Missed Anniversary

No, I didn’t miss my own wedding anniversary – if I had, I wouldn’t have been spending so much time blogging! But because I was away at the SBL conference, I missed blogging about the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species (published November 24th, 1859).

Let me try to make up for it by sharing one quote and a bunch of links sent by the NCSE in conjunction with this important occasion.

The quote:

“[I]t will take more than banana-wielding fundamentalism to undermine the validity of evolutionary theory.”

— Laurie Lebo, “Single Greatest Idea Ever: On the 150th Anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of Species” at Religion Dispatches

I also need to track down a quote which I think I read on a blog while I was away, pointing out that scientists generate research and its results, while all the anti-evolution crowd does is quote such research – usually out of context – in order to attempt to bolster its claims. But the difference between doing research and quote-mining it is something that needs to be highlighted more frequently than it is, since nothing clarifies the difference between science and pseudoscience quite so well.

Now for the links:

For E. O. Wilson’s reflections on the Origin, visit:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/edward-o-wilson-like-a-sunrise-darwin-illuminated-the-steeples-of-the-unknown-1826466.html%22

For Lauri Lebo’s essay, visit:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/scienceenvironment/2059

For Edward J. Larson’s essay, visit:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/scienceenvironment/1813

For Deborah Heiligman’s essay, visit:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/11/12_things_we_should_teach_our_kids_about_darwin.html
For Mary Carmichael’s story, visit:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/224079

For Charlie’s Playhouse, visit:
http://www.charliesplayhouse.com/

For the Concord Consortium’s Evolution Readiness, visit:
http://er.concord.org/

For Sean B. Carroll’s column, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/24creature.html

For the Times’s interactive Origin, visit:
http://documents.nytimes.com/charles-darwin-on-the-origin-of-species

For the AMNH’s Darwin Manuscripts Project, visit:
http://darwin.amnh.org/

For the Live Science story, visit:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34113112/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Don’t Diss Darwin website:
http://www.dontdissdarwin.com