Re: Student perceptions re evolution

From: John W Burgeson (jwburgeson@juno.com)
Date: Tue Aug 26 2003 - 12:04:04 EDT

  • Next message: Dr. Blake Nelson: "Re: Student perceptions re evolution"

    Sarah wrote: "Dawkins is surely one of the people that Lewontin means
    when he talks about "vulgarizers of science"."

    Thank you for picking up that very neat phrase. I've read Dawkins's
    latest book; that phrase accurately describes my reaction to it.

    I was rereading Eddington's THE NATURE OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD last week.
    This book, based on Eddington's 1926 Gifford lectures, I first
    encountered as a physics undergrad at Carnegie Tech about 1951. Readers
    familiar with Dawkins will recall his observation that "Atheism first
    became intellectually respectable when Darwin published in 1959."
    (paraphrased). I wonder if Dawkins picked up that phrase from Eddington's
    book. Here is Eddington, page 350 of the 1929 edition:

    "It will perhaps be said that the conclusion to be drawn from these
    arguments from modern science, is that religion first became possible for
    a reasonable scientific man about the year 1927."

    BTW, Eddington also has a good defense of methodological naturalism in
    this most excellent book. He understands that the debate about the
    faith/science boundary is absolutely necessary.

    Burgy

    www.burgy.50megs.com

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