Post on 20-Jan-2016
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Deep Time, Creationism and National Parks
Oregon State UniversityGeo307Feb. 9, 2007
Nick Matzke
National Center for Science Education
http://www.ncseweb.org
Rob
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Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
National Center for Science Education
What we do: • Watchdog group• Creationism/evolution archives• Networking during crises• Information Resource for
• Teachers• Students• Media
http://www.ncseweb.org
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Outline
1. Deep Time
2. Creationism and where it comes from
3. Interacting with the public
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Q. How old is the Earth?
A. 4.55 billion years (approximately)
(that’s 4,550,000,000 years)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Q. How old is the Earth?
Animal fossils: last 13 yardsAnimal fossils: last 13 yardsMesozoic (“Age of Dinosaurs”): 5-1.5 yardsCenozoic (“Age of Mammals”): 1.5 yards to presentModern humans: 4/10 of an inchWritten history: 3/100 of an inch
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Q. How do we know?
A. Many lines of evidence
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1600s – Archbishop James Ussher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ussher.jpg
The problem of “chronology”:
• Medieval Europe had the Bible, but there was not extensive speculation on the age of the Earth
• Scholars began to rediscover ancient histories – Jewish, Greek, Roman, etc.
James Ussher (1581-1656)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1600s – Archbishop James Ussher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ussher.jpg
• Adding up the generations in these various chronologies led to a date:
“In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth, Gen. 1, v. 1. Which beginning of time, according to our Chronologie, fell upon the entrance of the night preceding the twenty third day of Octob[er] in the year of the Julian [Period] 710. The year before Christ 4004.”
(Ussher, 1650, Annals of the World) James Ussher (1581-1656)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1700s – views change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:James_Hutton.jpg
• James Hutton:
• “Founder of Modern Geology”
• Explored geology of Scotland
• Realized the significance of “unconformities”
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Hutton’s Unconformity
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Siccar_Point.jpg/250px-Siccar_Point.jpg
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Hutton’s Unconformity
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/distance/gg101/Programs/program12%20Geologic%20Time/program12.html
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Unconformities
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/Ben/Pictures/Structure/structure.htm
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Grand Canyon – Great Unconformity
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/arizonasite/imagepages/unconformity.html
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Unconformity:Missing Portion of the Geologic Record
Angular Unconformity
Parks and Plates©2005 Robert J. Lillie
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Unconformities -- implications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:James_Hutton.jpg
“The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning - no prospect of an end.”
-- James Hutton
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1800s – old earth widely accepted
• Most scientists were Christians
• Age of the earth not particularly controversial
• Several interpretations of the Bible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:James_Hutton.jpg
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1800s – old earth widely accepted
• Most scientists were Christians
• Age of the earth not particularly controversial
• Several interpretations of the Bible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:James_Hutton.jpg
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1900s – measuring the age
Radioactive atoms decay randomly, emitting radiation
Each element has a half-lifeBrent Dalrymple (1991)
radioactive decay
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Additional evidence – radioactive decay
Nuclide Half-LifeFound in Nature?
50V 6.0 x 1015 yes
144Nd 2.4 x 1015 yes
174Hf 2.0 x 1015 yes
192Pt 1.0 x 1015 yes
115In 6.0 x 1014 yes
152Gd 1.1 x 1014 yes
123Te 1.2 x 1013 yes
190Pt 6.9 x 1011 yes
138La 1.12 x 1011 yes
147Sm 1.06 x 1011 yes
87Rb 4.88 x 1010 yes
187Re 4.3 x 1010 yes
176Lu 3.5 x 1010 yes
232Th 1.40 x 1010 yes
238U 4.47 x 109 yes
40K 1.25 x 109 yes
235U 7.04 x 108 yes
244Pu 8.2 x 107 yes
Nuclide Half-LifeFound in Nature?
146Sm 7.0 x 107 no
205Pb 3.0 x 107 no
247Cm 1.6 x 107 no
182Hf 9 x 106 no
107Pd 7 x 106 no
135Cs 3.0 x 106 no
97Tc 2.6 x 106 no
150Gd 2.1 x 106 no
93Zr 1.5 x 106 no
98Tc 1.5 x 106 no
154Dy 1.0 x 106 nomil
lio
ns
Note: this table excludes radiogenic elements (those produced by other decay processes). From The Age of the Earth by Brent Dalrymple 1991, p. 377.
