Daily Archives: December 29, 2009

An MLA Report on Close Reading

With the Modern Language Association (MLA) conference going on right now in Philadelphia, I notice that Inside Higher Ed  quotes an MLA report on the importance of teaching literature to undergraduates: Sustained, deep engagements with literary works and literary language open perceptions of structure, … Continue reading

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Quote of the Day (and Funny)

From David Berlinski’s book, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions (Basic Books, 2009, 16-17): Why should a limited and finite organ such as the human brain have the power to see into the heart of matter and mathematics? … Continue reading

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NOVA’s Two Hour Special, “What Darwin Never Knew”, Airs Tonight at 8:00 PM

It’s about evo devo. Here is the Nova website for more information:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beta/evolution/darwin-never-knew.html And Amazon is taking orders for the DVD here: http://www.amazon.com/What-Darwin-Never-Knew-n/dp/B0031SZER2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262133114&sr=8-1

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Jerry Coyne’s “Why Evolution is True”: Intelligent Design in Checkmate?

I’ve finally gotten around to reading atheist biologist Jerry Coyne’s book, Why Evolution is True (Viking, 2009), and if you follow this blog, you know that, as a religion-friendly agnostic, I’m not always sympatico with Coyne’s most strident and obnoxious atheist postings at his blog … Continue reading

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