The Questioning Librarian

I freely admit a very great and growing disillusionment with Michael Shermer. While previously I had immense respect for him and what he had to say, I've been disappointed with some of his recent columns in Scientific American, and freely criticized his post dismissing the problem of income inequality in the United States when it was posted a few weeks ago. His libertarian flag is flying high again in his August column for the magazine in which he appears to side with known climate change denier Bjorn Lomborg in asserting that climate change is just one of many problems we face, and by no means the most important. The article is somewhat muddled, making it difficult to determine just what, exactly, Shermer is calling for.  He agrees that climate change is real, and a threat, and that something should be done, but he attempts to cast a lot of doubt on how severe the effects of climate change will be. Shermer writes that while global warming is real, "predicting how mu...

This is a call to action. Now, with evolution under assault, and also much of science in many different fields facing similar treatment, we who love and respect science have a duty to speak out to defend it. As much as we might wish it otherwise, creationism, in spite of losing nearly every battle it has fought thus far, is not dead by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, creationism evolves over time, taking new guises in hopes of getting into the classroom, forcing its views on the entire body of students. We who are on the side of science have fought them as well, but the battle is ongoing. Science in the classroom remains under assault, with evolution, climate change and modern geology being the prime focus of irrational attacks.  The anti-science opposition is vocal, persistent, well-organized and well-funded, and they have long triumphed in the minds of much of the public. Whether it is Answers in Genesis with its Creation Museum, and now the taxpayer-supported Ark Encou...