Post by ignorantianescia on Oct 29, 2012 13:06:39 GMT
Has anybody read this book by David R. Montgomery? I've just completed it. Initially it was intended to debunk the claims of the Young-Earthers, but it became a popular book on the history of geology, which also includes the perception of the Deluge throughout history, attacks the conflict thesis, describes some research on flood stories, discusses the Black Sea flooding or a Mesopotamian monster flood as possible (alternative) explanations for Noah's Flood, briefly mentions some of the history of fundamentalism and debunks the idea of a Young Earth. Though his description of the Galileo trial seems inaccurate and his part about Luther on Noah's Flood is a little surprising.
Anyway, Religion Dispatches has an interview with him here, which is worth checking:
www.religiondispatches.org/books/science/6301/high_ark%3A_a_geologist_on_the_true_meaning_of_noah%E2%80%99s_flood
Anyway, Religion Dispatches has an interview with him here, which is worth checking:
www.religiondispatches.org/books/science/6301/high_ark%3A_a_geologist_on_the_true_meaning_of_noah%E2%80%99s_flood
Culture-war minefields await the hard scientist who dares to wander into the perceived territory of religion, and your readership tends to retreat into their corners, waving flags. When I first heard about the new book from the MacArthur-winning University of Washington professor of geomorphology David R. Montgomery, The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood, I figured it to be a straightforward debunking of the so-called “Flood geology,” the idea put forward by young-earth creationists that all of the geologic features we see on today’s Earth—sedimentary rock, species distribution, formation of continents, volcanoes, canyons, everything—can be attributed to one “global flood,” within the 6,000-year time frame they allow for Earth’s history. It’s an idea that begs for debunking, certainly, but who would be listening?
Fortunately, Montgomery’s book offers the reader something much more interesting than a takedown. Also the author of the science histories Dirt and King of Fish, Montgomery delved deeper, into the early history of geology in which the quest to understand the Bible’s flood story often played a crucial role. He describes, firsthand, what the geologic and historic data actually tell us about the large floods that have taken place all over the world throughout history. And perhaps most intriguing, he’s willing to talk about science as a human endeavor. I spoke to Montgomery by phone to find out more about these surprising aspects of his story.
Fortunately, Montgomery’s book offers the reader something much more interesting than a takedown. Also the author of the science histories Dirt and King of Fish, Montgomery delved deeper, into the early history of geology in which the quest to understand the Bible’s flood story often played a crucial role. He describes, firsthand, what the geologic and historic data actually tell us about the large floods that have taken place all over the world throughout history. And perhaps most intriguing, he’s willing to talk about science as a human endeavor. I spoke to Montgomery by phone to find out more about these surprising aspects of his story.