Dear Lowell and Christie, The first day I walked through the door to room 103 I had no idea how an advanced Biology class would influence the rest of my life. Some of the concepts we learned and the ideas we shared took shape as threads that would be intricately woven into the fabric of my life. … [Read more…]
After Biodesign students explored Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Mendocino coast, it was not uncommon for them to vow publicly (or privately) to return to one of the areas when they became adults. I have no record of how many achieved that goal, but I do know of one ex-student who has climbed Half Dome … [Read more…]
The Biodesign Class of 1978 was only the second class to reach the top of Yosemite’s world-famous Half Dome. They donned their backpacks and labored for 10 miles while gaining nearly 5,000 feet of elevation. The last ½ mile involved climbing a steep series of granite stairs and ascending 400 feet of twin cables up … [Read more…]
“To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” – Henry David Thoreau In a bizarre synchronicity, after I wrote this blog I went to a local hospital to have some lab work done. A middle-aged couple was sitting next to me. … [Read more…]
https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/07/12/buckminster-fuller-ever-rethinking-the-lords-prayer/ Buckminster Fuller is described in Wikipedia as a: “designer, inventor, engineer, mathematician, architect, cartographer, philosopher, poet, cosmogonist and visionary.” He wrote over 30 books and qualifies as a true renaissance thinker. Among his many inventions is the “geodesic dome,” which inspired scientists who discovered “Carbon 60” (hollow carbon molecules) to name them “Buckminsterfullerenes,” or … [Read more…]
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain This is a wonderfully interconnected triad that gifted naturalist Annie Dillard would regard as a “bright snarl.” Without a Creator there would be no “astronomy” or evolution. Without evolution the universe … [Read more…]
In his own words, “The Autobiography of Charles Darwin:” “When thus reflecting [‘on the universe, including man’] I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man’ and I deserve to be called a Theist.” Shame on Richard Dawkins, and other science atheists who … [Read more…]
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” – Albert Einstein There are a growing number of practitioners of “scientism” who become exercised when their critics suggest that science may have some wrong conclusions. Paraphrasing Einstein’s logic, all scientists have been wrong … [Read more…]
In, The Great Evolution Mystery, Gordon Taylor explains why Darwin’s Theory of evolution does not account for “organs of extreme perfection.” This includes the human eye. Human eyes contain over 100 million cells that all must function in perfect synchrony in order for people to see properly. Although ophthalmologists know much about eyes, it remains … [Read more…]
There is a rural legend that domesticated turkeys are so dumb that they will drown themselves while looking up at the rain with their mouths open. The term “birdbrain” emerged from the fact that, compared to humans, bird brains are extremely small. Most birds have pea-sized brains with the largest belonging to parrots. Ostrich brains … [Read more…]