| 2009 Web Sites of the Month |
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| Web Site of the Month - January 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Access Research Network |
This month’s web site review looks at a site from the Access Research Network (ARN) which provides a summary of what made news headlines in 2008 regarding questions involving creation and evolution. On the web site you will find similar summaries for 2007 and2006. The 2008 summary consists of links to three pdf files entitled
From reading the 2008 Press Release you learn that the Access Research Network “is a 501(c)3 scientific and educational organization dedicated to providing accessible information on science, technology and society issues from an intelligent design perspective.”
The Top 10 Darwin and Design news stories as selected by the staff at ARN are as follows:
Five additional stories are listed as deserving honorable mention. Each of these stories is summarized and links are provided that guide the web reader to source information.
The Top 10 Resources link provides a list of a film, video game, magazine article and numerous books that the ARN staff considers to be the top resources for 2008.
To find out more about ARN just visit the web site at www.arn.org.
| Web Site of the Month - February 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| The Theory of Evolution vs. Creation Science |
This month’s web site review looks at what the Pilgrim Tours web site has to say about creation and evolution. The site discusses six scientific disciplines (astronomy, geology, paleontology, genetics, biochemistry and mathematics) and presents a brief discussion about:
The topics discussed under the various disciplines are as follows:
Below the links to the information about the scientific disciplines you will find information about what the Pilgrim Tours web author believes regarding creation and evolution. “The information shown in the disciplines above is our attempt to briefly, yet honestly show each side of the disciplines listed. Some of you have contacted us with corrections and additional information and we thank you for your help to this end. Below you will find our personal viewpoint from an admittedly biased position. However, we do believe our theory holds more evidence toward scientific and rational observation than does the majority of teaching today.”
The personal viewpoint mentioned in the above quote is presented under the title Creation Science – Simple Reasoning. Here you will also find many links to topics of interest regarding creation and evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - March 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| A Question of Origins |
This month’s web site review looks at some of the web pages in a series of web sites having names such as allaboutphilosophy.org, allaboutcreation.org and allaboutscience.org. These web sites provide an interesting discussion regarding the creation vs. evolution debate.
The discussion begins on the www.allaboutphilosophy.org/creation-vs-evolution.htm page and presents material about
Footnotes are provided to allow the reader to explore various sources that are sited. Clicking the Explore More Now link at the bottom of the page takes the reader to the allaboutcreation.org site. Here the material is discussed under the headings of
Clicking the Investigate More Now! link takes the reader to the allaboutscience.org site.
On the allaboutscience.org site you will find a discussion of
If the web reader desires, he or she can select other topics of interest on the various web pages by selecting links that are presented in sidebars. Many web pages also contain links to view short video clips that provide more detailed information about various subjects. Some of the web pages also provide links that allow the page to be viewed in another language such as Dutch, Spanish or Japanese.
| Web Site of the Month - April 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Student Life |
This month’s web site review looks at an article that was published in Student Life, The Independent Newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878. The article was first published on Monday, April 2, 2007.
The article is a discussion about Professor Richard Smith’s “Introduction to Human Evolution” course in the anthropology department. “Professor Smith’s class is notoriously under-enrolled and unpopular with students. You can hear crickets chirping when Smith takes the stage in Brown 100.”
To enhance the course, the newspaper editors believe Smith’s course should explore the more respected theory of Creationism. “Rather than sticking to the antiquated notions that humans evolved from lesser organisms, University professors ought to move towards the future by endorsing the more scientifically-sound view that the universe, humanity, life on earth and this very campus were created by a supernatural deity…”
By now it should be clear that this article in the student newspaper was just a non-factual story published in an April Fool’s Day edition of their paper. What is important to understand however is that you can learn much about people’s attitudes about creation and evolution by reading even their April Fool tongue-in-cheek articles.
Be on the lookout for similar articles appearing on the Internet this month. With the coming of spring, April is the month when many publications enjoy trying to fool readers into believing all kinds of crazy things. The BBC is presenting a spoof on flying penguins that have just recently been discovered.
| Web Site of the Month - May 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Chatting with Charley |
This month’s web site review looks at a web site that provides videos on various subjects. The web site is www.tangle.com and the site allows the reader to join tangle and post videos. In concept the site is very similar to YouTube. The videos on the web site can be tagged with text terms that allow for searching for similar videos. Also, the web reader can click a link that will email a link to the video. Since this is the age of sharing information with friends, you can also share videos with friends through other sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Delicious, Digg and Twitter.
