Thursday 15 January 2009

Lancet puts 'Origin of Species' above Bible, Qur'an

For reasons I've quite forgotten I'm on the mailing list for The Lancet, which today has sent me this wonderful example of hyperbole (or bull****, depending on your viewpoint):

We are delighted to send you a link to your own copy of Darwin's Gift, a special issue published by The Lancet . Darwin's Gift celebrates the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the most important work of non-fiction in history: On the Origin of Species.

You'll find essays about Darwin's life and work, and the enduring legacy of his remarkable theory of evolution.

These were Darwin's gifts to all of us; on the occasion of these anniversaries, this book is our gift to you.


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7 comments:

  1. Bishop Alan Wilson15 January 2009 at 23:58

    I'm OK about the theory of evolution and all that but, er, pass the sickbag, Alice...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Derek16 January 2009 at 03:36

    Does it come with some commemorative crockery from Royal Doulton? This reads like some blurb from one of their Sunday Newspaper Pull-out ads.

    Derek Smith
    Singapore.

    ReplyDelete
  3. David24 January 2009 at 11:44

    Please share the link to download the thing. Even if they are talking about scientific publications which have changed how we view the world I would say that Copernicus is more significant.

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  4. Anonymous24 January 2009 at 11:52

    I havent read the Lancet on this. They may have bben OTT but your quote makes no mention of the Bible.

    However Darwin was one of the greatest world scientists and of course there are no arguments against the basic fact of evolution , a vast age of the earth and universe, even though Darwin was wrong on details and didnt know about genetics, DNA plate tectonics etc.

    This year will see some silly adulation of Darwin and some even sillier rubbishing of Darwin by creationists.

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  5. Unknown24 January 2009 at 12:15

    To David, the link is here, but I couldn't get it to work!

    To Michael, true the quote doesn't mention the Bible. Nor does it specifically mention the Origin of Species. It just makes the latter "the most important work of non-fiction in history" - a claim which I hope you'll agree includes the Bible insofar as it is non-fiction!

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  6. Anonymous24 January 2009 at 13:23

    I thought the bible was 66 books.

    At least one IS fiction!

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  7. TLF+29 January 2009 at 01:35

    Hmmm... I wonder how the Euro-seculars understand their declining birth rates (actually so low that they are not replacing those who die) in Darwinian terms?

    Timothy Fountain
    Accomplished Breeder
    Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

    ReplyDelete

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