Huge crowds extend Darwin exhibit in New York

Yahoo ^ | 3-22-06 | N/A

[Central Scrutiniser]

Huge crowds extend Darwin exhibit in New York

Wed Mar 22, 2:54 PM ET

NEW YORK (AFP) - A monumental Charles Darwin exhibition in New York has been extended by five months amid an overwhelming public response to what was touted as a scholarly rebuke to opponents of teaching evolution in US schools.

The American Museum of Natural History said Wednesday that nearly 200,000 people had visited "Darwin" since it opened three months ago.

Originally slated to close at the end of this month, the exhibition will now run through August 20, said museum spokesman Joshua Schnakenberg.

"Darwin" had opened amid furious debate in many school districts over the teaching of the 19th century naturalist's evolutionary theory and the first trial on the teaching of the God-centered alternative favoured by many religious groups, "intelligent design," or ID.

That trial, in Pennsylvania, ended in defeat for the evangelical right with the judge in the case decrying the "breathtaking inanity" of the school board in the town of Dover which backed the concept that nature is so complex it must be the work of a superior being.

"Our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom," the judge said in his ruling in December.

An early section of the New York exhibit is devoted to the question, "What is a Theory?" and seeks to clarify the distinction between scientific theories and non-scientific explanations about the origins and diversity of life.

"This is really for the schoolchildren of America. This is the evidence of evolution," said the exhibit's curator, Niles Eldridge.

In a Gallup poll released last October, 53 percent of American adults agreed with the statement that God created humans in their present form exactly the way the Bible describes it.

Thirty-one percent stood by the "intelligent design" stance, while only 12 percent said humans have evolved from other forms of life and "God has no part."

[Ichneumon]

220+ posts in the thread, nearly a third of them mine, and I got bored with it "quickly"?

Yup. A crevo thread is just getting ramped up at 220 posts. I've stuck with countless such threads that have gone well beyond a thousand posts.

[Ichneumon]

[One of my son's teachers assured him that snakes do not have bones.]

Snakes gots bones?

[andysandmikesmom]

Yes, one can do those things at home...I do it when I have to...the point being, when we are out, and have a taste for Chicago style dogs, and italian beef and sausage combo sandwiches, its nearly impossible to find a place that has what we want....of course, I can cook them up myself if I have to, but when we are out for a day of fun, and I dont want to have to go come and cook, and we have a taste for our Chicago specialties, its darned hard to find them...at least out here in the Pacific Northwest...

[js1138]

Try a slow cooker. It takes a day or two to get the right texture. My wife can duplicate pretty near any seasoning we encounter in a restaurant. My daughter can improve on it.

[andysandmikesmom]

You understand fully, why having Chicago dogs, and Italian beef from a Chicago restaurant, or hot dog cart, or drive in or hole in the wall place is different from making it at home...thanks...

[js1138]

Every once in a while a Chicago snowbird opens a "Taste of Chicago" diner in my town. They never last. Since the cooking websites got going, I've resigned myself to finding ethnic recipes and doing it myself.

[Ichneumon]

["This is really for the schoolchildren of America. This is the evidence of evolution," said the exhibit's curator, Niles Eldridge.]

Adolph Hitler said….”Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state. The state will take youth and give to youth it’s own education and it’s own upbringing. Your child belongs to us already….what are you?”

Let me get this straight -- you're comparing presenting science in a museum where attendance is voluntary with Hitler?

And if you're going to lamely trigger Godwin's Law, at least learn how to spell Hitler's name properly.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Yeah, in this thread, anyone not a creationist is either a liberal, a marxist, a nazi, etc....


More craven bomb throwing from the ignorance is bliss crowd.

[Ichneumon]

[ The American Museum of Natural History said Wednesday that nearly 200,000 people had visited "Darwin" since it opened three months ago. ]

The people that elected Saul Alinsky's student(Hillary) as a Senator plus Chuck Shumer, the Waddler, Rangle and other Moonbats and WILL ELECT EVEN MORE OF THEM.. have spoken..

Thank you for openly confessing your bizarre belief that being science-literate is incompatible with being a conservative... Countless liberals would heartily agree with you on that point, even though I don't.

