Re: BIO: Help wanted explaining evolution to students

Michael M. Butler (butler@comp*lib.org)
Tue, 16 Sep 1997 19:00:50 -0700


Well, there's Dawkins' _River out of Eden_, Chapter 3... "Do Good By
Stealth".

But I'm not sure how much more compact it is than _Blind Watchmaker_.

One of the points that some recent contact with Creationists has brought up
is that any mutation is thought to automatically confer a crippling
"unfitness"--e.g., a visual-purple pigment spot without supporting
neurology and opaque pigment. This is regarded as more damning than "what
good is one percent of an eye"; Anything you can do to scotch that, including

>examples such as how the
>theory explains maladjustments of structure -- insects that use wings to
>swim, the webbed feet of upland geese and of frigate birds which do not use
>them for paddling

...is a good thing.

BTW, I've been posting to extropians@extropy.org, but those emails have not
been appearing to show up. Any suggestions?

Regards,

Michael

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