Taxonomy of Calculusaurus…

Well friends, I am almost finished. What started as a battle with a fearsome beast, the Calculusaurus, has evolved into an alliance, perhaps even a friendship. Yes, I have learned that the Calculusaurus is not defeated by force of arms or direct confrontation. One must treat the Calculusaurus gently, with companionship, yet still be wary. Little by little, with practice, the Calculusaurus is brought to one’s side where it becomes an ally… for I have learned something else:

There are more than one calculusaurid! There are more than one species in the genus Calculusaurus. In order to enlighten you, my loyal readers, I will describe the taxonomic organization of said creature:

Genus: Calculusaurus
Species:
1)C. derivativius: known for its smaller stature among calculusaurids, it feeds mostly on first year students. Its physiology consists of limits and derivatives and algebraic excess
2)C. integralusnewtonii: Larger than C. derivativius it is also far more dangerous and aggressive. It has been known to sum infinite series while calculating the area under curves. Unable to be approached unless one has tamed a C. derivativius.
3)C. multivariabilius, C. vectoronoma, and C. tensoraeaii: Little is know of these fearsome beasts that lurk in the shadows of math departments everywhere. To first-years they are but a rumour, a shadow on the edge of the mind. To more experienced mathmagicians, they are mighty beasts, tamed only by those that posses the most potent of mathmagic and spellquations. If I ever learn more of these three, I will tell you…

So but one final task, and I will perhaps have tamed my own C. derivativius and then one day I will be able to hunt a fearsome C. integralusnewtonii.

Do not drink and derive…

S.

On Mathematics…

As you may or may not know, I am in the midst of a Calculus class (Calculus 1 – Limits and Derivatives) at my university. It is a difficult class, but at the same time, it is rewarding. Calculus is something that I have always wanted to learn as I know it is a powerful mathematical tool, especially for understanding and solving physics problems. As I was sitting in class the other day, I was struck by an interesting thought, a realization if you will. I realized that math is the only absolute truth in our universe. This is an idea I have heard of before, but at this moment the idea fully crystallized in my mind. I was thinking about the proofs that one can work out in mathematics. Proofs that are independent and true, literally. Mathematical proofs are unique in that they are true regardless of language, philosophical viewpoint, location in the universe, &c. Though some proofs are simple and some hideously complex, all can be shown to be true independently of all other information.

I thought about this later. Those geometric proofs that many of us grew to loathe in Math 10 were actually glimpses of universal, absolute truth! What a fantastic thing! Proving that the angles on either side of a line transecting parallel lines were equal holds true always!

This thought gave me a new perspective on mathematics, and helped to gain a glimmer of understanding as to why people can become enamored with the subject, and dedicate their lives to studying and teaching “impractical” pure mathematics. I have also realized why early mathematical philosophers, Pythagoras was one, saw a touch of the divine in their formulas and geometries. Mathematics is a subtle and complex subject, but when I think of the inherent truth of it, I feel much more interested in learning and studying it….

Consider:
In some places god is called Yahweh, others Jehovah, Shiva, Thor, Cthulu or does not exist at all. But everywhere in the universe is 2+2=4 true and 2+2=5 false…

Ubi dubium ibi libertas

S.

Be Thankful…

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and it is time for all of us to be thankful. We can be thankful if we have a roof over our head, or food to eat, or clean drinking water. We are able to choose our government, and openly complain about them. We are free to be Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Christian, Straight, Gay, Bi or whatever. We are at peace in our country and we are generally safe. The list could go on, but I want the readership to continue it.

What are you thankful for? And as you add your answers, think of those that are in worse situations then yours…

S.

The World WILL not End!

I felt the need to briefly comment on the supposed end of the world caused by the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN that started firing beams of accelerated particles today. It will not cause the end of the world. First, they are not even colliding particles until next month. You have at least a month to get your affairs in order… Second: the energies they will achieve are no different than what occurs, and has been occurring since time=0 for earth, in our upper atmosphere. High energy cosmic rays, which are essentially what the LHC will be colliding, collide with atoms in our upper atmosphere all the time. As we have not been swallowed by a black hole, or as all the matter on earth has not been changed to “strange matter” by strangelets, there is little too fear. The LHC will hopefully answer some critical questions in particle physics by investigating conditions that would have occurred in the fraction of time after the big bang. It is a really cool machine!

A brief comment for those perpetuating the hysteria around the start-up of this interesting scientific endeavor: Stop wasting all of our time and focus on something that is a real threat to annihilate the human race. Nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon proliferation. Go protest the needless presence of nuclear weapons on this planet. Take the Bush government to court to stop them from deploying a ballistic missile shield, which amounts to little more than a step backward in reducing the threat of nuclear war. Nuclear weapons are a million times more of a threat to our health and safety than the LHC is, so please, go fight something worthwhile, and let the physicists get some work done…

And if I am wrong, oh well… If one must die, swallowed by a black hole is a pretty cool way to go…

My $0.03

“Finding Darwin’s God” A Review (Of sorts)

This is a blog aimed at all of the Christians (and any member of any other religious or faith-based group) that continue to deny evolution.

