Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

Honest Mistakes in Science Karl Glazebrook, a staff member at Johns Hopkins University, is worthy of our respect and admiration. You may remember reading about a discovery he made in 2001 on the color of the universe. Having calculated that if you blended the colors of all the stars in the sky you would find that the color of the universe is “turquoise.” But when he realized that the computer software he used distorted the color, he quickly and publicly admitted his mistake. He now believes the universe is beige. One of many honorable traits of science is that mistakes are often corrected as soon as they are discovered. Most men and women in the scientific community are honest, sincere and dedicated to finding and presenting truth. Yes, there are some who do not possess those qualities, but all segments of our population have similar problems. Down through the centuries scientific discoveries have been prominently announced, only to be discredited when later experiments failed to substantiate their claims. We expect this, and it is an integral part of the scientific method. Often our news media will present the news of a “discovery” in prominent print or presentations. The news is all over the TV and newspapers. But later, when the claims are discredited, the news media often ignores the mistakes, or gives only a cursory place to the disclaimer. On Sunday, August 18, 2002, the Austin American-Statesman discussed some of these mistakes, and some of them are really interesting. There we were reminded of the most widely known scientific “discovery” gone wrong: “Piltdown Man.” This one was so conceived that, in 1918, it bamboozled some of the most prestigious scientific organizations in the world. It was first thought to be “the Missing Link” between monkey and man. Among others, the British Museum of Natural Science and Encyclopedia Brittanica declared it to be a true “find,” displaying it or writing about it in glowing terms. School children heard it described as proof of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Thirty-five years later, in 1953, it was revealed that the Piltdown bones found had been “doctored,” stained to appear of great age. The jawbone, prominent in the statements of the antiquity of the “find,” was in reality the jawbone of a modern ape. The teeth had been filed and varnished by someone—we still don’t know who—and the whole thing was a hoax. In looking back at this fiasco, modern scientists have said that those who discovered Piltdown Man were looking for evidence for evolution and the missing link—and they found what they wanted to find. They failed to do the critical examinations that would have led to the discovery of the fraud before it was made public. But, as we know now, they only “found what they were looking for.” But what they looked for just wasn’t true. In the Statesman article that brought this subject to the fore, Philip Schewe, a physicist at the American Institute of Physics, College Park Maryland, was quoted as saying: “Science is fallible because it’s human, and we need to be constantly aware of the danger of self-delusion and outright fraud.” He is right, of course, and no positive results can come from me or others bashing the scientific community. It is so easy for us to be led to the conclusions we so desperately want. Karl Glazebrook made a mistake and he quickly made it known, admitting that he had been wrong. For this we congratulate him. Many in the “religious community” could learn from his candor and his honesty. Other scientific mistakes were mentioned in the Statesman article, many of which speak of elements and scientific facts that are outside our area of knowledge. In 1999, Victor Ninov of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory reported that he had discovered two “heavy elements,” numbers 116 and 118. Later scientific experiments failed to replicate Ninov’s work, and now he has been charged with fraud. He had fourteen “co-authors” who failed to discover the mistake. Sure enough, science is human. In 1998, Scott Campbell published a study in the journal Science that seemed to show that shining a light on people’s knees could relieve jet lag. Last month it was admitted that it is not true. In 1999 the National Geographic Society proudly displayed a discovery that purported to be a “missing link” between birds and dinosaurs. The Statesman humorously called this hoax the “Piltdown Chicken.” It was not a missing link, but was ”cobbled together from different creatures by a Chinese farmer.” The words, “Cold Fusion,” and “Bubble Fusion” represent other such failures. We rejoice with the wonders of science that make our life comfortable and healthy. We applaud those who dedicate their talents to scientific discovery. We admire even more those who refuse to make science their god, who realize that the evidence must be there before they can claim discoveries that overthrow old and verified beliefs. Science is fallible because scientists are human. Much religious error taught today has its roots in that same mind set, that of finding “what we want to find” rather than what’s really in the Bible. Scientists and theologians are human too, and all need to learn this lesson. Carl B. Garner

“Science has founded the only true religion. Science is the only redemption of this world.” Robert Ingersoll, 1833-1899 Mark Twain, having examined some of the “evidence” of evolution, wrote: “There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.” “The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification.” T. H. Huxley “Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.” Henri Poincare, 1854-1912

Thankfulness First among the things to be thankful for is a thankful spirit. Some people would grumble at the accommodations in heaven if they ever got there. They take their blessings here so much as a matter of course, that even a day of general thanksgiving once in a year is more than they feel any need of. And if their personal blessings in any measure fail, gratitude for what they have had or still enjoy is the last thing they think of. Another class really desire to be thankful, but they are naturally despondent. Their sky is as dark with clouds as though a special Old Probabilities were employed to keep it full. They go through the world in a deprecating spirit, hoping things may turn out well yet fearing for the worst. We always feel glad for this class when Thanksgiving Day comes around. They then have an official warrant for gratitude. If their own hearts do not formulate blessings, they can listen to the sermon, or look to the President's proclamation. How different with the thankful heart! What a gift it is to be born with an outlook toward the bright side of things! And if not so by nature, what a triumph of grace to be made thankful through a renewed heart! It is so much more comfortable and rational to see what we have to be thankful for and to rejoice accordingly, than to have our vision forever filled with our lacks and our needs. Happy are they who possess this gift! Blessings may fail and fortunes vary, but the thankful heart remains. The happy past, at least, is secure -- and heaven is ahead.