The evolution of the great Darwin debate-Darwin’s 200th birthday with a weeklong celebration...

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The evolution of the great Darwin debate


Professor Jeffrey F. Thomas showed slides of the anatomy of a bat wing, a dolphin’s dorsal, mole’s claw, and a man’s hand during his lecture on homogeneity between species.

“That’s a digger,” he says as he showed the mole claw, and then he points to the human hand, “and that’s a doorknob opener.”

The kicker, Thomas explains, is there was a common ancestor in the past that links the four species. The similarity can be seen in traits of bone structures.

Charles Darwin’s 150-year-old theory of evolution and his discussion of natural selection, as explained in his book “The Origin of Species,” have contributed monumentally to science. However, his ideas have often divided people.

This week, CSUN focuses on Darwin’s accomplishments, featuring lectures and events to celebrate his 200th birthday and the publication of his groundbreaking text.

CSUN faculty members Rick Talbott, Randal Cummings, Jim Hogue, and Martin Cohen will speak on the panel, called “Evolution, Science, and Religion.”

While the evolution of monkeys, apes, or birds has taken over millions of years, the politics of the United States is moving through a rapid evolution, spurred on by the Obama administration.

The battle between science and religion is rooted in the classroom and on the steps of Capitol Hill. A Pennsylvania court ruled in December 2005 against intelligent design being taught in schools in the Dover Area School District. Former President George W. Bush vetoed a bill giving federal funding to human embryonic stem cell research based on moral grounds, because human embryos are destroyed as a result.

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