As I have tried to demonstrate through several arguments on various blogs and recommendations for further reading, evolution is a factual, ongoing important process that shaped all life on earth. Unfortunately people are not getting it, and are still trying to push non-scientific theories such as intelligent design and “creation science” as viable alternatives to “Darwinism”. As I do not enjoy giving up, here is yet another book for you to read. However, if you do feel that evolution= death of God and do not want to read anything about evolution, you should still read this book. Even if it is the only science book you ever pick up in you entire life, then read it. If it does not convince you that evolution is good and acceptable and congruent with a life of faith, then you are beyond hope!

The book to which I am referring is called Finding Darwin’s God by Kenneth R. Miller. Why am I endorsing this book? Let me tell you. Ken Miller is a cell biologist, and he writes biology textbooks for high school. Thus he knows what he is talking about, and can communicate in a way that is clear and makes sense (unlike this blog…). He was also a star witness against the Dover PA school board in 2005. He helped to demolish the idea that ID or Intelligent Design is a viable scientific option. “So what?” you are asking, “there are lots of books written by cell biologists that I have not read nor care to read…”. Ken Miller is also a Christian. Not an airy-fairy God the designer and then sits back and watches Christian, but the kind that believes in virgin birth, and Christ and all the important stuff. Now we have fulfilled two very important criteria about this author. He is a biologist and a Christian.

What about the book? It is a clear, concise book written especially for Christians who do not believe in evolution (not that is something you have to “believe in”. There is plenty of evidence and research, but I digress), mostly for the reason that it removes God from the picture. Miller easily destroys this idea and shows how evolution and God can fit together quite nicely thank you very much.

Miller begins by reiterating many of the lines of evidence for evolution and also destroys the “theories” of young earth creation science, intelligent design and some other half-baked ideas. He then discusses how a lot of Christians fear evolution due to some thinkers trying to apply evolution to areas that it does not apply. He then discusses how he sees an evolving universe that is consistent, logical and does not require a deceitful or conniving God.

The book is nine years old, but it is still relevant and insightful. Please go read it. If you still do not “believe” in evolution or cannot accept it, then email me and we will talk. This constant battle over ID and creationism and evolution has to stop. It is taking time and resources from far more important issues, such as stopping the rampant violence and poverty on our planet. Go read it. You can even come over and borrow my copy if you want.

My $0.02

Blog number one hundred one = 5 and then some…

I thought I better blog again. This time it is something that I am often ranting and/or raving about. The spectre of intelligent design is once again raising its ugly head in the USA. Ben Stein (game show host and economist) has a new movie out called “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”. It is basically a documentary about a purported conspiracy in good old America to keep Intelligent Design out of classrooms. Sigh. I need to do that again in bold… SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am not going into much detail, and if you want more, check out the Skeptic Society web page. Essentially, Mr. Stein is attempting to beat a horse that is not so much dead, as it is a few bones held together by some scraps of dried tendon. I guess the movie makes claims (that are unfounded) that there is a grand conspiracy to hush up the IDers (as proponents of intelligent design can be referred to) from publishing their ideas in mainstream scientific journals and having those same ideas taught in classrooms. The problem, for the nth time, is that ID is NOT science. The reason that ID is not taught in classrooms and not published in scientific journals is because it is religion attempting to masquerade as science. Google “Kitzmiller et al v. Dover area school district” for more info. There is no conspiracy… there is no science.

Let me explain: If I want to be published in a scientific journal, I need to do some science. To do some science, generally I would start with a question about the world, stars, insect mating habits, sub-cellular protein replication, etc. Once I had my question, I would formulate a hypothesis; such as: “The playing of ambient electronic music at levels exceeding 95dB will cause Drosophilia melanogaster to mate at an increased rate.” Hypothesis in hand, I would then design an experiment to attempt to disprove my hypothesis. Yes, I said disprove. In science, one can never “prove” anything. One can only lend support to an idea, or falsify it (If you do not believe me, go read some Karl Popper.) Thus a negative result will render the hypothesis null, where as a positive result does not prove the hypothesis… A lot of people have trouble with the idea of null hypothesis. Anyhoo… Once I had my findings from my oh so cleverly designed experiment (including controls of course!) I would write up my paper and submit it to a peer-reviewed journal. Upon review by other scientists, and its acceptance into the journal, then I would be published and the cycle would begin again. The problem with ID is that there is no testable hypothesis. The ID argument sounds a little like this: “Life and the universe and everything is so complex that it must have been designed. The designer must be a living, loving deity. Thus everything was designed(also read created) by GOD. QED (quot erat demonstradum).” A wonderful sentiment, but nothing that can be tested, no falsifiable hypothesis. There is no way to prove or disprove God, and thus no way to objectively test if G/god(s) created the universe. An IDer says: “God did it”, and the skeptic replies:”prove it!”. There is no way to prove or disprove, and thus ID is NOT science. This is why ID should not be taught in classrooms or published in science journals.

The USA has so many other crushing issues facing its public schools, including the terrible privatization of the school boards, yet a few illiterate fanatics will not let the ID issue go away. ID is not science, and until there is a testable hypothesis about ID, then it needs to stay in theology and Sunday school where it belongs.

Scott