By Robert on Sunday, 11 January 2009
Category: Uncategorised

Intellectually bankrupt creationist tract

Introduction

The introductory paragraph tells (a version of) the Piltdown hoax.  Of course a rational consideration of the Piltdown affair would suggest that it reflects one of the strengths of the scientific process - that is, re-examination of evidence, in this case leading to the exposure of a hoax.  In fact, I would suggest that this hoax succeeded in part due to the desire amongst British paleonologists to see human origins as British!

Science Fiction

What does Science say?

This section merely has some quotations.  On of these (" Evolution is a fairy tale for grown-ups.  this theory has helped nothing in the progress of science.  It is useless") is a quotation that pops up all over the internet in creationist writings.  It has been thouroughly debunked.  For example paraphrased here:

Louis Bounoure never served as Director or even a member of the CNRS. He was a professor of biology at the University of Strasbourg. Bounoure was a Christian but did not affirm that Genesis was to be taken to the letter. 

The beginning of the quotation, "Evolution is a fairy tale for adults" is not from Bounoure but adapted from Jean Rostand, a member of the Academy of Sciences of the French Academy. Rostand also wrote that "Transformism may be considered as accepted, and no scientist, no philosopher, no longer discusses the fact of evolution." (L'Evolution des Especes [i.e., The Evolution of the Species], Hachette, p. 190).

The end of Bounoure's quotation is from his book, "Determinism and Finality." It runs, "That, by this, evolutionism would appear as a theory without value, is confirmed also pragmatically. A theory must not be required to be true, said Mr. H. Poincare, more or less, it must be required to be useable. Indeed, none of the progress made in biology depends even slightly on a theory, the principles of which are nevertheless filling every year volumes of books, periodicals, and congresses with their discussions and their disagreements."

The web page that is taken from clears up a number of lies propagated by Kent Hovind, who is referenced in the next section:

How to make $250,000

Well, I would suggest that

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