Events
month | week | day | list| « | January 13, 2008 - February 12, 2008 | » |
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02 / 9
Start: 2:00 pm
Was Thomas Kuhn a social constructionist? Who won the Science Wars, and was the victory the result of a "Trojan Horse" trick? (Think: Stephen Colbert with a Ph.D. in physics.)
The National Capital Area Skeptics presents a lecture this Saturday by Stephen Brush, professor (emeritus) of thie History of Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. The event will be held at the National Science Foundation building at 4201 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, VA (map). | ||
02 / 10
Start: 11:00 am
The Northern Viriginia Ethical Society (NoVES) holds weekly "platform meetings" on various topics, and there is one coming up soon that may be of particular interest to Alliance for Science members and friends. The title is "The Evolution of Creationism" and it's coming up just before Darwin's birthday (Happy 199th, Chuck!). Jone Johnson Lewis, Leader of the NoVES will be the speaker. The following description was supplied by NoVES:
Each time creationism is defeated in its attempts to keep young students from learning about evolution, creationists figure out a new way of presenting or advocating for their position. In honor of Darwin Day, Jone will take us on a quick tour of creationist thinking and how it has evolved. We tend to think of the disagreement as between a new theory (evolution) and the age-old, Biblically-grounded theory of special creation -- yet the latter theory continues to grow and evolve, and its advocates adopt tactics in response to the successes of science.Directions and other information available at the Northern Virginia Ethical Society website. | ||
02 / 11
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02 / 12
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There is an intersection between African American history and evolutionary science, although it is not as direct as one would assume. Since February 12, 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, examining this intersection now is appropriate. Surprisingly, there is very little written about the impact of Darwinism on African Americans. Historically, the primary effect of evolutionary theory on African Americans has been indirect and has resulted from the misuse of Darwin's work -- in essence, Social Darwinism and "the survival of the fittest."
This Social Darwinism is how Darwinism has been framed, but it can be reframed. In Darwin, Competition and Cooperation, Ashley Montagu wrote: "I have in mind the scientists and scientific thinkers in Darwin's own and allied fields who…overstressed and misunderstood the factor of competition and either largely or altogether neglected and underestimated the factor of co-operation…They failed to give the factor of co-operation a place in the concept of natural selection in particular and in the description of the evolutionary process in general…In this substantive failure to recognize the importance of co-operation they succeeded in conveying a view of nature that was badly maimed and sadly out of focus."