The video under discussion on the tangle site has the title Argument against evolution. The title screen says “Chatting with Charley, Creation vs. Evolution.” The video is 05:17 minutes long and has tags Creation and Science. When I viewed the video, the video had been viewed 103,910 times and 673 Comments had been posted. Selecting the Creation tag you find 3080 videos, while the Science tag yields 1450 videos.
The video begins by Charley defining science. He then begins a discussion about woodpeckers and how they could have evolved from a different bird. He points out that woodpeckers have strong beaks, shock-mounted brains, long sticky tongues and other unique characteristics from other birds. You have to listen to the video to learn why Charley believes that woodpeckers provide a strong argument against evolution.
The 673 comments about the video make for interesting reading. As usual in a discussion about creation and evolution you will find many different opinions, some thoughtful and some rude.
| Web Site of the Month - June 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| “Creation worldview using cutting-edge visual effects and digital technology” |
This month’s web site review looks at the site of Creation Minute. This is a new web site that features a series of short videos hosted by Eric Hovind. Each episode of the series “challenges the evolution theory and gives evidence of the Bible’s historical and scientific accuracy.”
On the home page of the site you will find a fairly large window where you can view the latest short video. The current video has the title “Six Types of Evolution” and a caption that reads “Is ‘evolution’ part of science? It depends on what you mean.” You can view the video by hitting the play button. Below the video window you will find two tabs that are labeled “SUPPORT” and “SUBSCRIBE”.
Also below the video windows on the main web page you will find links to “ARTICLES”, “ARCHIVE”, “ORDER DVDs” and “CONTACT”. Following the “ARTICLES” link, you will find the following creation articles:
The “ARCHIVE” link provides access to the following Creation Minute videos:
On the home page of the site you will also find a link to learn how to win an iPOD Touch filled with Creation Videos.
There is much to explore on this site. Just follow links that you find interesting.
| Web Site of the Month - July 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Genesis Park Exhibit Hall |
This month’s web site review looks at a site that provides a great deal of information about dinosaurs. The web site is arranged as a virtual Genesis Park Exhibit Hall. The Hall features three rooms that depict the following information:
By exploring the web site you will find a link to PARK which brings up a map of the virtual Genesis Park. The three rooms mentioned above are located in the Park Exhibit Hall and can be reached by clicking on an active link of the map. Other links found on the map include
Below the map of the virtual Genesis Park you will find a button labeled SEARCH which will allow the park visitor to search for information using Google Search on either the whole WWW or www.genesispark.com. You can also visit the Genesis Park Website Map from this link.
This is indeed a novel approach to providing information about dinosaurs. Explore the web site by following links you find interesting. If you want to begin by viewing the map of the virtual Genesis Park just put http://www.genesispark.org/genpark/park/park.htm into your favorites of your web browser.
| Web Site of the Month - August 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Understanding fundamentalism and evangelicalism |
This month’s web site review looks at a book I found by searching the Internet with Google and the topic “Why Creation?” The link to the book is quite long, but you should be able to find it if you perform a similar search. The topic, “Why Creation Science?” is discussed in Chapter 6 of the book Understanding FUNDAMENTALISM and EVANGELICALISM by George M. Marsden. The whole book surveys the history of American fundamentalism and evangelicalism and reexamines the interpretation of their relationship to politics and science.
Marsden begins Chapter 6 of the book by stating that “during the past century ‘evolution’ has symbolized some of the nation’s most bitter religious and cultural conflicts. In a widely held view that perhaps is gaining in popularity, biological evolution is regarded as an opposite of divine creation and hence incompatible with traditional Christian belief.” In his discussion he points out that “the insistence that there are only two polarized positions – creation and evolution—contradicts the facts concerning the views of Christians and other believers…” He points out other mediating positions such as “theistic evolution” or “progressive creation”.
Other topics discussed in Chapter 6 of the book include
Since the Google link to the book only provides a preview of the book, not all pages of the book are available for reading. By reading the Table of Contents of the book you can gain insight into the material covered and can decide for yourself if this is a book you would like to purchase.
| Web Site of the Month - September 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Why evolution matters |
This month’s web site review looks at a web site that is a chat transcript by the author of an article entitled “Why evolution matters” which appeared in November 2007 in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The chat transcript contains a link to the article. The article makes the claim that since the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for efforts to elucidate and publicize climate change, that this topic is now an issue of scientific debate for many Americans. The complaint is then made that the American public “won’t give the same support to evolution”. This is quite a stretch in logic. You have to read the whole article to get some insight into why this scientist believes that evolution matters.
