An academic look at Florida's evolution battle

Remember all the back-and-forth earlier this year about whether evolution is "just a theory"? An article in a new academic journal, Evolution: Education and Outreach, uses the Florida fight as a frame for discussing some of the philosophical/historical reasons why the debate goes on. (It has a lot to do with Francis Bacon.)

Heavy stuff maybe, but if you care about the issue, check it out.

While we're on the subject again, is the Florida Legislature going to let sleeping dogs lie? Or should we expect to see the "academic freedom" bills resurface in, oh, six to eight months? Louisiana Governor (and potential John McCain running mate) Bobby Jindal signed a similar bill into law three weeks ago.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Comments

[Susie]

Mr. Parsons [Biblical Scholar and Scientist Extraordinaire]

In paragraph 5 of your first comment you state "There are only two elementary particles which make up the whole of the universe:the proton and electron." And you state in Volume 3,Chapter 7 of The QUEST FOR RIGHT - The Adventure of a Lifetime that included in the "Procedural Eliminations" are radioisotopes and neutrons. So how do radioisotopes exist?

And stop dissing Avogadro, he was dead when that constant was named after him.

Another question, what was Mark Roberts smoking when he stated "...the style of writing to be quite lucid..." when reviewing your textbooks.

Further "this is serious business." - so stop making stuff up!

You make belief in the FSM look attractive.

P.S. I don't think that your textbooks will be adopted when science has its next adoption in a few years. Sorry,
but you are a hoot - a fairy tale spinning hoot!

[publicschoolteacher]

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a satire to show just how ridiculous this is- having anything faith-based qualify as science. I will always have a higher regard for the FSM because he reminds me that I can make a case for anything that is unprovable, like religion.

The day they make teachers include (un)intelligent design in the classroom is the day that my students will also learn about Pastafarianism- I'll teach it along with Swift's "A Modest Proposal."

[patcon]

This is an elaborate spoof, right? A 7 textbook series covering "science" for public schools. I started reading Vol.1 (presumably for younger students), Chapter 7, and it was filled with such language as to be virtually incomprehensible. Maybe that's the point, make it beyond understanding so you have no choice but to say, "because that's the way God wants it" for an explanation to everything. Fortunately, I have a solid college education and training in science, so I can make some sense of what is written. There is some discussion of correct science (correct as understood by reputable scientists around the world), but this is discarded (without real refutation) in favor of some made-up fairy-tale "stuff".
Case in point - Lest I be accused of misquoting, here is this book's explanation of why apples turn brown when cut and exposed to air. Sorry for such a long excerpt, but this stuff must be exposed for what it really is.
(start quote)
The concise evaluation of current fillers paves the way for the inquiry into two other so-called redox reactions, the browning of fruit and fire. When the question is raised as to why a freshly sliced or bitten apple turns brown, the automatic reply is, “Oxidation.” A few will venture further and state, “It is a redox reaction in which a transfer of electrons has occurred.” Regardless of the definition of oxidation, be it the simple redox affirmations of the 18th Century or the current reply, the causation of the browning of fruit is not oxidation. The redox reactions outlined by the council are stymied by the truth and have fallen.

In refuting the old and introducing the new, the browning of fruit may be explained in clear and simple pronouncements based on the tried and true rules of classical physics. The correct terminology, in lieu of “oxidation-reduction,” is incrustation—“to incrust or harden into a crust.”

An apple consists jointly of mostly water and cellulose, “the primary constitute of the cell walls (fibers) of all plants.” When a sharp utensil is utilized to slice an apple, the molecular structure of the fruit is not cut per se but, rather, torn apart. Pursuant to the tearing apart, the cells begin to ooze or exude a fluid, commonly referred to as “juice,” whereupon the evaporation or drying out process begins. The subsequent condensation, specifically the elimination of water molecules through evaporation, causes the remaining molecules to draw together or shrink, forming macromolecular or giant molecules of the same substance. The arrangement of giant molecules is known as a polymer; the polymeric materials left behind during the evaporation process form the crust.

The foregoing adequately describes the process by which the polymeric crust is formed. It does not, however, explain the browning that occurs. The coloration of an apple, or any other fruit or plant, is due to the presence of coloring matter in the tissue and cells called pigment.

Although the coloration may be of a very light hue, the evaporation-condensation process also causes the polymerization of the pigment associated with the dead and dying cells; again, the latter results from the tearing apart of the molecular structure by a cut or bite. The pigment molecules join together to form a more complex molecular state, producing an extract—“a highly concentrated form of the pigment materials.” The causation for the browning of fruit may be acclaimed: When the molecular structure of fruit is torn apart, the combined processes of evaporation, condensation, and polymerization produce an extract of the pigment molecules.

The obvious lesson, even to the casual reader, is that the browning of fruit is not oxidation-reduction related. There was neither a loss nor gain of electrons and, therefore, no transfer of electrons (that is, an atom either borrowing or else contributing one or more electrons to another). Moreover, oxygen neither combined with any element in the fruit nor was any oxygen lost or given up. Oxygen is involved in the process of incrustation only in the sense that it is a constitute of water. In order for oxygen to be considered a contributing factor, the meaning of oxidation would have to be broadened to include the evaporation of water. The broader scope would then border on the ridiculous, as the evaporation and condensation of ocean waters in the formation of fresh water raindrops would be considered oxidation.

