Scientific Discussion - Darwinism

Scientific Discussion

So I just read this article from the New York Times called "Darwinism must die so that evolution may live" And it is an interesting article about how Darwin's theories of evolution are basically what the majority of people today believe what evolution is. Now I have read The Origin of Species about a year and a half ago and since it is on my 100 Greatest Books list I wrote a little blurb about it.

I should preface this review with the fact that I am a paleontologist and I have been studying geology and paleontology for over 20 years. I came into reading The Origin of Species knowing full well that the text was written over 150 years ago and the science of paleontology and evolution has progressed at a lightening pace since then. That being said, I still was not sure what I was getting into when I read it. To quote my former evolutionary biology teacher "Don't read The Origin of Species unless you have to." This is a science textbook and that is how it reads. The science itself is severely out of date and the text is rather dull to boot. Since the science is not current, I recommend that someone reading this should have a basic scientific background so that they can understand where the science is questionable or not. The main problem I have with The Origin of Species is that instead of doing science experiments, Darwin typically takes observations and makes large leaps of logic to explain why his observations are the way they are. Granted this is a seminal and often interesting work of scientific history, but it is too much of a difficult read for me to recommend it.

Pretty much this is what the article states. The science is severely out of date. To the point where it is just wrong in many cases. Darwin's way of solving problems is also in question (by me). He looks at things (like giraffe neck lengths) and just assumes they evolved into longer necks. He does no science experiments or presents no theories, he just assumes. It is basically a religious view of science (again as I see it).

The main problem I have with Darwin is not his theories, it is how he is presented. I have seen countless scientists flaunting over him as if he created the world while he was just another step in the ladder of science. Great, he brought evolution to the forefront of society, but many others before and since have done a lot more work and should deserve the same amount, if not more, credit.

Scientific Discussion - New Orleans

Scientific Discussion

Since everyone else needs to make their thoughts known I figured I would join into the game. First off I want everyone to know I am a Democrat. I voted for Kerry and I have no love for Bush. I don't think he has done a good job in his presidency and I think he has made a lot of bad decisions. Ok that being said my comments:

1. I don't know why people are blaming Bush on everything that happened in New Orleans. First I feel that it is not his job to wait for every little thing to happen then respond to it.

2. Second (and the big thing): the day after the hurricane New Orleans was not that badly hit. Several other towns in Mississippi and Louisiana were MUCH worse off, so federal help went to them first. It is the day after that help was down there. The problem first appeared to be bigger than originally thought when the levees broke. That's when New Orleans became the vast disaster area it was. But that was 2 days after the hurricane and all the help was already elsewhere. They could not just drop everything they were doing to rush back.

3. Third: studying geology for the last 6 years I have heard about New Orleans for a very long time. The way they built up the city is similar to Venice. If anyone knows about Venice it is currently sinking so they have to continually build up the streets and buildings. New Orleans blocked off the Mississippi River so that no new sediment was being deposited on the delta where the city was built. A delta is essentially a big bag of sand and silt in water on the edge of the gulf. Now place a city on top of it. This forces the land to settle in the water. Back to current conditions - the city has been sinking causing it to be lower than sea level. The only thing holding out the ocean was the levees. Picture this, a bathtub surrounded by water and then the wall breaks on the tub and it fills with water. It has been known for some time that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen and no one has tried to fix it.

4. Fourth: Several of the families could not leave the city before it happened but most chose to stay for some stupid reason of "I didn't think it would be so bad". Well it was, and they told you to leave but you didn't and several of them still choose to stay. Even the nursing home was offered busses to leave but the families said they would be fine.

5. Fifth and final: The media is a major problem with this whole thing. They are making problems out to be worse than they are and things that are really bad they are not paying much attention to. They keep blaming Bush without trying to find any help for anyone and don't get me into the whole racist thing. I agree there are gangs and problems and such like that but just because someone is black does not mean they are in a gang and just because they are white does not mean they are innocent. I think the majority of people there are in desperate need for help but it is the few that need to yell at the cameras that get the majority of the attention. And the mayor of New Orleans isn't helping anyone by cursing at the camera saying that Bush should do something. They even had a priest doing the same thing but at FEMA this time.

I personally believe that the setting for this was in place and that it was gonna happen. Was everything done afterwards to help the people, probably not. But we can't focus on that, we need to help the people now and get this city up and running, however long it takes. And this time we need to learn how to do it right. (Now for the bleak geologic future): The reason they need to figure this out is because there are several cities on the coast that are the largest cities on the planet. Because of global warming (not taking place as fast as people are warning but still really fast geologically) the coastal cities will be drowned out. So if they learn how to do it right they might actually be able to save the world in the future.