My counter has reached zero....and that means it's time to party, to celebrate the birth of the young man (shown in this portrait with his sister) on the right!
Charles Darwin's 200th birthday is indeed time for celebration. Darwin's contributions to the biological sciences are arguably the most significant, in that without evolution, much of biology would be fragmented into different camps of data-gatherers, with no explanatory framework to unite all the stamp-collecting. But, thanks to TENS (the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection), we can bring the disparate observations together into a single web of great power. Dobzhansky's famous quote says it all.
So, let me take this moment to remind folk of their opportunities today. This evening, as previously mentioned, I'll be attending an evening event sponsored by New Covenant Community Church and the local chapter of Reasons To Believe. As I said to one of my fellow Darwinians, this is my cross to bear. For those not interested in the speculations of creationists, or who don't feel an obligation to attend such, let me commend the following events in and around Fresno:
Darwin Birthday Celebration and Reception
Feb 12th, 2009, 4:00 PM
Downing Planetarium and Museum
Darwin Day Dinner (lecture, "Darwin's Finches")
Feb 12th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Carrow's Restaurant
4280 N. Blackstone (major cross streets: Blackstone and Ashlan)
Darwin's Ideas and the Societal Impact of Evolutionary Biology
Feb 13th, 2009, 3:00 PM
Science II Building, Room 109
There may be more events emerging this month as well, and I'll try to post them as I find info about them. If you don't live in the Fresno area, but you'd be interested in finding a Darwin Day event, have I got a web site for you! Check out Darwin Day Celebration. It has a searchable database of events, and as of this post the list is 371 events in 31 countries. Pretty wild!
HAPPY DARWIN DAY!
2/12/2009
HAPPY DARWIN DAY!
2/11/2009
WHEREFORE DARWINISM?
To celebrate Darwin, should we celebrate 'Darwinism'?
This op-ed from the Times says, in effect 'no'. PZ Myers and Jerry Coyne, gasp, agree with one another: they don't like the piece's rhetorical sallies. Well, bully for them, but I have to admit I'm more sympathetic to Carl Safina than they are.
Here's an observation to set my claim in stark relief, a list of the top 20 titles from Amazon.com with the word 'Darwinism' in the title whose central focus is closely related to evolution (I've omitted irrelevant titles, like Richard Hofstadter's 'Social Darwinism in American Thought'.
1) Darwinism and Its Discontents (Ruse)
2) Defeating Darwinism By Opening Minds (Johnson)
3) Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design (Wells)
4) Exposing Darwinism's Weak Link (Poppe)
5) Darwinism (Wallace)
6) Shattering the Myths of Darwinism (Milton)
7) Reclaiming Science From Darwinism (Poppe)
8) Darwinism and Philosophy (Hosle and Islies)
9) Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism (Behe)
10) Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists (Wiker and Dembski)
11) Tornado in a Junkyard: The Relentless Myth of Darwinism (Perloff)
12) Darwinism Evolving (Pew and Weber)
13) Neural Darwinism (Edelman)
14) Darwinism Comes To America (Numbers)
15) Darwinism and the Divine in America (Roberts)
16) Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism (Rachels)
17) Disseminating Darwinism (Numbers and Stenhouse)
18) Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals who find Darwinism Unconvincing (Wilson and Dembski)
19) Darwinism Under the Microscope (Gills and Woodward)
20) Darwinism Applied to Social Goals (Beckstrom)
Three (1,8, 16) are works in the philosophy of biology. Ruse's work also covers much of the history of the 'evo-creo wars', as does 12, 14, 15, and 17.
Wallace's book (5) is basically of historical interest, a facsimile of an 1889 publication.
So how many books does that leave with 'Darwinism' in the title that are contemporary science books, instead of polemics or treatises motivated by interests in history, religion or philosophy?
Three (12, 13 and 20), and they are not concerned principally with documenting or describing mainstream evolutionary biology, but with applications of evolutionary concepts to (respectively) complex adaptive systems, brain function and the social sciences.
The remaining ten, fully half of the twenty, are creationist screeds, mainly from Discovery Institute stooges, highlighted in red. It is worth noting, as well, that these wastes of ink represent seven of the first ten.
I get similar results from searches for 'evolutionism', 'Darwinist' and 'evolutionist'. Very few titles having anything to do with contemporary science. Much about the history and philosophy of biology, discussions of 'social Darwinism' and (of course), a considerable number of Bible-based batshit.
So I think, really, I've made my point. 'Darwinism' has been hopelessly coopted, primarily by the creationists and secondarily by the various academics who study either the historical or present 'controversies' engendered by the cottage industry of creationism within the churches. It can no longer serve a legitimate scientific usage in North America. Let it go, and let those who use it to attack science be forced to wear it, like Cain's mark.
"CHARLES DARWIN AND THE TREE OF LIFE"
Courtesy of my noble colleague Madhu, here is a link to all six parts of the new BBC special, featuring the justly-renowned David Attenborough!
By the way, Madhu is giving a talk on Darwin's finches on Thursday evening as part of a "Dinner with CVASS". I can't attend, but I am sure it will be better-informed that almost any other offering in the Fresno area on Feb. 12th. Details here!
