Evidence for Evolution

[Rían]

I"m back after hosting a bridal shower and then being sick for a week

While I'm catching up on the thread, I wanted to post some info that I finally got a copy of (this is what I had mentioned to you several weeks ago, Jonathan). It addresses the oft-heard (and very unfounded, IMHO) opinion that no "real" scientist has any trouble with evolution.

I had heard of something in a journal and was intrigued by it, so I called them up and got a copy of the issue. It's a two-page statement in the Weekly Standard, the October 1, 2001 issue, that about 100 scientists put in, and it goes like this:

from the October 1, 2001 issue of the Weekly Standard, pg. 20 & 21
A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism

Public TV programs, educational policy statements, and science textbooks have asserted that Darwin's theory of evolution fully explains the complexity of living things. The public has been assured, most recently by spokespersons for PBS's Evolution series, that "all known scientific evidence supports [Darwinian] evolution" as does "virtually every reputable scientist in the world."

The following scientists dispute the first claim and stand as living testimony in contradiction to the second. There is scientific dissent to Darwinism. It deserves to be heard.

"We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."

And then follows the names of 100 or so scientists that support that quote.

Here are a few:

Henry F. Schaefer, Nobel Nominee, Director of Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, U. of Georgia
Fred Sigworth, Prof. of Cellular & Molecular Physiology, Yale Grad. School
Philip S. Skell, Emeritus Prof. of Chemistry, NAS member
Frank Tipler, Prof. of Mathematical Physics, Tulane U.
RObert Kaita, Plasma Physics Lab, Princeton
Walter Hearn, PhD Biochemistry, U. of Illinois
Dean Kenyon, Prof. Emeritus of Biology, San Francisco State
Roland F. Hirsch, PhD Analytial Chemistry, U. of Michigan
George Lebo, Assoc. Prof. of Astronomy, U. of Florida
Timothy G. Standish, PhD Environmental Biology, George Mason U.
James Keener, Prof. of Mathematics and Adjunct of Bioengineering, U. of Utah
Carl Poppe, Senior Fellow, Lawrence Livermore LaboratoriesGregory Shearer, Postdoc. Researcher Internal Medicine, U.C. Davis
Joseph Atkinson,PhD Organic Chemistry-M.I.T., American Chemical Society member
Lawrence H. Johnson, Emeritus Prof. of Physics, U. of Idaho
Marvin Fritzler, Prof. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, U. of Calgary, Medical school
William S. Pelletier, Emeritus Distinguished Prof. of Chemistry, U. of Georgia
Brian J. Miller, PhD Physics, Duke U.
Wesley Allen, Prof. of Computational Quantum Chemistry, U. of Georgia
John L. Omdahl, Prof. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, U. of New Mexico
Ralph W. Seelke, Prof and Chair of Dept. of Biology and Earth Sciences, U. of Wisconsin, Superior
Raymond G. Bohlin, PhD Molecular and Cell Biology, U. of Texas
Rebecca W. Keller, Research Prof., Dept. of Chemistry, U. of New Mexico
Bijan Nemati, Senior Engineer, Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA)
Philip Savage, Prof. of Chemical Engineering, U. of Michigan
Richard Sternberg, Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute.


Anyway, there's a few of the names. And those are only the ones that heard about this statement and signed up, and that are brave enough (like Galileo) to stand up for an unpopular opinion that they think is right.