LETTERS 



strata spanning thousands of 

 meters, and their locations 

 cannot be explained by a 

 single flood. In fact, most 

 of the deposits are not flood 

 deposits at all, but river sed- 

 iments or gradually deposit- 

 ed marine beds. The same 

 is true of most of the other 

 transitional fossils men- 

 tioned in my article. The 

 land animals would have 

 had to evolve incredibly fast 

 by the creationist flood 

 model to turn into whales 

 in just forty days and forty 

 nights. And if Mr. Byers ac- 

 cepts "limited speciation on 

 a fast scale" for such a ma- 

 jor macroevolutionary 

 change as the origin of 

 whales, isn't he conceding 

 virtually all of evolution? 



Life's Origins 



One basic question of evo- 

 lution was not addressed in 



your "Darwin & Evolution" 

 issue [11/05]. How did life 

 and the original cell begin? 

 Charles B. Kooiis 

 Houston, Texas 



The editors reply: 

 Charles B. Koons's ques- 

 tion has spawned a subciis- 

 cipline all its own. Anto- 

 nio Lazcano, one of its 

 leading practitioners, sums 

 up the current state of 

 knowledge in his article 

 "The Origins of Life," on 

 page 36 of this issue. 



"Irreducible Complexity" 



Your 1 1 /05 issue, devoted 

 entirely to Darwin and evo- 

 lution, failed to mention 

 the most significant chal- 

 lenge to evolution in 

 decades: Michael Behe's 

 compelling argument 

 against macroevolution, 

 based on the intricacy of 



subcellular biochemical sys- 

 tems. Using five systems in 

 the body to demonstrate his 

 case, Behe, a biochemist at 

 Lehigh University in 

 Pennsylvania, asserts that 

 macroevolution cannot op- 

 erate at the microcellular 

 level. Any minute change 

 would render the highly 

 specialized machinery of 

 the cell inoperable. From 

 the subcellular perspective, 

 it is impossible for a bac- 

 terium to evolve into an or- 

 ganism with complex bio- 

 chemical systems, no matter 

 how much time is allowed, 

 because the mechanisms are 

 irreducibly complex. 



I am at a loss as to why 

 there was no mention of 

 this in the issue. I under- 

 stand your casual dismissal 

 of the nonscientific intelli- 

 gent-design philosophy, but 

 Behe presents a legitimate 



scientific discussion with 

 specific biological evidence. 

 Phillip Garding 

 North Bend, Washington 



The editors i^fly: In 

 April 2002 Natural History 

 published a statement by 

 Michael Behe, along with a 

 rejoinder by the biologist 

 Kenneth R. Miller of 

 Brown University to Behe's 

 examples of "irreducible 

 complexity." Both are avail- 

 able on our Web site (www. 

 naturalhistorymag.com). 



Insulting and Unfair 



As a staunch creationist, I 

 found the tone of your 

 11/05 issue to range from 

 condescending to insulting. 

 Even a layman like myself 

 can see that there are holes 

 in the Darwinian theory of 

 evolution through which 

 the Beagle could sail. The 

 frequent updates claiming, 

 "We used to think this, but 

 now we know that," do lit- 

 tle to help. Heavy-handed 

 lectures are unlikely to per- 

 suade creationists to swap 

 their faith for such an in- 

 complete and spiritually un- 

 satisfying explanation of our 

 world. The prima facie evi- 

 dence of the world around 

 us indicates the work of a 

 Creator, and the marvelous 

 workings of nature reinforce 

 this conclusion. 

 David R. Gee 

 I an Ntiys, Calijornia 



Natural Histor}' welcomes 

 correspondence from readers. 

 Letters should be sent via 

 e-mail to nhmag@natural 

 historymag.com or by fax to 

 646-356-6511. All letters 

 should include a daytime 

 teleplhvie number, and all let- 

 ters may be edited for length 

 and clarity. 



NATURAL HISTORY February 2006 



^1 



FROM THE HEART OF NEW ORLEANS 



r 



^ 4. . 



All across America, the hospitality and support shown 

 to New Orleans residents has lifted our spirits and given 

 us great hope. Now New Orleans is back in swing — and 

 we have never been more proud to share the nntsic, 

 food, and history of our home with you. 



NEWORLEANS 



REBIRTH 



'.NewOrleansOnline.com 



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