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The Altenberg Sixteen: A Travesty of Science Reporting
Suzan Mazur excels in the art of yellow journalism, grossly distorting what is often regarded as the current consensus of scientists working in evolutionary biology. In the words of a friend, she...more
The Altenberg Sixteen: A Travesty of Science Reporting
Suzan Mazur excels in the art of yellow journalism, grossly distorting what is often regarded as the current consensus of scientists working in evolutionary biology. In the words of a friend, she is “a tabloid writer who dabbles in science that she doesn't understand”, and one who does a grave disservice to the cause of public understanding of science via her writing. “Altenberg Sixteen: An Expose of the Evolution Industry” is a sterling example of her literary craft, and one that, not surprisingly, is poorly edited and written. Readers interested in an excellent introduction to evolutionary biology would be served better if they read Carl Zimmer’s “The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution”, or his earlier “Evolution”, the companion volume to the PBS NOVA miniseries, or Richard Dawkins’ “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution”. Those interested in an accurate portrayal of the 2008 Altenberg Conference organized by evolutionary biologist and philosopher of science Massimo Pigliucci, currently a professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, should read instead, his edited volume of the proceedings, “Evolution: The Extended Synthesis”, co-edited with his colleague Gerd B. Müller, Professor of Theoretical Biology at the University of Vienna and Chairman of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research.
Mazur excels in polemical writing like this question posed recently to University of Chicago microbiologist James Shapiro in an interview published online at the radical progressive journal Counterpunch:
"In pinpointing some of the most obnoxious behavior in defense of Darwinian scenarios, I am reminded of the keynote speaker of the Rockefeller University Evolution symposium — University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne — who stood before an audience of distinguished scientists in the spring of 2008 to do damage control, first trashing Creationism and then declaring that he could cite 300 examples of natural selection but didn’t have enough time to do so. The speech was arranged by the National Center for Science Education — an appendage of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I understand the AAAS has since asked for assistance steering it to scientists who are thinking about self-organization."
"Are Coyne and his pal Richard Dawkins, by not publicly recognizing that a sea change has occurred, milking lucrative performances and book deals? And if so, isn’t this a disservice to science?"
Her description of the Rockefeller University evolution symposium (which we both attended) is one entirely divorced from reality. (The symposium was organized as an early celebration of the Darwin bicentennial and the 150th anniversaries of the joint reading of Darwin and Wallace’s papers on Natural Selection at the Linnean Society of London and of the original publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”. NCSE does not have any ties to AAAS and was not responsible for organizing the symposium; Rockefeller University was.) Moreover, having met her for the first time, I realized immediately that hers was an agenda to prove something was “wrong” with modern evolutionary biology, going as far as confronting Jerry Coyne at the end of his keynote lecture, demanding that he recognize that modern evolutionary theory was in a “state of crisis”. Great science journalists like Carl Zimmer merely report the facts and describe accurately the work of scientists; mediocre ones revel in inserting opinions masquerading as fact. I strongly urge potential readers not to buy Mazur’s dreadful book.(less)
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Kraken
by
China Miéville (Goodreads Author)
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Great Contemporary Fantasy Involving Wizards, Cultists and a Kraken
China Mieville gives new meaning to the word “weird” in his outrageously funny and chilling contemporary fantasy novel, “Kraken”, set in a London that’s both oddly familiar and bizarr...more
Great Contemporary Fantasy Involving Wizards, Cultists and a Kraken
China Mieville gives new meaning to the word “weird” in his outrageously funny and chilling contemporary fantasy novel, “Kraken”, set in a London that’s both oddly familiar and bizarre, inhabited by wizards and cultists obsessed with magic and myth. Mieville demonstrates anew that he is a uniquely confident master of genre and realistic mainstream fiction, playfully mixing up everything from hard-boiled detective fiction and horror to fantasy that owes more than a passing nod to J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series and Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, and one that is replete with contemporary references to such classic genre television series as the original “Star Trek” itself. He gives readers a whirlwind tour of a supernatural London where homicidal thieves, zealous religious cultists and wizards wage war to seek or to prevent humanity’s extinction, seeking a missing giant squid from the British Museum of Natural History’s Darwin Centre, a vast repository of stored natural history specimens, including the priceless few collected by Charles Darwin himself during his around-the-world HMS Beagle voyage. Darwin Centre curator Billy Harrow embarks on a perilous trek through London’s supernatural realm, seeking not just the missing squid, but his very survival as he is caught in the titanic, bloody struggle involving zealous religious cultists worshipping the giant squid as a Deity, murderous thieves fluent in the art of magic, and diabolical magicians who see the squid as a talisman destined to bring about the “End of All Things”. “Kraken” is destined to be remembered as a major classic of contemporary fantasy, written by someone I regard as the best young British writer of his generation, deservingly worthy of ample praise from both critics and fans for being both a compelling storyteller and a most elegant literary stylist. Without a doubt it is quite simply, a most important milestone in Mieville’s already distinguished literary career.(less)
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A Spellbinding Installment in Michael Flynn’s Medieval European Age-Inspired Space Opera
“In the Lion’s Mouth” is a riveting, compelling addition to the space opera series Michael Flynn started with “January Dancer”, demonstrating that he is among the...more
A Spellbinding Installment in Michael Flynn’s Medieval European Age-Inspired Space Opera
