Some more on that snake leg 17 Sep 2009 Lanclet, discussing a Jerry Coyne comment on a Pharyngula post, suggests that the snake actually had ingested a lizard, and the lizard’s leg had punctured the snake. It doesn’t change the point about atavisms, but it does make the case less sexy… Evolution
Evolution The “design” mistake 18 Feb 2008 Back when Darwin was a student at Cambridge, he read, and almost memorised the Rev William Paley’s Natural Theology, and thereafter remained impressed by the obvious adaptiveness of the parts of organisms and their interrelations. As is well known, he gave an explanation differently to Paley’s external intelligence that designs… Read More
Evolution God and evolution 6: Is Darwinism atheism? 24 May 201324 May 2013 Many Christians and Muslims, and to a lesser extent Jews, think that Darwinian evolution requires or implies atheism, a charge first brought when Darwin was still alive. The Princeton theologian Charles Hodge argued this in his What is Darwinism? (1874). But Darwin himself, and many of his followers such as… Read More
Evolution Myth 7: Darwin thought that Australian aborigines were closer to apes than to Europeans 1 Mar 200925 Oct 2019 Actually, this one is better called “Darwin was a racist”, but as the text concerned is from the same source as those claims, I thought it might be easier to evaluate a single claim and generalise from that. Our gospel for today is chapters V and VI of The Descent… Read More