Part XXXV: Science and Religion (conclusion)

Conflict between science and religion exists today in areas where moral values are at stake. Reproductive freedom for women, contra­ception, abortion, euthanasia,umbilical cord cell research, and genetic engineering are the result of science and technology which have progressed more rapidly than social and religious acceptance. This raises the question of whether theology can or should …

Part XXXIV: Science and Religion (continued)

In essay part XXXIII we learned some of the history of science and religion and differences between them. We learned that, among other things, religion predates science and that they differ in purpose in our lives. In the present essay Gould briefly discusses his two greatest Victorian heroes, Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley and how …

Part XXXIII: Science and Religion

History & differences       Although modern science began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (and some scholars would claim the late fifthteenth century), the precursors of science go back to ancient Greece and Rome. However, not until a new method of inquiry relying on empirical analysis based on careful observation and data collection which replaced …

Part XXXII: Viruses revisited with special emphasis on COVID19

Originally I intended for my next several essays to treat the historical controversial battle between science and religion but changed my mind to return to the subject of viruses for obvious reasons.  Let’s review some basic viral facts.  First of all, viruses are composed of just two kinds of organic molecules, an outer protein coat …

Part XXX Did Darwin read Mendel.

Did Darwin read Mendel?  David Galton Read no further if you want a definite answer to this question. It is a sort of detective story with clues scattered around. The circumstances surrounding the question however are so interesting since they involve two of the most important scientific publications of the 19th century. The truly ground-breaking …

Part XXIX: Five Misconceptions of Genetics

The following essay was adapted from an article by Crystal Jeter One set of alleles is responsible–for determining each trait, and there are only 2 different alleles (dominant and recessive) for each gene. By way of explanation, alleles are different forms of a gene (and usually expressed by, say A & a). After learning about simple …

Part XXIV: The Concept of Surface Area and Volume

Essays on Science for the Common Good (Vol. Two)  XXIV The Concept of Surface area and Volume The concepts of surface area and volume are important concepts in both the physical (nonliving) world and the biological (living) world.  Now, combine those attributes into a single relationship, the surface area to volume ratio and you have …