Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Jolabokaflod: Evolution

Title: Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth
Writer: Jay Hosler
Artists: Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon

Image result for evolution jay hosler
via Amazon
Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic Christmas Eve tradition in which loved ones give one another books then spend the evening reading them.  You can learn all about it here.   This was our second Jolabokaflod as a family.  We did a simple circuit: I got a book for my wife, she for our daughter, our daughter for me.  The artwork for Jay Hosler's excellent graphic novel account of the history of life on earth was done by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, college friends of mine whose work I pursued with great interest when I first jumped into the comic book hobby. 

Just so there is no confusion, yes, I believe in evolution.  The science is rock-solid on this one.

Hosler is a biology professor at Juniata College in Pennsylvania.  He, with the help of the Cannons, presents his material in the form of a lecture by an invertebrate scientist on another planet to two royal dignitaries of his species.  Sure, it sounds hokey but it helps lend a fun and conversational atmosphere to what could just as easily be rather dry material.  Evolution covers a lot of ground: 4.5 billion years of Earth history.  There is considerable terminology to absorb: names of eras, names of species, etc.  The artwork, the flow and the not infrequent humor make it all accessible.  It's the sort of presentation that makes me think that if I'd had more engaging science teachers at the right age, my own life might have followed quite a different path.  Mind you, I would need to read it at least once more to remember it all but that would not be such an arduous task.  I will encourage my daughter to read it, too - definitely up her alley.

14 comments:

  1. What a neat tradition-the exchange of books. Merry Christmas!

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  2. I read Charles Darwin book of evolution...interesting book.

    I should read this one.

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    1. If you're interested in Darwin, I highly recommend this book.

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  3. I believe in the evolution theory which sounds a lot more realistic that the biblical one which is a nice fairy tale.this book sounds like a good teaching tool plus a fun one

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    1. I would love to see it in classrooms - highly accessible approach to the material.

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  4. Not to be contrary (I'm going to be a bit contrary), because evolution is the only plausible explanation for life on Earth or life at all, BUT
    Evolution is actually only a hypothesis. For something to be a theory, it has to have been proven through experimentation, and we have no way to prove evolution at this point.
    HOWEVER, if you were to put it on trial, there is more than enough circumstantial evidence to convict evolution as being true.
    Creationism, on the other hand, would have it's trial dismissed for lack of evidence.

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    1. Actually... evolution has been demonstrated under lab conditions with single-cell organisms. You'd enjoy the book!

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    2. TAS: As far as I know the only experiment that demonstrated actual evolution under lab conditions could never be repeated and was later debunked because the guy falsified the results. BUT this isn't a subject I keep up with much because the circumstantial evidence is fairly overwhelming; I may be behind on some facts/stats/data/whatever.
      I may look into the book but, lately, I'm not making much progress in anything, so...

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    3. Even so, I agree with you that evolution is the only plausible explanation currently on offer.

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  5. I like the tradition of giving books for Christmas Eve. While I accept evolution as a very possible hypothesis, I won't say "I believe in it." I also see a lot of damage from those who have placed "total faith" in the theory (maybe this is just because I recently finished reading a book on eugenics

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    1. The eugenics connection... social darwinism? I'm certainly not on board with that!

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