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From The Panda's Thumb (http://www.pandasthumb.org/)
The most recent issues of Natural History
and Skeptical Inquirer magazines feature articles
on Darwin, evolution, and, as SI puts it, the ID
wars.
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/
Natural History. You may get the complete
contents of the November issue of NH and some of
the articles here:
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/
"The Perimeter of Ignorance," by Neil deGrasse
Tyson. How the argument from ignorance actively
impedes scientific progress.
"Evolution in Action," by Jonathan Weiner. Mr.
Weiner has fallen victim to a bit of creationist
disinformation: His otherwise excellent article
is marred by his statement that the story of the
peppered moth has fallen. See "Why the Peppered
Moth Remains an Icon of Evolution," by Matt
Young, and references therein
(http://www.pandasthumb.org/pt-archives/000886.htŠ.
See also the box, "Evolution That's Fast Enough
to Watch," associated with Mr. Weiner's article.
"The Fossils Say Yes," by Donald Prothero. How
transitional forms have filled in the gaps in the
fossil record.
"The Origins of Form," by Sean Carroll. Another
article on evolutionary developmental biology but
worth reading even if you have read Professor
Carroll's article in SI.
"The Galaxies, They Are A-Changin'," by Charles
Liu. An interesting article, but I wish he hadn't
used the term "evolution" for the gradual
development of the universe - as Professor Liu
himself says, it is nothing like biological
evolution.
There are many more articles than I have
mentioned here, and I found virtually all
interesting. If you are in New York or get there,
don't miss the exhibit, "Darwin," November 19
through May 29, at the American Museum of Natural
History, the publishers of NH.
Finally, one criticism. SI articles are well
documented, but I found neither reference nor
bibliography in the special section of NH.
http://www.csicop.org/si/
Skeptical Inquirer. As of this writing, the
November-December 2005 issue of SI has not been
posted on their Website. It is called "Evolution
and the ID Wars." Here is a partial list of
contents. (http://www.csicop.org/si/)
"Does Irreducible Complexity Imply Intelligent
Design?" by PT regular Mark Perakh. Professor
Perakh here outlines his contention that, in
disagreement with William Dembski and Michael
Behe, good design is simple, not complex, and
redundant, not irreducible.
"Only a Theory? Framing the Evolution/Creation
Issue," by David Morrison. We need better slogans.
"Endless Forms Most Beautiful," by Sean Carroll.
Embryology and evolutionary developmental
biology, and how they have "reshaped our picture
of how evolution works."
"Harris Poll Explores Beliefs about Evolution,
Creationism, and Intelligent Design," by
anonymous. Scary. Also, at least one of the
questions is wrong in its implications; "Darwin's
theory of evolution" is not proved by "fossil
discoveries," and people are justified in
disagreeing with the statement that it is so
proved.
Martin
--
Martin Weiss, Ph.D
Vice President, Science
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111 th Street
Corona, New York 11368
718 699 0005 x 356
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