Transcript Slide 1

Dr. Arthur Keith, Scottish anatomist
and anthropologist. He wrote the
introduction to an earlier edition of
Darwin’s Origin of Species.
“Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We
believe it only because the only alternative is
special creation which is unthinkable.”
Cited in Origins?, by BG Ranganathan, p.22
T. Rosazak, "Unfinished Animal",
1975, p. 101-102.
"The irony is devastating. The main
purpose of Darwinism was to drive every
last trace of an incredible God from
biology. But the theory replaces God with
an even more incredible deity omnipotent chance."
"the assumption that evolution is an
established fact of science is absolutely
false. Thus, evolution can only be correctly
labeled as a belief, a subjective philosophy
of origins, the religion of many scientists."
T. Rosazak, "Unfinished Animal",
1975, p. 101-102.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAEWb3gig80
The God Delusion is a 2006 book by British
biologist Richard Dawkins, holder of the Charles
Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of
Science at the University of Oxford.
In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a
supernatural creator almost certainly does not
exist and that belief in a god qualifies as a
delusion, which he defines as a persistent false
belief held in the face of strong contradictory
evidence. He is sympathetic to Robert Pirsig's
observation that "when one person suffers from
a delusion it is called insanity. When many
people suffer from a delusion it is called
religion."[1]
As of November 2007, the English version of
The God Delusion had sold over 1.5 million
copies and had been translated to 31
languages.[2] It was ranked #2 on the
Amazon.com bestsellers' list in November
2006.[3][4] In early December 2006, it reached
#4 in the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction
Best Seller list after nine weeks on the list.[5] It
remained on the list for 51 weeks until
September 30, 2007.[6] It has attracted
widespread commentary, with several books
written in response.
God is not Great: How Religion
Poisons Everything (published in the
United Kingdom as God is Not Great:
The Case Against Religion) is a nonfiction book by author and journalist
Christopher Hitchens.
In the book, Hitchens contends that
religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant,
allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry,
invested in ignorance and hostile to
free inquiry, contemptuous of women
and coercive toward children."
Hitchens' main arguments for his points
include a combination of personal
stories, documented historical
anecdotes and critical analysis of
religious texts. His commentary
focuses mainly on the Abrahamic
religions, although he discusses other
religions such as Hinduism and
Buddhism as well.
Root of All Evil? The Original Program 2DVD Set
A beautiful new digital transfer from the master,
with new artwork and special features.
In this two-part documentary, Oxford Professor
Richard Dawkins examines how religious faith
is gaining ground in the face of rational,
scientific truth. The program takes you to some
of the world's religious hot-spots, both in
America and the Middle East. Dawkins meets
with religious leaders and their followers, as
well as scientists and skeptics to examine the
power of religion. Interviews with former Pastor
Ted Haggard, the novelist Ian McEwan, the
former Bishop of Oxford, and others offer
valuable insights into the global impact and
consequences of faith in the 21st century.
Along with his million-copy bestseller The God
Delusion, Richard Dawkins' Root of All Evil?
has helped inspire people of reason worldwide
to say "Enough is enough!" Our modern world
is the product of a long march from ignorance
and fear to the Enlightement and beyond,
always guided by the power of science and
reason. To now abandon our endeavour toward
progress and knowledge for faith and
superstition puts humanity in peril
The Blind Watchmaker is
a 1986 book by Richard
Dawkins in which he
presents an explanation of,
and argument for, the
theory of evolution by
means of natural selection.
He also presents
arguments to refute certain
criticisms made on his
previous book The Selfish
Gene. (Both books are
intended to popularise the
gene-centric view of
evolution.)
Produced on shown on the
Science Network
" `Creation,' in the ordinary sense of the
word, is perfectly conceivable. I find no
difficulty in conceiving that, at some former
period, this universe was not in existence;
and that it made its appearance in six days
in consequence of the volition of some preexisting Being."—*Thomas Huxley,
quoted in *Leonard Huxley, Life and
Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, Vol. II
(1903), p. 429.
Dr. Robert Jastrow, American
astronomer, physicist, agnostic:
Dr. Robert Jastrow
(September 7, 1925
– February 8, 2008)
"Scientists have no proof that life
was not the result of an act of
creation.“
Robert Jastrow, The Enchanted
Loom: Mind in the Universe
(1981), p. 19.
