Do We Live on a Privileged Planet?

astronomy, atmosphere, beauty, chemical elements, Doppler effect, helium, Intelligent Design, Isaac Newton, Jay W. Richards, Joseph von Fraunhofer, Mars, Mercury, Moon, Physics, Earth & Space, rainbows, René Descartes, solar eclipse, spectroscope, stars, sun, telescope, The Privileged Planet, Titan, universe, Venus, water, William Huggins, William Hyde Wollaston
Yes, rainbows are beautiful, but are they good for anything? Indeed, they have been very important for science. Source
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Design Triangulation: My Thanksgiving Gift to All

aliens, Allchemy chemical evolution simulation, Alpha Centauri, black swallowtail, Every Life Is on Fire, Francis Crick, Honda Odyssey, Houdini, Immanuel Kant, Intelligent Design, Jeremy England, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lego blocks, locomotives, mathematics, Naturalistic Parabola, nematodes, Niels Bohr, puzzles, René Descartes, Richard Dawkins, Science (journal), Thanksgiving, The Beatles, William Blake
Hey — wanna see a talk that combines the following. Black swallowtail butterflies, William Harvey, snarky robotic aliens from Alpha Centauri, and more. Source
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The Biggest Myth So Far in Cosmos 3.0 — Baruch Spinoza as Science Hero

Albert Einstein, aliens, ancient Greeks, Aristotle, Baruch Spinoza, Bible, Christiaan Huygens, Christianity, Cosmos 3.0, Evolution News, extraterrestrial life, Faith & Science, Galileo Galilei, geometry, Giordano Bruno, harmonic law, Herwart von Hohenburg, historical errors, Johannes Kepler, Judaism, Michael J. Crowe, Michael Maestlin, National Geographic Channel, nature, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Physics, Earth & Space, planetary motion, Plato, René Descartes, Saint Augustine, The Assayer, Two Books, Unbelievable?
The third season of Cosmos has released four episodes so far, with more to come this Monday, on Fox and the National Geographic channel. Evolution News has commented already, here, here, here, and here. After watching these episodes, I have concluded that the most consequential historical error to correct as yet concerns the treatment of Spinoza in episode one. The series designates Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) as the next greatest persecuted hero of science after Giordano Bruno (as depicted in Cosmos 2.0; see my video discussion, “Unbelievable Mythbusting: Giordano Bruno Was a Martyr, Yes, but Not for Science”). Although Bruno was burned to death in 1600 for his religious (not scientific) views, the attempted murder of Spinoza, if it occurred, was likely due to a disputed business transaction (not science or…
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