they have a picture of them (the side-by-
>> side tracks). They're supposed to be near here. Boy, that's
>> something I'd really like to see."
>>
>> They had been to the Creation Evidence Museum. I'm sorry the boys
>> and I didn't have time to visit, it would have been fascinating.
>> Perhaps I should say it would have been illuminating. If you have
>> time, and the inclination, I recommend perusing their website:
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/2rnao9
>>
>> It is a wonderful example of obfuscation through scientific language.
>>
>> Recently there was a nice piece on the news about how a creationist/
>> intelligent design organization uses the Denver Museum to take
>> tours of home schoolers to show how they, the intelligent
>> designers, are right and the rest of us are wrong. If someone has
>> the link to that, I would love to see it shared.
>>
>> Frankly, I don't know why I feel compelled to share the story of
>> this encounter. I have no desire to make fun of these two young
>> men. They are as interested in the pursuit of truth and meaning as
>> anyone else. Nor did I feel any compunction to engage them in a
>> conversation about the flaws in what they had seen at the
>> 'museum.' I'm not on the front line of the war, or skirmish, or
>> whatever it should be called, between intelligent design proponents
>> and those who work hard to try and keep pseudo science in its
>> appropriate place - outside of science.
>>
>> If I gained anything from the experience, it is a deeper admiration
>> for those who do wage the war. If I learned anything from the
>> experience, looking at their website, it brings home our collective
>> willingness to defer to those who offer themselves as experts.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Martin Weiss, PhD
> Science Interpretation
> Consultant,
> New York Hall of Science
>
> ***********************************************************************
> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
>
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org
> .
>
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Charles Carlson
Director of Life Sciences
exploratorium
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
[log in to unmask]
Tel: 415-561-0319
Fax: 415-561-0370
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Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
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