Monday, February 12, 2007
Darwin Day, Evolution Sunday, Intellectual Integrity
Today, February 12th, is Darwin Day. Yesterday was Evolution Sunday. We’ve been preparing our house for sale, so our science-related activities were low-key. It’s hard to remember to celebrate intellectual integrity when a contractor informs you that the water leak in your bathroom has soaked what was formerly drywall…
Nonetheless, we didn’t ignore science. I took our six-year-old daughter (who wants to be an explorer who discovers “unknowns”) to the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois to learn about hearts (good Valentine’s Day tie-in, too). Under the guidance of a surgeon, we dissected a pig’s heart which, we discovered, was very similar to a human heart. No real surprise here, even for my young daughter, who understands common descent. My wife took our nine-year-old daughter for an overnight stay at the Discovery Center Museum (also in Rockford) to study astronomy; our nine-year-old wants to be an astronomer and own a dance studio and ride horses. While my wife and daughter were gone, I continued reading E.O. Wilson’s autobiography, Naturalist, to our six-year-old daughter and my 12-year-old son (who wants to be a paleontologist). Our six-year-old likes what she calls “the book by the ‘ant guy’.”
[In the interest of completeness, we also have a two-year-old daughter; she likes The Magic School Bus].
As an aside, let me make a plug for the Burpee Museum. If you’re ever in Northern Illinois, visit Burpee. The museum houses Jane, a juvenile T-Rex, and an exciting discovery for a small museum. Officially, Jane is the first juvenile T-Rex ever identified, but some believe she may be a new species (now, there’s a valid controversy!). It also has Homer, a juvenile triceratops – and perhaps another triceratops from the same location. The triceratops are interesting because, although they are considered herd animals, only isolated individuals had been found until Burpee’s discovery in Montana of what are probably two juveniles together. Homer and his (probable) companion will soon be on display.
You can visit Sue at the Field Museum (which has a good evolution exhibit) in Chicago, then drive an hour or so west to Rockford to visit Jane and Homer. But what is really great about the Burpee Museum are its education programs. They are first rate, especially for kids. This weekend the museum hosts Paleofest, a celebration of all things dinosaurs. There are plenty of interesting activities for kids and adults (including presentations by important paleontologists). We’ve made this a family outing for the last five years, and we’ve enjoyed it more and more as time goes by (being good evolutionists, we find the passage of time interesting and enjoyable).
The bottom line: if you have a local museum support it, whatever its size!
Back to Darwin Day and Evolution Sunday. I consider Darwin Day a chance to celebrate intellectual integrity, not just Darwin (it’s his 198th birthday) or On the Origin of the Species (this year marks the 148th anniversary of its publication), although both are great things to celebrate. When people like young earth creationist Marcus Ross can earn a PhD in geosciences by studiously suppressing his real beliefs (thanks to P.Z. Meyers at Pharyngula for reporting this); when Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) can spout nonsense at a climate change hearing; and when the Bush Administration can lie about its attitudes toward climate change, we need to pause and reflect on intellectual integrity (to say nothing of resolving to vote certain Republicans – perhaps a lot of Republicans – out of office). The battle over evolution and education is but one battle (however long running) in a larger war. The Republican War on Science (Chris Mooney’s blog, The Intersection, is here) is prima facie evidence of a much larger problem.
I’m lukewarm to the notion of Evolution Sunday (so is P.Z. Meyers; also, see ScienceBlogs.com for more on Evolution Sunday and Darwin Day), although I understand the sentiments behind it. I’m just uncomfortable with people who accept arguments from authority or subjective personal experience 364 days a year suddenly genuflecting, for one day, to skepticism and science. It seems to require more cognitive dissonance that I can bear. The only nice thing about Evolution Sunday is that Ken Ham doesn’t like it, according to this 2006 article. By the way, Ham’s museum in Kentucky is the exception to the rule: it is one local museum that doesn’t deserve any support, because it lacks intellectual integrity
Nonetheless, we didn’t ignore science. I took our six-year-old daughter (who wants to be an explorer who discovers “unknowns”) to the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois to learn about hearts (good Valentine’s Day tie-in, too). Under the guidance of a surgeon, we dissected a pig’s heart which, we discovered, was very similar to a human heart. No real surprise here, even for my young daughter, who understands common descent. My wife took our nine-year-old daughter for an overnight stay at the Discovery Center Museum (also in Rockford) to study astronomy; our nine-year-old wants to be an astronomer and own a dance studio and ride horses. While my wife and daughter were gone, I continued reading E.O. Wilson’s autobiography, Naturalist, to our six-year-old daughter and my 12-year-old son (who wants to be a paleontologist). Our six-year-old likes what she calls “the book by the ‘ant guy’.”
[In the interest of completeness, we also have a two-year-old daughter; she likes The Magic School Bus].
As an aside, let me make a plug for the Burpee Museum. If you’re ever in Northern Illinois, visit Burpee. The museum houses Jane, a juvenile T-Rex, and an exciting discovery for a small museum. Officially, Jane is the first juvenile T-Rex ever identified, but some believe she may be a new species (now, there’s a valid controversy!). It also has Homer, a juvenile triceratops – and perhaps another triceratops from the same location. The triceratops are interesting because, although they are considered herd animals, only isolated individuals had been found until Burpee’s discovery in Montana of what are probably two juveniles together. Homer and his (probable) companion will soon be on display.
You can visit Sue at the Field Museum (which has a good evolution exhibit) in Chicago, then drive an hour or so west to Rockford to visit Jane and Homer. But what is really great about the Burpee Museum are its education programs. They are first rate, especially for kids. This weekend the museum hosts Paleofest, a celebration of all things dinosaurs. There are plenty of interesting activities for kids and adults (including presentations by important paleontologists). We’ve made this a family outing for the last five years, and we’ve enjoyed it more and more as time goes by (being good evolutionists, we find the passage of time interesting and enjoyable).
The bottom line: if you have a local museum support it, whatever its size!
Back to Darwin Day and Evolution Sunday. I consider Darwin Day a chance to celebrate intellectual integrity, not just Darwin (it’s his 198th birthday) or On the Origin of the Species (this year marks the 148th anniversary of its publication), although both are great things to celebrate. When people like young earth creationist Marcus Ross can earn a PhD in geosciences by studiously suppressing his real beliefs (thanks to P.Z. Meyers at Pharyngula for reporting this); when Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) can spout nonsense at a climate change hearing; and when the Bush Administration can lie about its attitudes toward climate change, we need to pause and reflect on intellectual integrity (to say nothing of resolving to vote certain Republicans – perhaps a lot of Republicans – out of office). The battle over evolution and education is but one battle (however long running) in a larger war. The Republican War on Science (Chris Mooney’s blog, The Intersection, is here) is prima facie evidence of a much larger problem.
I’m lukewarm to the notion of Evolution Sunday (so is P.Z. Meyers; also, see ScienceBlogs.com for more on Evolution Sunday and Darwin Day), although I understand the sentiments behind it. I’m just uncomfortable with people who accept arguments from authority or subjective personal experience 364 days a year suddenly genuflecting, for one day, to skepticism and science. It seems to require more cognitive dissonance that I can bear. The only nice thing about Evolution Sunday is that Ken Ham doesn’t like it, according to this 2006 article. By the way, Ham’s museum in Kentucky is the exception to the rule: it is one local museum that doesn’t deserve any support, because it lacks intellectual integrity
