Stephen
Jay Gould, Professor of Geology and Paleontology, Harvard University,
Dr. David M. Raup, Curator of
Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, J. John Sepkoski, Jr,
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Rochester, New York, Thomas
J. M. Schopf, Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
and Daniel S. Simberloff,
Department of Biology, Florida State University, Tallahassee 'The shape
of evolution: a comparison of real and random.clades',.Paleobiology,
vol. 3 (1), 1977, pp. 34,35.."Paleontologists.(and
evolutionary biologists in general).are
famous for their facility in devising plausible
stories; but they often forget that plausible stories need not be true."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
J. E. O'Rourke, 'Pragmatism
versus materialism in stratigraphy',.American
Journal of Science, vol. 276, January 1976, p.47.."The
intelligent layman has long suspected circular
reasoning in the use of rocks to date fossils and fossils to date rocks.
The geologist has never bothered to think of a good reply, feeling that
explanations are not worth the trouble as long as the work brings results.
This is supposed to be hard headed pragmatism."
p.53.."The
procession
of life was never witnessed, it is inferred.
The vertical
sequence
of fossils is thought to represent a process because the enclosing rocks
are interpreted as a process. The rocks do date.(*).the
fossils, but the fossils date the rocks more accurately. Stratigraphy
cannot avoid this kind of reasoning, if it insists on using only temporal.(limited
by time; temporary).concepts,
because circularity is
inherent
in the derivation
of time scales."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Dr.
David M. Raup, Curator of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History,
Chicago, 'Geology and creationism',.Field
Museum of Natural History Bulletin, vol. 54 (3), March 1983, p. 21.."The
charge that the construction of the geologic
scale involves circularity
has a certain amount of validity."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
R. H. Rastall, Lecturer in
Economic Geology, Cambridge University,.Encyclopedia
Britannica.(britannica.com),
1956, vol. 10, p. 168.."It
cannot be denied that from a strictly philosophical standpoint geologists
are here arguing in a circle. The succession of organisms has been determined
by a study of their remains embedded in the rocks and the relative ages
of the rocks are determined by the remains of organisms that they contain."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
O.H. Schindewolf, 'Comments
on some stratigraphic terms',.American
Journal of Science, vol. 255, June 1957, p.395.."The
only chronometric.(an
exceptionally precise timepiece).scale
applicable in geological history for the stratigraphic
classification of rocks and for dating geological events exactly is furnished
by the fossils. Owing to the.irreversibility
of evolution.(this
guy's a 'gung hoer'
for evolution), they offer an
unambiguous.time
scale for relative age determinations and for world wide correlations
of rocks."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
T. Säve-Söderbergh
and I. U. Olsson, Institute of Egyptology and Institute of Physics respectively,
University of Uppsala, Sweden, 'C14 dating and Egyptian chronology', in.Radiocarbon
Variations and Absolute Chronology, Proceedings of the Twelfth Nobel
Symposium, Ingrid U. Olsson, editor, Almqvist and Wiksell, Stockholm and
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1970, p. 35.."If
a C14
date supports our theories, we put it in the main text. If it does not
entirely contradict
them, we put it in a footnote. And if it is completely 'out of date', we
just drop it. Few archaeologists who have concerned themselves with absolute
chronology.(precise
timing).are
innocent of having sometimes applied this method and many are still hesitant
to accept C14 dates without reservations."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Wakefield Dort, Jr., Department
of Geology, The University of Kansas, 'Mummified seals of southern Victoria
Land',.Antarctic
Journal, Washington, vol. 6, September-October 1971, p. 211. "Radiocarbon
analysis of specimens obtained from mummified seals in southern Victoria
Land has yielded ages ranging from 615 to 4,600 years. However, antarctic
sea water has significantly lower carbon-14 activity than that accepted
as the world standard. Therefore, radiocarbon dating of marine organisms
yields apparent ages that are older than true ages, but by an unknown and
possibly variable amount. Therefore, the several radiocarbon ages determined
for the mummified seal carcasses cannot be accepted as correct. For example,
the apparent radiocarbon age of the Lake Bonney seal known to have been
dead no more than a few weeks was determined to be 615 +/- 100 years. A
seal freshly killed at McMurdo had an apparent age of 1,300 years."
