CORRESPONDENCE NATURE|Vol 444|7 December 2006

pharyngula/2006/11/nature_publishes_a_ Walking with dinosaurs? (The Encyclopedia of ‘missing pages’ volumes crank_lette.php#more. 4 and 6, PWE, 2000, 2001). These articles, We worry that Giertych’s Correspondence Not in the real world “Darwin, Charles Robert”, “Darwinism”, will lend credibility to pseudoscientific SIR — It is to be hoped that Maciej Giertych’s “”, and “Evolutionism”, provide a efforts to undermine evolutionary theory. Its comments in Correspondence (Nature more extensive version of the arguments publication is damaging to Nature’s reputation 444, 265; 2006) will generate a flood of presented in his Correspondence, and and to science itself. We as scientists may be refutations. Staying within my archaeological explicitly refer to religion and ID views. able to see whether a claim is scientifically profession, Giertych’s claims that there are Reasonable criticism is as fundamental thorough, but many other people cannot. We data suggesting that “dinosaurs coexisted to science as natural selection is to adaptive urge the editors to insist on the same scientific with humans” or that there was a “major evolution. But what Giertych calls “new rigour in Correspondence as in any other worldwide catastrophe in historical times” scientific evidence against the theory of section of Nature. are simply false. These are claims regularly evolution” could not be published in any Uwe Balthasar, Susannah Maidment made by religious fundamentalists in support serious peer-reviewed journal. In fact, Department of Earth Sciences, University of of , exposing Giertych’s assertion publishing scientific papers is not a significant Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge that his objections are scientific. goal for creationists in Poland or anywhere CB2 3EQ, UK In support of these claims, some else — on the contrary, the goal is to replace creationists promote known frauds such evolution with some in as the Paluxy River ‘human footprints’ and school curricula, as reported in the News the ‘dinosaur figurines’ from Acambaro, story “Polish scientists fight creationism” There is no new evidence Mexico, which they misrepresent as modelled (Nature 443, 890–891; 2006). The creationists’ that undermines evolution from living observations. There are many movement is dangerous to the general public creationist interpretations of prehistoric rock on political, not scientific, grounds. SIR — We are astonished that Nature would art that owe more to Hermann Rorschach Jerzy Banbura publish a Correspondence as full of errors than to Richard Owen. Department of Experimental Zoology and as that by Maciej Giertych (Nature 444, 265; Creationists also distort actual science. Evolutionary , University of Lodz, Banacha 2006). For someone with degrees from the Mary H. Schweitzer’s research on dinosaur 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland universities of Oxford and Toronto, Giertych tissue preservation has been used for years as displays a breathtaking ignorance. ‘proof’ that Earth is a few thousand years old, There is no “new scientific evidence as I document in “Dino-blood and the Young against the theory of evolution” as he asserts, Earth” and “Dino Blood Redux” (see www. How the word ‘hominid’ but fails to document. This can be verified talkorigins.org). Giertych’s Correspondence evolved to include hominin by consulting any of the recent standard shows us the irrational basis of creationism textbooks on the subject. The claim that in the twenty-first century and warns the SIR — Human evolution has long been “microevolution…is a step towards a international scientific community that a subject that can claim a love of tongue- reduction of genetic information” is nonsense. this delusion is not restricted to American twisting terminology, which if not properly On the contrary, there is ample evidence for hillbillies. explained can lead to much confusion. The the frequent use of duplications of genes in Gary S. Hurd latest example is the reassessment of the evolution, many of which have acquired new 33902 Silver Lantern, Dana Point, linnaean description of the relationship functions. By any criterion, this represents an California 92629, USA between Homo sapiens and the other great increase in the amount of genetic information. apes. To better describe the close evolutionary Contrary to Giertych’s statements, relationship between them, a new sub-family the temporal ordering of rock layers by level has been created. The family group stratigraphy, and the extinction of dinosaurs Creationists pose political, ‘hominid’ now contains all of the African some 65 million years before the existence not scientific, threat apes, not just the species of the human of humans, are overwhelmingly established lineage; and the newly created sub-family facts of geology and palaeontology. His claim SIR — I was disappointed to see Maciej name ‘hominin’ (with associated sub-families that “No positive mutations have ever been Giertych’s letter “Creationism, evolution: for Pan and Gorilla) contains all the species demonstrated” is simply false. Disregarding nothing has been proved” (Nature 444, 265; of the human evolutionary lineage. The the fact that it is illogical to rule out resistance 2006) published without any disclaimer term hominin is now used where hominid to antibiotics and herbicides as examples of or comment by the editors. Even though was previously, causing much confusion, adaptations, as was done by Giertych, there I am aware that Nature asked Giertych especially among students and nonspecialists. are literally thousands of cases in which to comment on the News story “Polish Publications have a key role in ensuring natural selection has been demonstrated in scientists fight creationism” (Nature 443, that this change and the reasons for it wild populations of animals and plants. 890–891; 2006), I can find no justification for are as clear as possible. Yet journals, Further, the contemporary literature on publishing pseudoscientific arguments in this including Nature, continue to publish molecular evolution is filled with studies that first-rate scientific magazine. papers and features that use the terms provide evidence for a positive role of natural The level of scientific illiteracy in those hominin and hominid interchangeably. selection. Physicists do not spend their time arguments is self-evident and, as such, does If all in our discipline could agree to the debating the correctness of the atomic theory not need any further discussion. What needs new terminology, journals could ensure of matter; it is intolerable that biologists some comment is Giertych’s claim about that it is used correctly, bringing a small should constantly be forced to defend their the scientific inspiration for his criticism amount of clarity to a subject that so often unifying theory against ill-informed attacks. of evolutionary science. Contemporary presents problems of interpretation for the Brian Charlesworth and 34 others (names creationists espousing ‘’ nonspecialist but fascinated public audience. available on request from B.C.) (ID) are careful to avoid mentioning religion Simon Underdown Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of — as was Giertych in his recent public Department of Anthropology and Geography, Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, statements. Yet Polish readers can refer to his Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane Campus, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK four articles in Encyklopedia “Białych Plam” Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK

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