Randy Olson, as you may know, is the scientist-turned-filmmaker whose movies include Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus and Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy. Olson also wrote Don’t Be Such A Scientist, and now has a new book, Houston, We Have a…
I’m looking at Oscar Fraas’s Vor der Sündfluth! Eine Geschichte der Urwelt (1866)—that’s Before the Deluge! A History of the Ancient World—because, ultimately, I tend to be suspicious. Seeing a quotation in William A. Williams’s The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved…
Opening a book about science communication by talking about Comedy Central’s hyper-vulgar South Park is likely to lose many readers. And among these readers may be the mature scientists who most need to rethink how they communicate. But Randy Olson’s new book, Houston, We Have a…
Last week I opted to manifest, yet again, my undying love for xenarthrans to help get you through your Friday. This week’s particular photo was a zoomed-in view of what I think is definitely a top contender for my #1 favorite xenarthran of all time: the glyptodont. Isn’t she gorgeous? (No, I don’…
Back in late 2009, we started offering free evolution book excerpts on the NCSE web site and via Facebook. (Starting in 2012, we added excerpts from climate change books.) The excerpts—often complete chapters—were culled from a range of tomes, from illustrated versions of the Origin to…
As the COP21 talks wind down, you might need something else to read about. Here is a selection of articles NCSE staff found interesting this week.The iPhone 6 Makes Climate Change Simple, Bloomberg News, September 19, 2015 — An oldie, but a goodie! Eric Roston uses the iPhone to explain all…
NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview (PDF) of David E. Alexander's On the Wing: Insects, Pterosaurs, Birds, Bats and the Evolution of Animal Flight (Oxford University Press, 2015). The preview consists of chapter 1, "Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard," in which Alexander…
If I had my way, the world would shift to three-day weekends just before Thanksgiving until after the New Year. Regardless of holiday traditions or lack thereof, it just seems like a cruel and unusual punishment to have to work on Fridays in December. With a miles-long to-do list and a longing for…
The vertebrate paleontologist is a peculiar creature—half geologist, half biologist, half lunatic, it spends as much time as it can in the hottest desert or the coldest tundra, all in the passionate pursuit of the interesting inedible. As many of you know personally, and others of you have no…