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Sunday, July 10, 2005
Week in Review 1(5)
NT Week in Review
Vol. I, Issue 5
The 80th anniversary of the Scopes trial was this week so needless to say, the anthropological and biological blogosphere was abuzz with opinions on evolution, those curiously knat-like "Intelligent Design" theorists, and the future of the whole debate (hopefully it doesn't have one). I only highlight one blog post and one news story about evolution/creation, but only because I got antsy wading through all the ones I had clipped, intending to include them here. Trust me, they're out there in force. Nevertheless, here we go again. Let's hit the links...
From the blogs:
First off, a link I saw in many blogs I read this past week was to Science magazine's 125 questions not yet answered by science, which will eventually be whittled down to twenty five questions. National Geographic News has highlights.
One of my faves, Brian Leiter, has a mind-numbing (in a good way) yet fascinating post. The title says it all: "On Rhetoric, "Persuasion," and Tone...or Knowing the Difference Between Hard and Easy Questions."
Alun writes on the problem of religion and humanity from an astronomy perspective.
Oneman at Savage Minds briefly noted this LA Times piece that raised the question (aimed at Intelligent Design theorists) if we and the universe were indeed designed by a supreme creator, why are human bodies clearly not designed for optimal performance?
We have bad backs, weak knees, prostates that have older men leaning against a wall for half an hour trying to take a leak, and birth canals routed through skeletal structures barely (and often not even barely) wide enough to fit a baby through.
News, news, news:
For the Evolution/Creation news story, New Scientist has a special piece with some good background about the Creationism vs. Evolution debate. The 80th anniversary of the historic Scopes trial was July 10th.
The Toronto Star has an author profile/book review that catapulted said book to the top of my "to read" list:
A Stanford University philosophy graduate and now a doctoral student in neuroscience, [Sam] Harris has delivered a 323-page jeremiad against religion entitled The End of Faith (W.W. Norton), a bracing, unsubtle yet eloquent plea — more like a clarion call — for a stop to dogmatic religion as we know it, and the start of an age of reason that will render religious faith as archaic as the worship of Odin.
An article about the ever-important topic of historic preservation. This time it's Panam Nagar, the former capital of the state of Bengal:
The New York-based World Monument Fund included Panam Nagar, located some 30 kilometres northeast of the capital, in its 2006 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
The heritage conservation group says structures in the former capital of Bengal will be totally ruined and lost to posterity unless preservation measures are taken immediately. ‘Threats to the site include vandalism, unauthorised occupation, illegal development, poor maintenance, flooding and vulnerability to earthquakes.’
From National Geographic News: Early Australians to Blame for Mass Extinctions, Study Finds:
Roughly 60 species of the continent's large mammals and some bird species became extinct around 45,000 to 50,000 years, as a result of a change in the ecosystem brought on by massive fires set by the early settlers.
The exact purpose of the fires is unclear; the settlers may have been clearing land, signaling other tribes, or hunting. What is clear is that the fires changed the landscape from a mosaic of forests and grasses to the fire-adapted shrubs and spinifix (a grass) found today.
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The Nomadic Thoughts Week in Review Series presents the "best of" from the roughly three dozen anthropology, philosophy, religion, and science news feeds that make up a part of Will's blogroll. It is published every Sunday night/Monday morning.
Posted by Will at July 10, 2005 11:54 PM in