Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Science Icon Fires Broadside At Creationists
London Times vis The Statesman (India) ^ | 04 July 2004 | Times of London Editorial

Posted on 07/04/2004 5:19:27 PM PDT by PatrickHenry

Professor Ernst Mayr, the scientist renowned as the father of modern biology, will celebrate his 100th birthday tomorrow by leading a scathing attack on creationism.

The evolutionary biologist, who is already acclaimed as one of the most prolific researchers of all time, has no intention of retiring and is shortly to publish new research that dismantles the fashionable creationist doctrine of “intelligent design”.

Although he has reluctantly cut his workload since a serious bout of pneumonia 18 months ago, Prof. Mayr has remained an active scientist at Harvard University throughout his 90s. He has written five books since his 90th birthday and is researching five academic papers. One of these, scheduled to appear later this year, will examine how “intelligent design” — the latest way in which creationists have sought to present a divine origin of the world — was thoroughly refuted by Charles Darwin a century and a half ago.

His work is motivated in part by a sense of exasperation at the re-emergence of creationism in the USA, which he compares unfavourably with the widespread acceptance of evolution that he encountered while growing up in early 20th-century Germany.

The states of Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Oklahoma currently omit the word “evolution” from their curriculums. The Alabama state board of education has voted to include disclaimers in textbooks describing evolution as a theory. In Georgia, the word “evolution” was banned from the science curriculum after the state’s schools superintendent described it as a “controversial buzzword”.

Fierce protest, including criticism from Jimmy Carter, the former President, reversed this.

Prof. Mayr, who will celebrate his 100th birthday at his holiday home in New Hampshire with his two daughters, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, was born on 5 July 1905 in Kempten, Germany. He took a PhD in zoology at the University of Berlin, before travelling to New Guinea in 1928 to study its diverse bird life. On his return in 1930 he emigrated to the USA. His most famous work, Systematics and the Origin of Species, was published in 1942 and is regarded still as a canonical work of biology.

It effectively founded the modern discipline by combining Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection with Gregor Mendel’s genetics, showing how the two were compatible. Prof. Mayr redefined what scientists mean by a species, using interbreeding as a guide. If two varieties of duck or vole do not interbreed, they cannot be the same species.

Prof. Mayr has won all three of the awards sometimes termed the “triple crown” of biology — the Balzan Prize, the Crafoord Prize and the International Prize for Biology. Although he formally retired in 1975, he has been active as an Emeritus Professor ever since and has recently written extensively on the philosophy of biology.


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: crevolist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 301-320321-340341-360 ... 1,201-1,207 next last
To: MacDorcha
Theology has an answer that does not conflict with your methods. it provides that intellegent design must have taken place, and this is provable by the simple fact that you keep arriving at simply more questions. your inability to prove anything beyond a "law" is proof that "law" is not absolute, but we can grasp the idea of absolute. why is that? Theology provides that the ideal "absolute" must exist. they named that absolute "God"

That is not logical reasoning. The lack of an answer with current understanding is not proof of the existence of divine entities.
321 posted on 07/06/2004 10:44:13 AM PDT by Dimensio (Join the Monthly Internet Flash Mob: http://tinyurl.com/3xj9m)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 320 | View Replies]

To: All

looking at the number of posts, something occured to me.

evolution is more or less algerbraic. that is to say, "1" to the next step is "1 + (any number)"

you cannot arrive at anything beyond "0" using this method though. "not alive" does not evolve (or increase) the same way 0+0 or 0x(any number)does not equal anything else.

secular evolutionists are assuming that there is no "0" yet "0" is provided in the air we breathe. the point here being that something got added to our nothing to make everything in the first place. according to out theories, this should be a simple experiment as there are few things to consider. make sure you have the proper chemicals present, and blast it with enery.

where's the cells? nada. something is missing, but we see that energy and chemicals are all living things are, right?


322 posted on 07/06/2004 10:45:54 AM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 320 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
Well, I guess that you've thorougly refuted evolution by posting a quote from a man who has been dead 122 years ago. Certainly no one has found anything in the extremely short time since then.
323 posted on 07/06/2004 10:46:34 AM PDT by Dimensio (Join the Monthly Internet Flash Mob: http://tinyurl.com/3xj9m)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 319 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio

the lack of an answer without theology provides that theology may still provide an answer.


324 posted on 07/06/2004 10:48:42 AM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 321 | View Replies]

To: MacDorcha; Doctor Stochastic
3/3 = .999999....? no, it is 3 divided by 3, or "1"

Surely, you are not denying that 0.9999999..... = 1, are you?

325 posted on 07/06/2004 10:49:24 AM PDT by longshadow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 208 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio

Well, I guess that you've thorougly refuted evolution by posting a quote from a man who has been dead 122 years ago.

why not? you guys "proved it" by a guy who died 122 years ago.


326 posted on 07/06/2004 10:49:27 AM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 323 | View Replies]

To: MacDorcha
you guys "proved it" by a guy who died 122 years ago.

Evolution theory, just like every theory in science, can not be proven. Scientific theories are never proven. Darwin did not "prove" evolution, he merely authored the original incarnation of the theory which has since been heavily supported by mountains of observed evidence.

Darwin's contribution was important, but he hardly did all of the work. The theory has gained a lot of credibility as a result of findings by other scientists since Darwin died.
327 posted on 07/06/2004 10:52:36 AM PDT by Dimensio (Join the Monthly Internet Flash Mob: http://tinyurl.com/3xj9m)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 326 | View Replies]

To: MacDorcha
the lack of an answer without theology provides that theology may still provide an answer.