The simplicity of the investigation’s language— rudimentary arguments based on classical physics—rules out any supposed need for mathematical evaluations and their expressed formulae denoting half reactions, oxidation states, and the like. The obstructionist’s tools, electronic interpretation and quantum mathematics, are inconsequential in any further dialogue relative to so-called redox reactions. The truth will be further established as the remaining “oxidation” process is entertained: the phenomenon of combustion (fire).
(end quote)
Let's throw away all the science we've learned and replace it by fairy tales.

[C. David Parsons]

I have the Flying Spaghetti monster on the back of my vehicle!

Haven't you heard? A man had him for dinner at Olive Garden last evening. The gentleman stated that he was a little stale. Your spaghetti god will come out the bowels in about two days and you can worship him once again.

Friends, this is serious business. Further your education by reading The Quest for Right. http://questforright.com

[C. David Parsons]

So much for radioactive isotopes,
I guess they don't exist.

A radioactive isotope exists; however, a more appropriate term is radioisometric. The fundamental aspects of bonded pairing in the formation of radioisometrics, which is entertained in Volume 3 of The Quest for Right, disannuls all quantum speculation concerning the creation of radioisotopes as related by the old
architecture.

Nothing will be the same after this.

http://questforright.com

[publicschoolteacher]

Can you give me one review of the Quest for Right that isn't written by another religious zealot? No? Didn't think so.

These books distort science to "support" your leap of faith. Scientists aren't trying to defend a belief. They welcome discoveries that challenge antiquated ways of thinking, UNLIKE religion! Nothing is more celebrated in the scientific community than a discovery that forces a rewriting of the books.

And you DEFINITELY don't want your children to get any religious instruction from me in public school. I have the Flying Spaghetti monster on the back of my vehicle!

Quoted from the website:
"Education is our business. The spiritual well-being of students is our goal."
That isn't the goal of science education in public schools.

ditto, patcon!

[patcon]

I only have one thing to say about the first comment - what a load of manure!

[Susie]

So much for radioactive isotopes,
I guess they don't exist.

[C. David Parsons]

THE BIGGER PICTURE IN THE DEBATE ON DARWINISM IS NOT INTELLIGENT DESIGN.

The reason is elementary: the Discovery Institute and other ID proponents leave out the Triune God, Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Hence, Richard Dawkins can make the case for “aliens” seeding the earth.

The Quest for Right, a series of 7 textbooks created for the public schools, represents the ultimate marriage between an in-depth knowledge of biblical phenomena and natural and physical sciences. The several volumes have accomplished that which, heretofore, was deemed impossible: to level the playing field between those who desire a return to physical science in the classroom and those who embrace the theory of evolution. The Quest for Right turns the tide by providing an authoritative and enlightening scientific explanation of natural phenomena which will ultimately dethrone the unprofitable Darwinian view.

"I am amazed at the breadth of the investigation - scientific history, biblical studies, geology, biology, geography, astronomy, chemistry, paleontology, and so forth - and find the style of writing to be quite lucid and aimed clearly at a general, lay audience." ― Mark Roberts, former Editor of Biblical Reference Books, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

The Quest for Right series of books, based on physical science, the old science of cause and effect, has effectively dismantled the quantum additions to the true architecture of the atom. Gone are the nonexistent particles once thought to be complementary to the electron and proton (examples: neutrons, neutrinos, photons, mesons, quarks, Z's, bosons, etc.) and a host of other pseudo particles.

To the curious, scientists sought to explain Atomic theory by introducing fantastic particles that supposedly came tumbling out of the impact between two particles, when in fact, the supposed finds were simply particulate debris. There are only two elementary particles which make up the whole of the universe: the proton and electron. All other particles were added via quantum magic and mathematical elucidation in an attempt to explain earthly phenomena without God.

Introducing the scheme of coincidence, which by definition, "is the systematic ploy of obstructionists who, in lieu of any divine intervention, state that any coincidental grouping or chance union of electrons and protons (and neutrons), regardless of the configuration, always produces a chemical element. This is the mischievous tenet of electron interpretation which states that all physical, chemical, and biological processes result from a change in the electron structure of the atom which, in turn, may be deciphered through the orderly application of mathematics, as outlined in quantum mechanics. A few of the supporting theories are: degrading stars, neutron stars, black holes, extraterrestrial water, antimatter, the absolute dating systems, and the big bang, the explosion of a singularity infinitely smaller than the dot of an “i” from which space, time, and the massive stellar bodies supposedly sprang into being.

The Quest for Right is not only better at explaining natural phenomena, but also may be verified through testing. As a consequence, the material in the several volumes will not violate the so-called constitutional separation of church and state. Physical science, the old science of cause and effect, will have a long-term sustainability, replacing irresponsible doctrines based on whim. Teachers and students will rejoice in the simplicity of earthly phenomena when entertained by the new discipline.

The Quest for Right. http://questforright.com