Re: Teaching Evolution In Schools

In message <1175210143.968756.210030@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ian Chua <ichua@xxxxxxxxxx> writes
On Mar 29, 4:43 pm, "Mike Dworetsky"
<platinum...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Ian Chua" <i...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1175177593.918957.273100@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



> For some reason, I can only create new post and can't respond to
> postings in any Google Group....so here goes:

> It is always good to teach children how to think. But science
> textbooks make evolution appear as a fairy tale. There is also too
> much proliferation of unhelpful websites which simply say there are
> unequivocal evidence for evolution but such evidence is never
> provided. I have done a literature search at my university library to
> review the evidence for evolution but came up with a formidable llist
> of more than 40,000 journal references. Unfortunately all the
> abstracts I read so far only deals with micro-evolution. Why is the
> "evidence" so illusive? If anyone wish to help me, please email me at
> i...@xxxxxxxxxxx

> Evolutionsts often mention radiometric dating as a means to prove the
> earth is billions of years old but I want to see how these conclusions
> are validated from data that is extrapolated far beyond the calibrated
> range of the measuring instrument. Any mathematician or practicing
> engineer knows this is wrong. But I sincerely would like to see some
> real science about dating the age of the earth.

Any physicist can tell you that you can determine the half life from the
decay rate of a known amount of a radioactive substance. In essence this is
a mathematical integration of a known function. Surely you have studied
calculus and basic integration of functions? Look this up in a freshman
physics text. THAT you should be able to find in the library, though I'm
surprised that, as you claim to be an engineering student, you haven't come
across it yet in your mathematics courses.

If you drive your car at 50 mph along a straight road, is it too much of an
extrapolation from reading the speedometer to calculate that after one hour
you shall have travelled 50 miles?

ANSWER: Just because a certain mathematical model is used to teach
math or physics doesn't mean it is correct in all situations. The
half-life
decay equation is still useful to compute small changes in mass due
to
decay. I used to teach AP Physics so I am very familiar with this
equation.
I'm interested to see how you use it to prove that life originated
billions of
years ago - I'll appreciate your effort if you post your proof here
for discussion.

If you're going to resort to epistemological nihilism there would not be much point us trying to educate you.

That said, changes to radioactive decay rates involve changes to fundamental physical constants. Astronomers have looked for such changes, in the light from distant galaxies, and have not found even small changes within the age of the Earth. Large changes, such as that required to shrink 4 1/2 billion years to 6000, would have other detectable effects, such as sterilising the Earth.

The car example is not a good one - it cannot travel indefinitely
because it will
run out of gas.

Nor is the Earth infinitely old. The analogy is better than you think.

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)



--
alias Ernest Major

.

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