GENIE!

WOW.....

So, like, we had a really big crowd for Dr. Scott's talk on Wednesday evening:



As it turned out, I was sort of drafted at the last minute to tape Dr. Scott's talk (with her permission!) since I had brought my little Flip video recorder. All praise to the Generator Of Diversity, Madhu was able to loan me a tripod, or else I really wouldn't have been able to enjoy the talk. I couldn't video the whole deal with the Flip's limited hard drive, but Madhu also recorded the audio, which we hope to podcast.



Who knows? We may be able to combine the audio, what video I have and the Power Point and make a pretty slick little deal. But, seriously, while I love my Flip, the resolution is pretty low and I am starting to wonder what it's going to take for me or some other local science geek to invest in a better video setup for these kinds of events. I'd like to come up with some one-size-fits-all technology that would connect to any presenter's laptop, automatically stream the images of their Power Point, and record their audio to hard disk. Any thoughts, gentle reader?

Here's a brief (and probably incomplete) outline of Dr. Scott's talk:

1) Introductory remarks, the image of 'monkey to man', through presentation of the evidence for descent with modification (Darwin's original phrase), which is to say, evolution from a common ancestor

2) Exploration of the nature of science, drawing on an idea of the physicist James Trefil:



(click on the picture to read the introductory chapter of Dr. Scott's book 'Evolution and Creationism' )


3) The 'Pillars of Creationism'

4) The Creation-Evolution Continuum

5) A brief discussion of the role played by NCSE in defending the teaching of evolution.

Anyway, in a few days I'll start releasing segments of the talk here as YouTube thingies.

I'M THANKFUL FOR . . .

Eugenie Scott, who will be appearing in Fresno on Dec. 2nd (Wednesday), and who does such an important job really well.

Bringing Dr. Scott is a nice way to finish out the 2009 bicentennial of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species, and bringing Dr. Scott to Fresno is a bit of a coup for my colleagues at CSU Fresno. The Consortium for Evolutionary Studies ("Darwin's Bulldogs") at CSU Fresno is presenting to special lecture along with the Tri-Beta Biology Honors Club, the Noyce Scholars Program, the Natural Sciences Student Club, and Associated Students.



I will be at this event, with bells on!

FOR WHAT PURPOSE, THANKSGIVING?

I get a variety of views in my mailbox. Here, for example, are the thoughts of that great bear of burden, Newt Gingrich. Short version: let's remember that the purpose of Thanksgiving is to give thanks to God. Well...duh. But Newt goes a bit farther, and seems to miss the fact that going farther creates an obvious conflict. Right after acknowledging that not all Americans are Christians, he seems to blithely assume that even the non-Christians believe in something not just like 'God', but the God of Washington and Lincoln. Hard to believe the guy was a college professor.

Then, there is Jorge Chan's take from Ph.D. (Piled Higher and Deeper):

There's also the bracing honesty of Charles Barkley, who favorably compares Thanksgiving to the greed of Christmas in an extended rant about the need to lose weight. One gets the impression the 'Round Mound of Rebound' would tell the prof in Ph.D to take a long walk off a short pier:






Finally, check out PZ's subtly-conflicted view: Time off with the family and friends, he's OK with it. Praying to an imaginary being, not so much. But...what if the whole point of the holiday, as (ugh) Newt Gingrich says, is to give thanks to some imaginary being or another? Ack! Must reclaim holiday time in name of non-belief! Like I said, conflicted!