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Perry Bramlett’s Lists

The 25 Best Books Written about C.S. Lewis Biographical George Sayer: Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis James Como (ed) – C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table W Hooper & R L Green – C. S. Lewis: A Biography Humphrey Carpenter – The Inklings Lyle Dorsett – A Love Observed (formerly And God Came In) Studies Chad Walsh Read More ›

Notes from the Dorothy Sayers Essay “Oedipus Simplx: Freedom and Fate in Folklore and Fiction”

Prepared by Kathryn Lindskoog 1. Freud interpreted the story of Oedipus allegorically in order to better communicate his theory that human males have an impulse to kill their fathers and marry their mothers. 2. Such use of old stories is natural and understandable; but it is an error to confuse the original story with the later allegory. The story of Read More ›

The Lewis Legacy-Issue 86, Autumn 2000 Notes

Cheating the Oracle for 3,500 Years The story of Joseph was supposedly written in about 1500 B.C. The story of Oedipus was told by Sophocles in 431 B.C. Virgil’s story of the trenchers was told in about 20 B.C. (The story of Segismund in the play Life Is a Dream was told by Calderon de la Barca in 1636 A.D.) Read More ›

Portrait of C. S. Lewis

by Clifford Morris (An address delivered on BBC Radio Oxford in 1971. First published in the Portland C. S. Lewis Chronicle.) As an ordinary person with no special qualifications, save that he called himself my friend, I want to share with you some of my memories of the late Clive Staples Lewis, Master of Arts, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Read More ›

C. S. Lewis: Quick to Call a Fake a Fake

On December 18, 1912, when Lewis was fourteen years old, Charles Dawson, an attorney, and Arthur Smith Woodward, the British Museum’s leading paleontologist, announced to the world that they had discovered an early human fossil in a shallow gravel pit near the village of Piltdown in Sussex. This was promptly accepted as the earliest known human fossil and was the pride Read More ›

Photo by 贝莉儿 DANIST

Self-Organization and Irreducibly Complex Systems

Some biochemical systems require multiple, well-matched parts in order to function, and the removal of any of the parts eliminates the function. I have previously labeled such systems "irreducibly complex," and argued that they are stumbling blocks for Darwinian theory. Instead I proposed that they are best explained as the result of deliberate intelligent design. In a recent article Shanks and Joplin analyze and find wanting the use of irreducible complexity as a marker for intelligent design. Their primary counter-example is the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, a self-organizing system in which competing reaction pathways result in a chemical oscillator. In place of irreducible complexity they offer the idea of "redundant complexity," meaning that biochemical pathways overlap so that a loss of one or even several components can be accommodated without complete loss of function. Here I note that complexity is a quantitative property, so that conclusions we draw will be affected by how well-matched the components of a system are. I also show that not all biochemical systems are redundant. The origin of non-redundant systems requires a different explanation than redundant ones. Read More ›
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3D rendering of abstract blocks of mathematical formulas located in the virtual space
Image Credit: Vitaly - Adobe Stock

A Mathematician’s View of Evolution

When Dr. Behe was at the University of Texas El Paso in May of 1997 to give an invited talk, I told him that I thought he would find more support for his ideas in mathematics, physics and computer science departments than in his own field. I know a good many mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists who, like me, are appalled that Darwin's explanation for the development of life is so widely accepted in the life sciences. Read More ›

Player-Coaches for Schools

Some teachers are superstars. Kids and parents know who they are. Teachers and principals know too. So why not give these superstars recognition? Forget gold stars, cash awards or any other reward for past performance. Think instead about a new role for superstar teachers. When one feels ready for the next challenge, why not assign him or her to a Read More ›

biology-textbooks-shelves

An Evaluation of Ten Recent Biology Textbooks And Their Use of Selected Icons of Evolution Evaluated

An evaluation of ten textbooks. In general, an "A" requires full disclosure of the truth, discussion of relevant scientific controversies, and a recognition that Darwin's theory — like all scientific theories — might have to be revised or discarded if it doesn't fit the facts. An "F" indicates that the textbook uncritically relies on logical fallacy, dogmatically treats a theory as an unquestionable fact, or blatantly misrepresents published scientific evidence. Read More ›
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Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Ohio
"Rhea County Courthouse" by Shihmei Barger via @flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Scopes Trial Symbolism Holds Today

If a deeply entrenched academic truth is challenged by new scientific insights and discoveries, should authorities allow classroom discussion of such challenges? That was the question many people believe was placed on the national stage by the famous Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. This week is the 75th anniversary of the famous trial over the freedom of a Read More ›