Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New York Times Profiles Richard Dawkins

The New York Times Profiles In Science series features the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

Here is a gem:

Professor Dawkins often declines to talk in San Francisco and New York; these cities are too gloriously godless, as far as he is concerned. “As an atheistic lecturer, you are rather wasting your time,” he says. He prefers the Bible Belt, where controversy is raw.

I have first hand experience explaining evolution in the Bible belt. During graduate student days at Florida State University, I used to help my advisor on Science Day at the local mall with the fossils display.  " Well.. I can't see where the intermediate fossils are between this one and that one.." ..." I can't believe that amoeba can evolve into humans" were the kind of questions we often faced.

Teaching evolution comes with a risk of extreme reaction sometimes. Richard Dawkins though labors on and has done it better than anyone else.

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