I know this was directed at Howard, but I want to comment on it. Art, you
are an excellent geologist with little formal training in that topic. I am
a manager of geophysics who took no geology or geophysics courses in
colleges. I am good at what I do, having outsurvived 20+ other managers in
the 3 person management team and being now the second longest surviving
person ever in any of those jobs. So the answer to your question is
obvious. People can speak outside of their areas of formal training and
can be quite good at it. But such people also know enough to avoid the
silly little errors I see Johnson making. Reading one or two books on a
topic, extracting quotes out of context, or only reading authors that agree
with one's preconceptions and then writing a best seller does not qualify
one as an expert.
How many years did it take for you to become an expert in geology? It took
me about 10 years as I am a slow learner. I don't think Johnson spent his
time in the trenches learning his subject. But by telling people what they
want to hear, he has had a great impact.
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
Adam, Apes and Anthropology
http://www.flash.net/~mortongr/dmd.htm
Lots of information on creation/evolution