On Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:21:26 -0500 (CDT), Wesley R. Elsberry wrote:
WE>Bill Dembski writes:
>
>WD>P.S. In Tower of Babel, Rob Pennock attributes the phrase
>>"specified complexity" to Norm Geisler ("What Mount Rushmore
>>and DNA Have in Common," 1986). Just to set the record
>>straight, Norm got it from Charlie Thaxton (Mystery of Life's
>>Origin, 1984, pp. 130-31), and Charlie got it from Leslie
>>Orgel (The Origins of Life, 1973, p. 189).
[...]
WE>68. Although Geisler appears to be the first to sketch the
>whole argument, it is only fair to point out that he picked
>up the key notion of specified complexity of DNA from Charles
>Thaxton, et al. (Thaxton, Bradley, and Olsen 1984, p. 130),
>and that Thaxton was academic editor of Pandas. Thaxton in
>turn credits (Yockey 1977).
>
>[End Quote - R Pennock, Tower of Babel, p.392]
[...]
I haven't got Pennock yet but if what Wesley has quoted above is correct,
then Pennock is simply *wrong*. "Thaxton", et. al. does *not* "in turn
credit...(Yockey 1977)". They credit *Orgel*:
"It should be noted that aperiodic polypeptides or polynucleotide do not
necessarily represent meaningful information or biologically useful
functions. A random arrangement of letters in a book is aperiodic but
contains little if any useful information since it is devoid of meaning. + Only
certain sequences of letters correspond to sentences, and only certain
sequences of sentences correspond to paragraphs, etc. In the same way
only certain sequences of amino acids in polypeptides and bases along
polynucleotide chains correspond to useful biological functions. Thus,
informational macromolecules may be described as being aperiodic and in a
specified sequence. 5. Orgel notes:
`Living organisms are distinguished by their specified complexity. Crystals
fail to qualify as living because they lack complexity; mixtures of random
polymers fail to qualify because they lack specificity.' 6
5. Yockey, J. Theoret. Biol., p. 383.
6. Orgel, The Origins of Life, p. 189.
(Thaxton C.B., Bradley W.L. & Olsen R.L., "The Mystery of Life's Origin",
1992, pp129-130)
Yockey is mentioned immediately before but regarding a *different point*.
I have Yockey's article cited and indeed his book "Information Theory and
Molecular Biology" (1992). Nowhere in the article or AFAIK in his book or
his other articles does Yockey use the term "specified complexity".
It is *Orgel* who first used the term "specified complexity". And so
Dembski is right when he says: "Norm [Geisler] got it from Charlie Thaxton
(Mystery of Life's Origin, 1984, pp. 130-31), and Charlie got it from Leslie
Orgel (The Origins of Life, 1973, p. 189)".
Steve
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"It is perhaps clear to the reader that the genetic system is, in principle,
isomorphic with communication systems designed by communications
engineers. As a matter of fact, genetical systems have historical priority
since organisms have been using the principles of information theory and
coding theory for at least 3.8 x 10^9 years!" (Yockey H.P., "Information
Theory and Molecular Biology", Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
UK, 1992, p7)
Stephen E. Jones | sejones@iinet.net.au | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
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