Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Strange Connections
On this date (February 27th) in 1940, Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered the isotope of Carbon 14 (although they didn't develop Carbon 14 dating - that was done in 1949 by Willard Libby).
Kamen, Ruben, and Libby were all involved in science-related war research. Kamen and Libby were associated with efforts to build the atomic bomb; Ruben worked on poisonous gases (an accident involving poisonous gas killed Ruben in 1943).
Kamen was fired from the Manhattan Project in 1944, after he was caught talking to the Soviets about atomic research. Years later, he participated in a global warming denial effort. Nasty guys never give up!
Yet, he was a recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award by the U.S. government, and he was also honored with the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. Go figure!
Kamen, Ruben, and Libby were all involved in science-related war research. Kamen and Libby were associated with efforts to build the atomic bomb; Ruben worked on poisonous gases (an accident involving poisonous gas killed Ruben in 1943).
Kamen was fired from the Manhattan Project in 1944, after he was caught talking to the Soviets about atomic research. Years later, he participated in a global warming denial effort. Nasty guys never give up!
Yet, he was a recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award by the U.S. government, and he was also honored with the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. Go figure!
The Lost Tomb of Jesus
On Sunday, March 9th, The Discovery Channel is airing a documentary by James Cameron called The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
Shame on The Discovery Channel. And James Cameron. Talk about a transparent ploy to create a controversy and make some money!
No archeologist (or theologian, for that matter) believes the tomb discovered in the suburbs of Jerusalem is the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family, although The Discovery Channel says (on its website) that the odds are 600 to 1 that the tomb is, in fact, that of Jesus Christ. The channel also claims to have “new evidence” that sheds light on Jesus’ relationship with Mary Magdalene.
Unless they claim to have the DNA of Jesus, it seems unlikely they have evidence that sheds light on anything.
There are a host of reasons why the documentary’s claims are preposterous. For one thing, the family was poor and couldn’t have afforded such a burial place (and why Jerusalem and not Nazareth? I suppose the burial site could have been donated, and the family permanently relocated from Nazareth to Jerusalem). For another, the names inscribed on the ossuaries were extremely common 2,000 years ago, so identifying them with a specific family (absent other evidence) is terrible logic. And if a string of Jesus’ relatives were buried in the same place, someone, somewhere, would have mentioned it.
None of this has anything to do with science or theology, although scientists should be irritated that a veneer of science has been used to create a charade.
Shame on The Discovery Channel. And James Cameron. Talk about a transparent ploy to create a controversy and make some money!
No archeologist (or theologian, for that matter) believes the tomb discovered in the suburbs of Jerusalem is the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family, although The Discovery Channel says (on its website) that the odds are 600 to 1 that the tomb is, in fact, that of Jesus Christ. The channel also claims to have “new evidence” that sheds light on Jesus’ relationship with Mary Magdalene.
Unless they claim to have the DNA of Jesus, it seems unlikely they have evidence that sheds light on anything.
There are a host of reasons why the documentary’s claims are preposterous. For one thing, the family was poor and couldn’t have afforded such a burial place (and why Jerusalem and not Nazareth? I suppose the burial site could have been donated, and the family permanently relocated from Nazareth to Jerusalem). For another, the names inscribed on the ossuaries were extremely common 2,000 years ago, so identifying them with a specific family (absent other evidence) is terrible logic. And if a string of Jesus’ relatives were buried in the same place, someone, somewhere, would have mentioned it.
None of this has anything to do with science or theology, although scientists should be irritated that a veneer of science has been used to create a charade.