[andysandmikesmom]

Its hard to make a go of restaurants....they come and they go, its often hard to be a success...the main place we went for our Chicago dogs and Italian beefs, was always jammed, sometimes hard to get a table...and they always had a big take out clientele as well....they were a great success...I so wish they had not closed, due to a family crisis...

but the cooking websites certainly do provide the recipes for those of us who miss regional foods from places we used to live in...we can cook it up ourselves...

I still miss the great hushpuppies, and bar-b-que we enjoyed in North Carolina, when we lived there...

Every region of the USA has it local specialties, and foods and ways or preparation unique to the area...

[Gumlegs]

Personally, I mourn the loss of the Berghoff.

[andysandmikesmom]

That was a shame, wasnt it?....I had been there only a few times myself...my husband on the other hand, had been there many times...when he was growing up, his best friends father used to take my husband and his best friend, downtown for a day of shopping and then lunch at the Berghoff...my husband tells me, he always had the same lunch when they went there, and he remembers it fondly...he was very sorry when he heard that the Berghoff would be no more...

[Right Wing Professor]

Google "Kelvin's Second Law of Thermodynamics": 49 hits.

That's almost legit. Kelvin did restate the Second Law in a useful way.

[Gumlegs]

I loved the annex -- with their wonderful dark beer and the sandwiches. I rarely had the time to wait for a seat in the restaurant.

Heaven on Seven had the same problem, although they expanded to a second location ... which wasn't on seven.

[b_sharp]

"Actually, the opposite is true. The large crowds are generally drawn to things which require very little intellect. Events and places which are more.. cerebral.. generally do not appeal to large numbers. Professional wrestling has a larger regular crowd than the public library."

Events that surround or represent controversy will also draw large crowds irrespective of their intelligence level. Trying to draw the conclusion that the numbers visiting an Evolution display suggest mindlessness as you have done is useless, because your argument in this case is based on incorrect premises.

[Heyworth]

The Italian Beef however...sure you can try to make it at home, but it really is impossible to reproduce the flavor of Italian Beef at a Chicago restaurant. The spices used, the pot used, the length of cooking time, all of those things are practically trade secrets.

What I find is that, while the spicy giardiniera peppers are tough to find, but findable, it's impossible to get the bread right.

Ultimately I think what I miss isn't so much the sandwich itself, which I can reasonably reproduce, but being able to get one within three blocks of anywhere I'm standing.

[b_sharp]

"So how is THAT theory, purely made up, with zero evidence, any MORE worthy of exploration than another theory, such as a Creator? How many scientific minds are saying that since we do not have any evidence to prove the existence of "dark matter", that we should not bother exploring it? Are they trying to ban discussion of "Dark matter" from H.S. classrooms?"

Astronomers now believe they have found a dark matter galaxy that emits no light. Does this qualify as enough evidence to back up the mathematics that are discussed in schools?

[gomaaa]

You'd think his name would come up more often on these threads.

Kelvin came closer than anyone to finding a LEGITIMATE scientific attack on Darwin's theory. I remember reading that they were contemporaries and that Kelvin's measurements of the Earth's core were showing that the center of the Earth's crust was too hot and that Earth was FAR too young for Darwin's theory to be valid. Kelvin was practicing GOOD science and making a credible case against evolution that was not necessarily influenced by his religious views (though he was a very religious man). In the end, Kelvin's measurements were proven wrong due to the fact that the Earth is continually being heated by radioactive materials, something he could have known nothing about at the time.

An actual scientific argument. I dream of such a thing sometimes....

[Right Wing Professor]

You'd think his name would come up more often on these threads.

Problem was, he wasn't a YEC. His earth was too young for Darwin and too old for Genesis.

I agree with your appraisal, though. He was truly a first rate scientist.

[b_sharp]

"Meanwhile, you expect me to believe that a DNA molecule (let alone all the further development and biodiversity) which is far more complex than any musical score... happened by pure random chance and accident."

This says much more about abiogenesis than evolution.

You are making the erroneous assumption that the first self replicator was a DNA string as complex as we find today. This is unwarranted as DNA is not necessary, RNA makes a fine replicator and the initial molecule of RNA did not need to be of modern length.

It is much more likely for a 10 nucleotide ditty to be whistled than is a lengthy 670 billion nucleotide concerto. All this ditty (phrase) needs do is replicate with some dissonance (a few sour horns or wood winds) and some recapitulation thrown in to eventually result in a rather lengthy symphony.