Re: Quote Mine: "The emperor has no clothes"--Hsu

From: TomS (TomS_member_at_newsguy.com)
Date: 09/10/04 

Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 13:11:20 +0000 (UTC)

"On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:42:04 +0000 (UTC), in article
<dford3-b1c67abe.0409100442.23852310@posting.google.com>, david ford stated..."
[...snip...]
>abstract of Hsu's "Darwin's three mistakes"; Hsu quoting Ernst Chain
[...snip...]

     Ernst Chain (1906-1979) as quoted by R.W. Clark, in THE LIFE OF
ERNST CHAIN: PENICILLIN AND BEYOND, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London,
1985, ISBN 0-312-48419-4:

    "In general [he wrote to one correspondent] I cannot work up too
much enthusiasm for any theory, knowing that theories are ephemeral
and, as new facts are discovered, must be dramatically changed or
discarded. In my view they have no absolute value, and their
usefulness consists essentially in their capacity to stimulate new
experiments. This is, at least, the criteria by which I judge them."
(Page 147. The bracketed remark is that of Clark.)

    His son is quoted in this book as saying, "I am quite certain
that _at_no_time_ did my father believe in a fundamental creationist
theory of evolution. I think that it would be seriously
misinterpreting his views if you did decude this from his writing.
There is no doubt that he did not like the theory of evolution by
natural selection -- he disliked theories in general, and more
especially when the assumed the form of dogma. He also felt that
evolution was not really a part of science, since it was, for the most
part, not amenable to experimentation -- and he was, and is, by no
means alone in this view." (Pages 147-148. The emphasis is in the
original.) 

-- 
---Tom S.
"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed
it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"  Romans 1:19-20

Relevant Pages

  • News: London exhibition traces Darwins evolution revolution.
    ... London exhibition traces Darwin's evolution revolution. ... Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Anyone got the energy to take this guy to task?
    ... beliefs (not knowing what "theory" means, ... or science because they might discover some validity that weakens ... atheists *deserve* to be tortured forever. ... no problem with evolution, "macro" and all, are the real threat. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Whats the big deal about evolution, anyway
    ... so it has some use in medicine. ... Evolution is the foundation of biology. ... Imagine studying chemistry without the periodic table of the elements. ... Hertzsprung-Russell diagram without knowing anything about stellar ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Mathematics: art or science?
    ... The explanation for evolution is Darwin's ... for the sole reason that kind of an intelligence would ... a combinatorial explosion is and knowing that such explosions can happen ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Dialogue with my child
    ... >> By the way, A few T.Oers were at the Natural History Museum, London, ... >> with Beasts' (a CGI visualisation of Evolution currently being shown on ... >> brilliant questions showing that they understood what Evolution was ...
    (talk.origins)