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Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Additional evidence Material Dated
Dates Material Formed This Many Years
Ago
Uranium to Lead Minerals1 Million to 4.6
Billion
Rubidium to Strontium
Minerals60 Million to 4.6
Billion
Potassium to Argon
Minerals 10,000 to 3 Billion
Uranium Series Disequilibrium
Minerals, Shell, Bone, Teeth, Coral
0 to 400,000
Carbon 14Minerals, Shell,
Wood, Bone, Teeth, Water
0 to 40,000
Fission TrackMinerals, Natural
Glass500,000 to 1
Billion
Thermo-luminescence
Minerals, Natural Glass
0 to 500,000
Electron Spin Resonance
Minerals, Tooth Enamel, Shell,
Coral1,000 to 1 Million
Geomagnetic Polarity
Minerals780,000 to 200
Million
Amino Acid Racemization
Shells, Other Biocarbonates
500 to 300,000
Obsidian Hydration
Natural Glass 500 to 200,000
Dendro-chronology
Tree Rings 0 to 12,000
Lichenometry Lichens 100 to 9,000
Isoto
pic
Rad
iati
on
Exposu
reO
ther
Technique
Many techniques for absolute dating:
Carbon-14 • half-life: ~5,000 years• range: 0 to 50,000 years
Uranium-Lead• half-life: 4.47 billion• range: millions to billions
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
The Creation/Evolution Continuum
• If someone says, “I am a creationist”, you should ask, “What kind?”
• Many different interpretations of the Bible
http://www.natcenscied.org/resources/articles/1593_the_creationevolution_continu_12_7_2000.asp
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1920s – rise of fundamentalism
William Jennings Bryan Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1960s – rise of “creation science”
• John Whitcomb and Henry Morris were fundamentalists who read Genesis completely literally
• young earth (6,000 years)• Global Noah’s Flood
• They promoted something called “Flood Geology”, derived from the work of Seventh-Day Adventists
1961
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
1960s – rise of “creation science”
• They promoted something called “Flood Geology”, derived from the work of Seventh-Day Adventists
• Historian Ronald Numbers traces the complex history in The Creationists
1961
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Evolution and the public
• Survey published in 2006
• U.S. ranks 2nd to last
1961
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Evolution and the public
Gallup Poll on Creation and Evolution, 1982-1997 (Percent Answering True)
Question 1982 1991 1993 1997
God created people in present form, ~10,000 years ago 45 47 47 44
Evolution occured, guided by God 39 40 35 39
Evolution occurred, no interference by God 9 9 11 10
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Young-earth creationism and the National Parks
1961
• Many different people use:
Public schoolsMuseumsNational Parks
• What should science interpreters say?
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Young-earth creationism and the National Parks
2001 National Park Service Management Policies, Chapter 7, Interpretation and Education:
• “Factual information presented will be current, accurate, based on current scholarship and science, and delivered so as to convey park meanings, with the understanding that audience members will draw their own conclusions.”
• “Interpretive and educational programs will be based on current scholarship and research about the history, science, and condition of park resources, and on research about the needs, expectations, and behavior of visitors.”
• “Acknowledging multiple points of view does not require interpretive and educational programs to provide equal time, or to disregard the weight of scientific or historical evidence.”
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Young-earth creationism and the National Parks
Some good things to remember:
1. Your job is to educate and help people understand the science. Listeners can make up their own minds about what they believe.
2. There is not one single “creationist” view. Inside Christianity there are many different ways of interpreting the Bible, and outside of Christianity there are many different religions. The government cannot intentionally promote any particular religious view.
3. However, the government can (and should) use and promote good science.
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
Best single book to read
by Eugenie Scott (2005)
Nick Matzke, www.ncseweb.org. OSU Geo 307, Feb. 9, 2009. Deep Time.
National Center for Science Education
What we do: • Watchdog group• Creationism/evolution archives• Networking during crises• Information Resource for
• Teachers• Students• Media
http://www.ncseweb.org