"May" != "will"

Valid explanations are those supported by evidence and observations, not those that are brought forth simply because you can't think of an explanation.
328 posted on 07/06/2004 10:54:47 AM PDT by Dimensio (Join the Monthly Internet Flash Mob: http://tinyurl.com/3xj9m)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 324 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
And speaking of taxonomy, sans evolutionary theory (at least the common descent part), why would one use a tree structure to trace anthrax.
329 posted on 07/06/2004 11:19:21 AM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 308 | View Replies]

To: PatrickHenry
I think you're correct. It isn't science either. So what is it?

What it is: An investigation into alternatives to abiogenesis, which is the crackpot theory (or non-theory, depending on how you look at it) sacred to metaphysical naturalists, via such disciplines as information science and complex systems theory.

330 posted on 07/06/2004 11:22:58 AM PDT by betty boop
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 317 | View Replies]

To: betty boop
What it is: An investigation into alternatives to abiogenesis, which is the crackpot theory (or non-theory, depending on how you look at it) sacred to metaphysical naturalists, via such disciplines as information science and complex systems theory.

Is suspect this is more accurate:

What it is: An investigation into alternatives to abiogenesis via such disciplines as information science and complex systems theory by those who understand neither.

331 posted on 07/06/2004 11:31:24 AM PDT by balrog666 (A public service post.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 330 | View Replies]

To: balrog666
What it is: An investigation into alternatives to abiogenesis via such disciplines as information science and complex systems theory by those who understand neither.

Let's test your understanding, balrog: Give a rational defense of abiogensis based on evidence.

332 posted on 07/06/2004 11:40:14 AM PDT by betty boop
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 331 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio
Certainly no one has found anything in the extremely short time since then.

The problems with evolutionary theory are pretty simple. If evolution happened gradually, why does the fossil record show uniform stasis within species?

If evolution happened in great leaps, by what mechanism could this have happened?

---

Another interesting problem with strict, materialistic evolution is the fact that it contradicts the first principle of medicine, the restoration of health to the body. How can health, or the proper operation of the body, be defined in an evolving life form? Logically, no species is fixed, but instead is in a state of perpetual evolution.

Who's to say if a disease isn't culling the herd? In fact, how could "disease" be defined under an evolutionary rubric? Are mutations good or bad? Would it even be possible to define a good or bad mutation?

333 posted on 07/06/2004 12:08:01 PM PDT by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 323 | View Replies]

To: balrog666; PatrickHenry

At least explain to me how you "square" abiogenesis with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. 'Cause I sure can't figure out any way to do it.


334 posted on 07/06/2004 12:08:33 PM PDT by betty boop
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 331 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio

you say God doesnt exist. you have no proof, therefore, are you not as "wrong" as i to even attempt to explain it? in which case, are you not diverging from your coveted ideals?


335 posted on 07/06/2004 12:21:46 PM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 328 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio

Darwin's contribution was important, but he hardly did all of the work. The theory has gained a lot of credibility as a result of findings by other scientists since Darwin died.


and none of this new evidence contradicts a God and a translation of the Bible. where is your issue i ask you?


336 posted on 07/06/2004 12:24:46 PM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 327 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
So, do you not understand what he said or what you said?

Your 288: I think Darwin thoroughly refuted himself a century and a half ago when he said that the theory of evolution would be disproved if the fossil record did not, in the century to come, show itself to be replete with transitional forms.

Darwin:

The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record. In the first place, it should always be borne in mind what sort of intermediate forms must, on the theory, have formerly existed...
What would be the problem with admitting that Darwin didn't say what you reported he said instead of all this dancing around? He said something quite the opposite of what you reported in 288. He had already figured out that the fossil record did not, would not, and should not contain every transitional that ever lived, despite the necessity that such things must have once existed. His chapter on the imperfections of the geological record is explicit from the beginning to the end about what he does and does not predict.
337 posted on 07/06/2004 12:27:15 PM PDT by VadeRetro (You don't just bat those big liquid eyes and I start noticing how lovely you are. Hah!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 318 | View Replies]

To: betty boop
At least explain to me how you "square" abiogenesis with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. 'Cause I sure can't figure out any way to do it.

Square the existence of life with the Second Law.

338 posted on 07/06/2004 12:28:45 PM PDT by js1138 (In a minute there is time, for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. J Forbes Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 334 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
Post 305. Vade *TF* Retro.

There are areas in which Darwin is simply an out-of-date authority. He was only the first Darwinist, after all.

339 posted on 07/06/2004 12:29:20 PM PDT by VadeRetro (You don't just bat those big liquid eyes and I start noticing how lovely you are. Hah!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 319 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio

"May" != "will"

Valid explanations are those supported by evidence and observations, not those that are brought forth simply because you can't think of an explanation.

i use "may" for a specific reason. "will" is not always true. there are clouds and they are very heavy with solids. it is highly likely to rain ("may rain") but then again, it could blow over.

scientists found fossiles that look like what they predicted. they "may" be right on the prediction, or the prediction simply correlates to another phenomia not theorized yet.

evolution "might" be proved by fossils, God "might" be proven by simply waking up and realizing you are alive for a reason. then again, they might not. though the chances are so slim they arent statistically relevant, you must account for them when drawing a conclusion on a rule.

in other words "will" is a no-no word in science.


340 posted on 07/06/2004 12:29:32 PM PDT by MacDorcha
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 328 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 301-320321-340341-360 ... 1,201-1,207 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson