>> First: Randy gave a rather lengthy list of "Creationist Scientists".
I have seen such lists before, usually containing a fair number of
prominent Christian scientists who lived before 1859. Do others find
this tactic as questionable as I do? One might as well use the opinions
of 19th century scientists as support for Newtonian mechanics rather
than Einstein's theory of relativity.
>> Included in the list was Gregor Mendel. This implies that Mendel had views
>> that would be consistent with Morris, Gish et al. If true, I was unaware of
>> it. In fact, I was not aware that Mendel had ever expressed any views that
>> would label him as a "creationist" or as an "evolutionist". Does somebody
>> have writings of Mendel that would clearly identify him in any such group??
"That Mendel accepted evolution and that by his investigations he only
wanted to show a new and better explanation of how evolution takes
place could be proved by numerous quotations from his papers and
letters. But he also accepted the theory of natural selection as can
be proved by a sentence from the end of his last letter to Naegeli of
November 18, 1873: "If that were the situation, we would have to
attribute the spontaneous hybridization in Hieracium to temporary
disturbances which, if often repeated and becoming permanent, would
result finally in the disappearance of that particular species;
whereas one or another of the more favorably organized hybrids, which
might be better adapted to the existing conditions, might succeed in
maintaining itself in the struggle for existence..." "Gregor Mendel's
Life and Heritage" by Hugo Iltis, in: "Genetics in the 20th Century",
L.C.Dunn Ed., Macmillan Co. NY, 1951
The next passage is from a posting to sci.bio.evolution by Jeffrey Kaye,
a Darwin scholar:
As to the last point, Mendel was well aware of Darwin's work. (I
believe Mendel visited London in the early 1870s, but have not been
able to find my citation for this assertion.) Mendel's teacher and
mentor, Franz Unger at the University of Vienna, had developed his own
Lamarckian-styled theory of evolution in 1852 which highly interested
Mendel. With the publication of _Origin of Species_ by Darwin, Mendel
accepted Darwin's arguments regarding evolution. In Mendel's 1866
paper, he described the necessity of his experiments with varietal
hybrids as an attempt to "reach the solution of a question, the
importance of which cannot be over-estimated in connection with the
history of the evolution of organic form." (quoted in E. Mayr, _The
Growth of Biological Thought_, 1982, p. 711).
So although Mendel was certainly a creationist in a sense (he was a
monk, after all), he appears to have had no problem with evolution and
natural selection.
-- Jim Foley Symbios Logic, Fort Collins, COJim.Foley@symbios.com (970) 223-5100 x9765 I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. -- Edmund Blackadder