Received his A.B., A.M and Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Columbia University in 1948. Joined NASA when it was formed in
1958. First chairman of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Committee, which established the scientific goals for the exploration of the
moon during the Apollo lunar landings
Chief of the Theoretical Division at NASA (1958-61). Founding director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in 1961.
Served until his retirement from NASA in 1981. Director Emeritus of Mount Wilson Observatory and Hale Solar Laboratory
Q: What do you suppose accounts
for children's obsession with
dinosaurs?
A: I once asked Sheldon White, the
child psychologist, and I loved his
answer: "Big, fierce, and extinct."
Interview By Michael Krasny with Stephen
Jay Gould, January/February 1997 Issue of
Mother Jones Magazine.
nostrils
Water level needed for sight and breathing.
Tail like a cedar
APATOSAURUS
(Brachiosauros; obsolete
name= Brontosaurus)
The "Deceptive Lizard”- A Harmless Giant
This enormous plant-eater measured about 7090 feet long and about 15 feet tall at the hips. It
weighed roughly 33-38 tons. Believed to be
one of the largest dinosaurs that ever existed.
Compsognathus
Smallest of the
dinosaurs
Compsognathus was a bird-like dinosaur that
walked on two long, thin legs; it had three-toed
feet. A long tail acted as a counterbalance and
for stability during fast turns. Compsognathus
was about the size of a modern chicken and
believed to be one of the smallest dinosaurs.
Megalosaurus
was up to 30
feet long, 10
feet tall, and
weighed about
1 ton.
The first dinosaur to be described scientifically was
Megalosaurus. This genus was named in 1824, by
William Buckland. Buckland (1784-1856) was a
British fossil hunter and clergyman.
The biggest known carnivorous dinosaur.
40’ long, 15 to 20’ tall. Weighed roughly 5
to 7 tons.
Triceratops
30’ long,
10’ tall,
weighed up
to 6-12 tons.
Triceratops horridus
"Horrible Three-horned Face"
Human Variation
•
•
•
•
•
Watusi
Pygmy
Dwarfism
Basketball players
Eskimo (Inuit)
Billy Barty
3-foot-9
Shaquille
O’neal
7-foot -1
This is an example of genetic variation
and natural selection and NOT evolution
Origin of Dinosaurs?
The Standard Story
Dinosaurs evolved 220 million
years ago
Origin of Dinosaurs
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs,
Dr. David Norman, 1985, p. 186.
“The question of the origin of dinosaurs
is one that has puzzled paleontologists
for many years.”
Origin of Dinosaurs
The Natural History Museum Book of
Dinosaurs, 1998, p. 12.
“Where did dinosaurs come from? That
apparently simple question has been
the subject of intense debate amongst
scientists for over 150 years,…”
Evolution and Evidence
The Origin of Dinosaurs
Thecondonts
“Small lizards
that ran on two
legs and gave
rise to the giant
reptiles
collectively
known as the
dinosaurs”
The only evidence presented in
any major biology textbook
The Nature of
Life, 1995
Gen 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth
bring forth the living creature according to
its kind: cattle and creeping thing and
beast of the earth, each according to its
kind"; and it was th
so.
6 day
Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the
earth according to its kind, cattle according
to its kind, and everything that creeps on
the earth according to its kind. And God
saw that it was good.
Job 40:15 Look now at the behemoth, which I
made along with you; He eats grass like an ox.
Job 40:16 See now, his strength is in his hips,
And his power is in his stomach muscles.
Job 40:17 He moves his tail like a cedar; The
sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.
Job 40:18 His bones are like beams of bronze,
His ribs like bars of iron.
Job 40:19 He is the first of the ways of God;
Only He who made him can bring near His
sword.
Job 41:1 Can you draw out
Leviathan with a hook, Or snare his
tongue with a line which you lower?
Job 41:2 Can you put a reed through
his nose, Or pierce his jaw with a
hook?
Job 41:26 Though the sword reaches
him, it cannot avail; Nor does spear,
dart, or javelin.
Job 41:18 His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the
morning.
