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Introduction Both traditional creationists and intelligent design scholars have invoked probability arguments in criticisms of biological evolution. They argue that certain features of biology are so fantastically improbable that they could never have been produced by a purely natural, “random” process, even assuming the billions of years of history asserted by geologists and astronomers. They . . . → Read More: Does probability refute evolution? Many creationists and others have wondered, if evolution is truly a fundamental, universal principle, why we don’t see evolution in action in arenas other than biological evolution. In the absence of such nonbiological instances of evolution, they argue, the central principle of evolution in biological species is drawn into question. In fact, there are a . . . → Read More: Are there analogues of evolution in other fields? Introduction In his studies of the dialogue between science and religion, the present author is often struck by the fact that persons sympathetic to one side often attack the other side with only the scantest credentials, expertise and knowledge of the issue. For example, some persons, typically of strong religious backgrounds, have contacted the present . . . → Read More: Is there a “royal road” to science and religion? Creationists and others skeptical of modern science often assert that short of having a time machine, it is impossible to know with any confidence any events of the distant past. For example, creationist Ken Ham has argued that the big bang and the theory of evolution are only “theories,” because no one was around to . . . → Read More: How can we study geology and evolution without a time machine? One of the most common refrains in news and commentaries, from both the religious right and the secular left, is that modern society is in sharp decline: skyrocketing rates of crime, divorce, teenage sex, teenage births, drug abuse and war (especially in the 20th century). There is also concern that modern society’s focus on science . . . → Read More: The great decline of Western society: What are the facts? Many will greet the title of this piece with considerable skepticism — in this day and age how could one possibly talk about a decline in violence? Yet it is true. Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker begins his new book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined as follows: This book is about . . . → Read More: The remarkable decline of violence A recent study in Christianity Today reports that many in the Christian world, particularly in the evangelical community, still resist the accepted scientific worldview of a universe approximately 13.75 billion years old, an earth that is approximately 4.65 billion years old, and a biological world that has developed by largely natural evolutionary processes through many . . . → Read More: Creationism and religious activity of youth From time to time, the scientific community is rocked with cases of scientific fraud. Needless to say, such incidents do not help instill confidence in the public mind that is already predisposed to be skeptical of inconvenient scientific findings, including biological evolution and global warming. One notable case of fraud came to light in 2002, . . . → Read More: Mathematics and scientific fraud Introduction Many of us know that the sun is approximately 150 million km or 93 million miles away, a distance that is known as the “astronomical unit” (AU). Neptune, the most distant planet, is 30 AU from the sun, or some 44.8 billion km (27.9 billion mi). The Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched in 1977, reached . . . → Read More: How do scientists measure distances to stars and galaxies? Introduction During a lunch in the summer of 1950, physicists Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller and Herbert York were chatting about a recent New Yorker cartoon depicting aliens abducting trash cans in flying saucers. Suddenly, Fermi suddenly blurted out, “Where is everybody?” Behind Fermi’s question was this line of reasoning: Since there are likely many other . . . → Read More: Where is everybody? |
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