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In our first Darwin
Day Dr. Kenneth Miller examined Intelligent
Design "Theory". Dr. Miller is a leading evolution educator and
often testifies before state legislatures throughout the country
regarding evolution and the scientific method. Dr. Miller
presented evidence as to why Intellingent Design cannot be considered a
scientifically valid theory and why it fails even at the level of a
hypothesis. If you would like to read his arguments at length, we
suggest his nicely written book "Finding
Darwin's God". |
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In our second Darwin
Day Dr.
Michael Antolin of Colorado State University told us about the
value of evolutionary theory to modern society. Evolutionary
theory is not just of academic value. A knowledge of how
evolution works helps us breed better crops, understand how bacteria
and viruses change and adapt, and lets us make better molecules in the
test tube using applied evolutionary methods. Failing to teach
evolution, or worse making it illegal to teach it, ensures
that "only outlaws would evolve" since evolution happens whether we
like it or not. |
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In our third
Darwin Day, Dr.
Garland Allen discussed the ways in which
evolutionary theory and genetics have been misused throughout their
history. Critics of evolutionary theory often point to the misuse
of science as a reason not to teach it or to the inherent danger it
represents. Dr. Allen discussed these
misuses and the self-correcting nature of science which led to the
discrediting of such practices. |
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In our fourth
Darwin Day, Dr.
Derek Briggs discussed the fossils of the Burgess Shale which document the earliest appearance of animal life ca. 550 million years ago. The fossil record is an extremely important data set that documents the change of life over time and provides some of the clearest evidence that evolution is a scientific fact. |