Job 41:19 Out of his mouth go burning
lights; Sparks of fire shoot out.
Job 41:20 Smoke goes out of his
nostrils, As from a boiling pot and burning
rushes.
Job 41:21 His breath kindles coals, And
a flame goes out of his mouth.
Job 41:25 When he raises himself up,
the mighty are afraid; Because of his
crashings they are beside themselves.
Job 41:34 He beholds every high thing;
He is king over all the children of pride."
“Now comes the important question. What
caused all these extinctions [of dinosaurs
and other animals] at one particular point in
[history]? Dozens of reasons have been
suggested, some serious and sensible,
others quite crazy, and yet others merely as
a joke. Every year people come up with
new theories on this thorny problem. The
trouble is that if we are to find just one
Alan Charig, A New Look at the Dinosaurs (New York, NY: Facts on file, Inc., 1983).
reason to account for them all, it would
have to explain the death, all at the same
time, of animals living on land and of
animals living in the sea; but, in both
cases, of only some of those animals, for
many of the land-dwellers and many of the
sea-dwellers went on living quite happily
into the following period. Alas, no such
one explanation exists.”
Alan Charig, A New Look at the Dinosaurs
(New York, NY: Facts on file, Inc., 1983).
Evolution’s Explanation of Life
All species evolved over millions of years
from a common ancestor
How did this happen?
Engines: mutation,
natural selection
Proof: fossil record
Mechanism for Change
Single cell
Invertebrate
Invertebrate
Vertebrate (fish)
Fish
Amphibian
Amphibian
reptile
Reptile
Bird/mammal
Ape-like creature
Human
What was the mechanism that could
cause all this to happen?
Mutation
&
Natural
Selection
Natural Selection
Genetic Variation
• Ability to adapt to the environment
• Survival of the fittest
Can natural selection cause one kind
(species) to become a new kind?
• Can only select from existing information
• Can cause a loss of information
• Has no foresight into the future
What is mutation?
A change in biological form and or
function that results from changes in
DNA structure. Most mutations are
negative and detrimental or neutral and
lateral in effect. On rare occasions
mutations can show some advantage.
Mutations occur randomly and have random
effects. When a mutant breeds, these genetic
mutations are inherited by the offspring.
Extra Fingers
(Polydactyl)
Sickle Cell
Anemia
Mutations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
None of them
add new
progressive DNA
information
necessary for
evolution.
Insertions
Deletions
Inversions
Duplications
Translocations
Recombination's
Most are harmful or neutral
Programmed gene expressions
– Bacteria resistance to antibiotics
Mutations
Lee Spetner (Ph.D. Physics – MIT, taught information and
communications at Johns Hopkins University), Not By
Chance, 1997, pp. 131, 138
“But in all the reading I’ve done in the
life-sciences literature, I’ve never found
a mutation that added information…
All point mutations that have been
studied on the molecular level turn out
to reduce the genetic information and
not increase it.”
Mutations and Evolution
Jonathan Wells, Ph.D. Molecular Biology
“But there is no evidence that DNA
mutations can provide the sorts of variation
needed for evolution…
There is no evidence for beneficial
mutations at the level of macroevolution, but
there is also no evidence at the level of what
is commonly regarded as microevolution.”
Mutations
Maxim D. Frank-Kamenetski, Unraveling DNA, 1997, p. 72.
(Professor at Brown U. Center for Advanced Biotechnology
and Biomedical Engineering)
“Mutations are rare phenomena, and a
simultaneous change of even two amino acid
residues in one protein is totally unlikely. …
One could think, for instance, that by
constantly changing amino acids one by one,
it will eventually be possible to change the
entire sequence substantially…
continued
These minor changes, however, are
bound to eventually result in a situation
in which the enzyme has ceased to
perform its previous function but has not
yet begun its ‘new duties’. It is at this
point it will be destroyed – along with the
organism carrying it.”
Mutations and disorders
Natural Selection and Mutations
If evolution is true
Natural selection
should eliminate
harmful disorders
Time
Natural Selection and Mutations
12000
MIM Entries
10000
8000
Mendelian
Inheritance in Man
encyclopedia of human
genes and disorders
6000
4000
2000
Observed data
0
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999