Athée Canadien
Science
Charles Darwin: 203
Feb 12th
Larry Moran and Jerry Coyne have posted reminders that today is Charles Darwin’s birthday. The comments under Coyne’s post are a treasure trove of information and links. I contributed a comment, but even better is Leslie Brunetta’s comment and link to her article, “The Darwin connection: Anti-evolution bills put my health at risk.”
For those of you in states or who have friends or relatives in states where legislators still think they can score points by attacking Darwin and his ideas, maybe the following short essay I wrote about how much we owe him in practical medical terms will be of some use:
When I was a child in the 1960s, cancer was usually a death sentence. Today, most of us know cancer survivors. The treatment breakthroughs we patients now turn to for help are products of the scientific method. And the most recent treatment breakthroughs rely on knowledge of the DNA of cancer cells. What most non-biologists don’t realize is this: If the theory of evolution hadn’t predicted the existence of genes, we might never have understood the importance of DNA. Benefiting from such gene-based cancer treatments as Herceptin or Gleevec but rejecting Darwin’s theory of evolution is like jetting from Iowa to New Hampshire but rejecting Newton’s theory of gravity.
While Brunetta’s message is directed to Americans, Canadians also need to be reminded of the monumental importance of Charles Darwin’s contribution to science.
My contribution to the celebration of Darwin’s birthday is this site
Darwin Correspondence Project: http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/charles-darwin-and-john-murray
Enjoy!
Science and Pseudoscience
Feb 9th
Sir Issac Newton
A comment by SLC on a Sandwalk post provides a link to this article: “Israel National Library uploads trove of Newton’s theological tracts.”
The end of the world will be coming in just another 48 years, in 2060, according to the father of modern physics, Isaac Newton, who died in 1727. His calculations were not based on mathematical principles or the laws of physics, but instead on the Christian Bible and the Book of Daniel from the Hebrew Bible.
Contrary to his public image, most of Newton’s work was not devoted to science but rather to theology, mysticism and alchemy.
Anyone interested in delving further into Newton’s calculations will now be able to find it on the website of the National Library of Israel, which owns Newton’s manuscripts on theological topics.
Darwin Day 2012
Feb 1st
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — Darwin Day (February 12th), and a time for us all to celebrate SCIENCE!
Here’s a list of events going on around the country (feel free to add some that I’ve missed in the comments):
Friday, February 10th
- in Ottawa: Evolution and Diversity: A Darwin Day Celebration With Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo, 7:30pm at the Dovercourt Recreation Center
Saturday, February 11th
- in Vancouver: Darwin Day Weekend Skeptics in the Pub, 7pm at the Railway Club (sponsored by the Vancouver Skeptics)
Sunday, February 12th
- in Kelowna, Darwin Day 2012, featuring Darwin Day talks by Dr Jessica Theodor and Dr James Hull. Dr Theodor’s talk is: “Almost Like a Whale – Darwin and the Origin of Whales” and Dr Hull’s talk is: “Darwin, Nature and God” — 1pm, UBCO Science 337 (sponsored by CFI Okanagan and UBCO Freethoughts)
- in Saskatoon, 2012 Darwin Day Celebration!, featuring two presentations followed by discussions. Speakers this year are from the U of S Biology department: Prof. José Andrés and Prof. Dick Neal. Birthday cake and coffee will be available. (sponsored by CFI Saskatoon, Saskatoon Skeptics, and the University of Saskatchewan Freethought Alliance)
Wednesday, February 15th
- in Lethbridge, Darwin Day Movie Night, with film showing of “Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life” by David Attenborough and “The Genius of Charles Darwin” by Richard Dawkins, 6:45pm in Galileo’s Lounge, University of Lethbridge.
Keep an eye on the Darwin Day Events page for any additional events in your area. And hey, why not send that special person in your life a Darwin Day e-card? (sure beats a silly valentine)
Ontario government sponsors religious tobacco
Jan 25th
No. There is no difference between tobacco sold by big corporations and tobacco prepared for religious ceremonies.