“In the Lion’s Mouth” is a riveting, compelling addition to the space opera series Michael Flynn started with “January Dancer”, demonstrating that he is among the more imaginative prose stylists in contemporary science fiction. He’s breathed new life into the old genre itself, giving readers a series that has more in common with traditional Medieval European tales such as the Norse sagas than with anything from the likes of John Scalzi or David Weber; a compelling writer whose literary muse may very well be Iain M. Banks, rather than Poul Anderson or Gordon Dickson. Though Flynn may not be as graceful and as imaginative a writer as Banks, he does share with him a keen ear for language and for creating realistic settings in a far-flung future so remote that readers could mistakenly believe that they’re reading a uniquely original blend of fantasy and space opera science fiction. He definitely delivers the goods in offering readers vividly realized characters and settings replete with fast-paced action. “In the Lion’s Mouth” recounts a deadly power struggle within the Confederacy of Central World’s Lion’s Mouth, the agency which oversees the Shadows, elite spies and assassins; an internal civil war occurring as the Confederacy remains engaged in a “Great Game” between itself and the other major human interstellar empire, the United League of the Periphery. Caught in this internal power struggle within the Lion’s Mouth is onetime Confederacy Donovan buigh, whose disappearance sets the stage for the epic struggle between opposing Shadow factions. Readers should be impressed with Flynn’s use of language and sense of realism, drawn convincingly from Medieval European history. “In the Lion’s Mouth” will be viewed by many as among the most fascinating science fiction novels published this year, worthy of recognition as a potential nominee of the Hugo and Nebula awards and other literary prizes in science fiction.(less)
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John
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The Best New Novel Published in English Last Year
Haruki Murakami returns to the surrealistic, magic realism fiction of "Kafka on the Shore" in his genre-bending "1Q84", ably translated by his long-time translators Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel, collab...more
The Best New Novel Published in English Last Year
Haruki Murakami returns to the surrealistic, magic realism fiction of "Kafka on the Shore" in his genre-bending "1Q84", ably translated by his long-time translators Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel, collaborating with them on what is quite possibly the most impressive novel published in the English language last year. Murakami playfully bends genres and literary conventions in "1Q84", which could be viewed as a psychologically dark homage to George Orwell's "1984", but should be regarded instead as a vivid fictional exploration into the totalitarian nature of fanatical religious cults, and the nature of one's own existence. "1Q84" succeeds admirably as an elegant example of alternative history science fiction crossed with pulp detective crime fiction, in creating a parallel Japan where the rules of existence depend exclusively on illogical means. Into that parallel existence, a young woman, Aomame realizes that she has emerged into "1Q84", noting discrepancies in her knowledge of Japan's recent history as well as the unexpected appearance of two moons in the nocturnal sky. A long-lost friend from her youth, struggling novelist Tengo, recognizes the subtle changes in reality too, as he revises the enigmatic debut novel of a teenager, who, like himself and Amomame, have escaped from highly secretive, quite fanatical, religious cults. As he realizes that the novel may possess some semblance of reality, Tengo not only searches for the meaning of his own existence (as well as the teenager's), but finds himself propelled by unforeseen events over the course of the year that will intersect with Aomame's own destiny. Readers unfamiliar with modern Japanese culture may be confounded by Murakami's descriptive, almost visionary, prose; but that's a minor complaint in what is otherwise one of the best novels I have read regarding the nature of one's own personal identity and emotional ties to both family and friends. Nor does the seemingly excessive length of the tale itself should give potential readers a reason to ignore this great work of fiction; in composing the intricate, tightly woven sagas of Aomame and Tengo, Murakami has offered readers a compelling work of fiction that should be viewed favorably by most.(less)
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A Fascinating Exploration of a Family’s Secrets Courtesy of Mark Haddon
Best known for his best-selling “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, Mark Haddon offers a fascinating, often compelling, exploration of an extended family’s secret...more
A Fascinating Exploration of a Family’s Secrets Courtesy of Mark Haddon
Best known for his best-selling “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, Mark Haddon offers a fascinating, often compelling, exploration of an extended family’s secrets in “The Red House”, which, stylistically, owes more to British writers such as Ian McEwen than to American ones such as Jonathan Franzen, Rick Moody and Tom Perrotta. This comparison is most apt since the novel occurs over a span of a week in the vacation home of a wealthy doctor, Richard, somewhere in the English countryside. In the span of that week, two families become one; the families of Richard and his estranged sister, Angela, in which we see vividly via Haddon’s sharply written, terse prose, the inner demons and aspirations of both families laid bare, replete with ample resentment and guilt.
Haddon offers readers a most relentless narrative with occasional references to contemporary culture (e. g. Coca-Cola, Harry Potter novels), replete with lyrical passages emphasizing the active tense of his language via declarative sentences such as these:
“Dirty orange streetlights in the not-yet-dawn as she walks across the wet black tarmac of the Whelan Centre car park. Wet air and the clang of lockers, the flash of a blue verruca sock, pound in the slot, slam shut, key hand twisted out. She walks through the footbath into the hard white light of the pool, pushing her hair up into the rubber swim hat and snapping it down over the ears. The shriek and whistle of that ringing echo. She spits into her goggles and licks the rubber seal before flipping the elastic over the back of her head and sitting the lenses just right over her eyes. She stands and stretches beside the stack of polystyrene floats, arms over her head, fingers laced, palms toward the ceiling. The black second hand ticks on the big white clock.”
I have no doubt “The Red House” will become an instant favorite amongst book club readers, eager to decipher the past histories and current motivations of each of Richard and Angela’s families. Haddon has rendered a most vivid fictional portrait of these families, transforming the mundane into situations often replete in suspense. Without question, “The Red House” must be viewed as among the more impressive novels published in 2012 and a worthy addition to Haddon’s oeuvre of literary fiction.(less)
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