And Slaters Go Plop

(From chick.com)

A couple of weeks ago I purchased Carl Sagan’s 1979 TV series, Cosmos on DVD. Actually, it aired in 1980 but was filmed in 1979 and 1979 sounds way cooler than 1980.

It totally rocks!

Sure, he’s wearing beige and, sure, there has been progress in astronomy since the series was produced but I found myself learning plenty of new stuff with every episode. (Did you know that Eratosthenes calculated the earth’s circumference to within a margin of 5-10% back in 240BCE?).

What I love about the scientific method is that when done properly you present the facts as best you know them but remain open to future discoveries and you also disclose known weaknesses. In this series at the end of many of the episodes Sagan appears (looking greyer) with a “10 years later update” and very little of the original content needed revision. The only bit that stands out is that in one of the episodes he presents some of the experiments showing the creation of organic molecules in the laboratory and 10 years later added that they now believe it’s likely that the organic molecules may have formed in the icy bodies of comets.

Also, this was produced at a very uncertain time when the threat of all-out nuclear war seemed quite possible and many of his comments about the future of the human race are bracketed with “if we don’t destroy ourselves first”.

This series is a brilliant way to get an excellent perspective on our place in history and in the universe. It’s factual, balanced and remarkably well-produced. They even managed to avoid the temptation to use the snazzy synthesised music of the era (or is that ‘error’?) and instead opted for tasteful classical music.

Sagan had a very broad understanding of our universe and had a knack for presenting it in an extremely digestible way. With that understanding came an enthusiasm that remains contagious even after his death.

If you come across this series in your video store or for sale in a shop I’d encourage you to do yourself a favour and pick it up. And if you know me (this includes Dale, Ken, Frank and Jack), give me a yell if you want to borrow it and I’ll get it to you.

Here’s a little something you may not know:

The ampersand is an abbreviated form of the Latin “et” which means “and”.

If you have the Trebuchet MS font on your computer you’ll notice that it renders the ampersand like the middle image.

On this day 199 years ago Charles Darwin was born. Famous for his contributions to the discovery of the mechanisms of evolution by way of natural selection he is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of scientific enquiry.

The implications of his discoveries have caused turmoil among the egocentric of the world and the fallout continues to this day. Charles Darwin himself was extremely reluctant to publish his discovery because of the contention it would cause in a world dominated by young earth creationism – a view he held for many years against all evidence.

In my opinion, evolution is the most mind-blowing natural process ever discovered. It’s life changing in more ways than one and if you don’t have a full understanding of it I encourage you to take some time out today to learn more – you’ll never look at a blade of grass or a drop of water the same again.

If you listen to podcasts check out the excellent introductory series by Dr Zachary Moore called Evolution 101, otherwise take a look through the introduction to evolution resource at Berkeley.

Just over a month ago I wrote about the shootings in Finland and, tongue-in-cheek, expressed what many in the fundamentalist blogosphere were saying.

Sadly, I spoke too soon. According to the Independent, in New South Wales an English creationist has stabbed a Scottish man to death during a heated debate about evolution. They were on a fruit-picking working holiday and had been drinking in a pub where the row broke out. The stabbing took place later that evening back at the camp ground where they were staying.

The creationist, Alexander York, was given a maximum of five years on a charge of manslaughter, not murder. The judge ruled that, while York knew he had a knife in his hand he had not thought of the consequences of his actions when he lashed out.

If not for the truly tragic nature of this news item it would almost make for a classic Gary Larson cartoon. I can just picture two scientists in a heated (excuse the pun) row about the Second Law of Thermodynamics. I guess this is an example of how beliefs and reality clash on a day to day basis.

Then again, the guy may have just been a nut-job who would have flipped over another issue given the same circumstances and enough alcohol.

What it is:
Evolution is descent with modification. Another way of saying this is that over the generations the descendants gradually become different (by mutation). Charles Darwin’s contribution to the theory of evolution was to add the observation that it is the environment that rewards some mutations and penalises others – this is called evolution by natural selection.

What it’s not:
It’s got nothing to do with the Big Bang and it’s got nothing to do with how life started in the first place.

Find out more:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/