Re: Creationists win the schools in New Mexico
HARRY R. ERWIN (herwin@mason2.gmu.edu)
25 Sep 1996 21:25:37 GMT
Rev EarlL (revearll@aol.com) wrote:
: What will they teach if they do not teach evolution? Just the facts, baby!
: Just the facts.
: Earl L. Langguth
The 'theory' of evolution is actually a tautology (a 'fact') and is
mathematically provable from first principles. If you have the following:
1. genetic inheritance of character traits, and
2. differential selection based on those traits,
you will get Darwinian evolution. (To see, just solve the differential or
difference equations.) Interestingly, evolution can proceed fast enough
for a test to be feasible using historical data. There are a number of
examples of speciation within the last 1500 years. The two best known are
the evolution of a species flock of cichlids in Lake Nabunago since
about 400 CE and a similar species flock of fruit flies in the Hawaiian
Islands since about 800 CE.
'Evolution' is one of the most settled facts in science. That's why
teaching biology without evolution is like teaching Christianity without
the Resurrection. You're ignoring the central organizing principle of the
subject.
--
Harry Erwin, Internet: herwin@gmu.edu, Web Page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~herwin
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