The article also points out that “scientists share some of the blame for the public’s current confusion about evolution”, and states that a program called Evolution Matters will address this problem.
The chat transcript itself begins by the moderator providing a detailed biographical sketch of Dr. Kay, the dean of UCSD’s Division of Biological Sciences. Then the transcript continues as a series of questions and answers.
Many different topics are discussed in the questions and answers including
It is interesting to read how a scientist attempts to answer the many questions that people have regarding creation and evolution. You have to decide for yourself if the answers he provides make sense and aid you in your own understanding of the many different topics that are covered.
| Web Site of the Month - October 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Naturalism and the Theory of Evolution |
This month’s web site review looks at a site recommended by a reader in response to an article in the September Issue of Disclosure. On the main page of the site you learn that “this website is a rough draft collection of my own notes and thoughts as well as the thoughts of many others concerning the theories of evolution and design”.
The article “The Emperor Has No Clothes” serves as the home page for the www.detectingdesign.com website and deals “specifically with the theory of evolution and the hold that this theory has taken upon the scientific community as well as the popular imagination”. The author really wants to know why anyone who questions the theory of evolution should be branded as “ignorant, stupid, or insane”.
You will find an interesting discussion of the scientific method. A point made is that “when a theory or interpretation can no longer be questioned, it leaves the realm of science and moves into the realm of holy, untouchable, religious dogma”. Many more interesting observations are made as to what scientists define as “natural” versus “supernatural”.
Clicking on the Essays link, located on the main page of the site, you will find articles covering the following topics:
| Web Site of the Month - November 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| The Mathematical Intelligencer 22, no.4 (2000), pp5-7 |
This month’s web site review looks at an article written by a mathematician from the University of Texas El Paso. The article was published in 2000. It presents an interesting discussion about the findings of Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe and his published book, Darwin’s Black Box. The mathematician points out that “I know a good many mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists who, like me, are appalled that Darwin’s explanation for the development of life is so widely accepted in the life sciences”. He believes that few of them ever address this issue because they feel it is simply out of their field of study. This mathematician however presents two central arguments against Darwinism that are appreciated by those in the more mathematical sciences.
The first argument is a discussion about the idea “that major (complex) improvements can be built up through many minor improvements”. He points out that the fossil record does not support this idea and presents quotes from different publications that agree with his view. He points out that Behe’s book challenges Darwinism at the microscopic level by discussing complex biochemical systems. He believes mathematicians are “well qualified to appreciate the general ideas involved.” He then describes an interesting analogy regarding the development of a computer program. Anyone who has written a computer program will appreciate the concepts that are involved. He summarizes this section of the article stating that “certainly no major evolutionary advance is reducible to a chain of tiny improvements, each small enough to be bridged by a single random mutation”.
The second argument is a discussion about the violation of the second law of thermodynamics (that is, whether or not order can arise from disorder).
Although the article is fairly short it provides interesting insights into how some more mathematically-oriented people regard the topic of evolution.
| Web Site of the Month - December 2009 |
| by Lothar Janetzko |
| Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |
This month’s web site review looks at an article found in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP). I find it interesting that Creationism is discussed in SEP. By following a link that provides information about SEP you learn that “SEP was designed so that each entry is maintained and kept up to date by an expert or group of experts in the field. All entries and substantive updates are refereed by members of a distinguished Editorial Board before they are made public.”
The article on Creationism was first published on Aug 30, 2003 with substantive revision on Oct 29, 2007. After a brief introduction where many generalities are made about Creationists you will find a Table of Contents that contains the following:
It is interesting to note that in the section on Arkansas, a judge ruled that the "essential characteristics" of what makes something scientific are:
You can see that philosophy becomes an issue more than religion or science.
The Conclusion section really points out the bias of the writer of the article. Nevertheless, I find it interesting to learn that he feels that “at the moment, those opposed to Creationism are spending more of their energies quarreling among themselves than fighting the opposition”. You also learn that he feels the new crop of very militant atheists will make the case for teaching evolution constitutionally hard to defend.
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