Science in Christian Perspective

The basic working functions of ASA members as stated in our motto are contained in " . . . the task of reviewing, preparing, and distributing information . . . " Our vitality will likely be only in proportion to the extent of our witness to those of contrary beliefs.

Our own Journal is the proper place for the interchange of information necessary and instructive for carrying on this task, Insofar as we are able to get the Journal into the hands of non-believers, it should be a very effective witness. That will be slow and would probably require considerable financial subsidization of subscriptions.

Christian Life magazine has shown considerable interest in having members of our group rewrite their Journal articles in a popular style suitable for their publication. This is surely an important function and we would like to urge you, whether or not you may have had an article for our Journal, to do so. Manuscripts should be sent directly to the Editor of Christian Life Magazine, Mr Robert Walker, at 434 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. This should be a very effective outlet and service to Christian people.

However, a very potent medium of reaching the "outside world" has been largely overlooked and that is the medium of secular professional journals. Articles in these periodicals would rather forcibly carry our messages into the reading schedules of large segments of the professional world.

An article in a recent issue of one such magazine carried the state, "Evolution of the animal and plant world is considered by all those entitled to judgment to be a fact for which no further proof is needed." (R. B. Goldschmidt "Evolution, as viewed by one geneticist." American Scientist 40, Vol. 1, p. 84 (January, 1952). Granted the falsity of the statement, the question arises as to the reason for it. It may be an attempt to trample underfoot any opposition before it has a change to rise - a tactic common in the best of scientific circles. However, we should not overlook the possibility that it is a fair appraisal of the situation as the secular world sees it, simply because the conclusions of those who are "entitled to judgment" are not seen in the literature normally read by professional people.

One deplores the almost completely one-sided view on evolution and creation expressed in various journals, yet the burden is surely upon us to correct this situation. There are, no doubt, some readers of these publications who nominally believe the evolutionary hypothesis for the simple reason that they have never seen in print a logical presentation of the doctrine of creation.

We believe this is an urgent need. The Editor would be glad to hear from some who would be willing to be co-author or author of such a preparation; also from anyone who cares to express an opinion on the suggestion, He will try to act in a liaison capacity for such work and will help in every way possible.

Several journal articles by ASA members have been noted recently. The "Extension of the Carbon 14 Age Method" by J. Laurence Kulp and Lansing E. Tryon appeared in the Review of Scientific Instruments for June, 1952, on the refinements used to get reasonably reliable age determinations to 30,000 years. An article on "Electric Field in Diodes and Transit Time of Electrons as Functions of Current," by P. L, Copeland and D. N. Eggenberger was published in the February, 1952 issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.