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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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