And yet, the Aboriginal Tobacco Program is sponsored by the Ontario government. Worse, it’s sponsored by Smoke Free Ontario and Cancer Care Ontario, both provincial government agencies working with the ministry of health to prevent cancer.
Since traditional aboriginal tobacco isn’t meant to be smoked in cigarettes I doubt the practice is wide spread enough to be considered a problem on its own. Yet by sponsoring bad science claims like ‘traditional tobacco is a healer’, the government is placing the public at risk. The government has no place protecting specific religious practices, much less dangerous ones and our health officials, if they have any integrity, need to stand up and do their job. Stop sponsoring religious practices, cancel this silly program, and declare all tobacco to be equally dangerous.
Eppur si muove (and yet, it moves)
Jan 18th
In 1633, Galileo was charged and found guilty of the crime of heresy for suggesting the earth was not the centre of the universe. He was sentenced to life imprisonment (reduced to house arrest) and forced to read and sign the following:
“Tips on women for Stephen Hawking”
Jan 11th
According to Jean Hannah Edelstein at The Guardian,
Professor Stephen Hawking, leading elucidator of the universe, . . . confessed to having his own intellectual kryptonite. Women, he said in an interview with New Scientist, were a “complete mystery” – one that he now devotes much of his time to contemplating.
Edelstein wants to help Hawking understand women:
[J]ust as Hawking was able to explain the universe to those of us who were mystified by it in A Brief History of Time, it is my pleasure to be able to explain women to those who are mystified by us in a A Brief List of Five Obvious Points About Women Using Helpful Scientific Similes.
The five points are clever and fun. Here is number one:
Much like individual fundamental particles, women and men are different, but also the same. Which is to say: women are unique, complicated, intellectual, emotional, sexual. We respire and we digest. Sometimes we are lovely. And sometimes we are horrible. This has less to do with our intrinsic womanliness and more to do with the fact that we are human.
Awww, how embarrassing for you.
Dec 26th
The following photo was posted by @LoveGod50. He’s been one of two people (the other is @GodsWordIsLaw) who have been openly harassing Ricky Gervais on twitter. More >
Coyne v. Haught
Nov 3rd
Debates are always such fun, but sometimes people get their noses out of joint and it ends badly. This is what seems to have occurred between Jerry Coyne and John Haught
First there was the debate. Then after the debate, Haught refused to let the video of the debate be released. Coyne made a stink about this, and this led to public outrage. Now the video has been released. Haught says he agreed to the filming, but not to releasing it on the internet, and he accuses Coyne of ad hominem attacks.
While I don’t agree with Coyne’s position (I’m a happy accommodater and I think Coyne oversimplifies not only theology but also science’s reliance on falsification) I’m also somewhat at a loss to explain what set Haught off.
It may be that he views Coyne’s directness and bluntness as improper somehow, but after viewing the debate my only assessment is that both seem to be by numbers, with their arguments.
Ho hum, tempest in a teacup… what do you think?
Big Science and Bad science
Oct 24th
I remember watching Ben Stein’s travesty of a movie about how the grand conspiracy of Science was keeping creationism down… Its the same stuff I often hear from the alt.med people about how Big Pharma has convinced people they need expensive drugs, when all they really need is vitamin C. If a corporation, or academic does it, it must be bad. Better to listen to the quack who tells you what you want to hear.
This always makes me cringe, but just because people are paranoid and ignorant about science, doesn’t mean science doesn’t have its problems, and that it can’t get better. We can make it better.
Four Outta Five Ain’t Bad, Russ
Oct 20th
In his article Five Candidates for the Corporate Death Penalty, Russell Mokhiber makes many valid points. Perhaps I should say that there are many points for which I will take his word on, but lack the means, energy, and patience to validate them myself. These points include statements such as most industrialized western countries have socialized medicine. The USA seems to be the only one where corporations may sell private health insurance. He mentions the fact that the “Big Banks” in the USA hold too much of the nation’s GDP; that they should be broken up so they can relinquish some of their political and governmental control.
These are both assertions I’ve heard before and agree with. There are others in the article, too, that are just as convincing for someone with my beliefs. Where he lost me, however, was his paragraph on nuclear power. More >
Comments