The Fact of Evolution? By David M. Kern http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/
About This Website March 2, 2011 Copyright © 2011 by David M. Kern – All Rights Reserved Important Copyright Notification In order to provide a thorough analysis of the so-called Fact of Evolution, this book includes many short quotations from a large number of experts in a wide variety of technical fields. These quotations are copyright protected by the sources documented in the endnotes (see the "Notes and References” section located at the end of each chapter). I believe that these quotations fall under the Fair Use limitation of US Copyright Law (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html). However, Fair Use has a very vague definition and copyright violations are subject to legal penalties. An About Copyright document with additional information on this topic is posted on the Fact of Evolution website. Where I am quoting a larger amount of copyrighted material, I have obtained permission to reproduce this material on my website. My use of this copyrighted material does not imply any endorsement of the views presented in this document. Any permission I have been granted to reproduce this copyrighted material applies only to my specific use. I gratefully acknowledge the various sources who have granted me permission to reproduce their copyrighted material. Each chapter of this book has an Acknowledgment section that lists any specific permission statements that I have received. The Acknowledgment section is located directly before the "Notes and References" section. My major goal in writing this book is to seek the truth about a very complex technical topic. My motivation for quoting expert sources is to pass their words onto my readers with as little distortion as possible. However, copyright laws limit the amount of context that can be included in such quotes. This can also distort the meaning of a passage. I do not wish to distort the opinion of anybody that I am quoting. If you believe that I have distorted the meaning of one of your quotes, please contact me so that we can discuss this issue and negotiate a solution. A form for contacting me is located on this webpage: http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/contact. If you believe that I am reproducing your copyrighted material outside the bounds of Fair Use guidelines, please contact me to discuss this issue. I will attempt to resolve any copyright violations that I may have committed in a pleasant and prompt manner. Terms and Conditions This document is covered by a US copyright and it should not be sold in any format. An About Copyright document describes the “Usage Terms” for all documents that are posted on the Fact of Evolution website (http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/).
About This Website
http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/
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List of Topics What is the purpose of this website? Why did you choose Google-Sites? What is your impression of Google-Sites? Why display this book on the Internet? Why is your website so plain? The Advantages of an Internet Book What is the purpose of this website? The only purpose of this website is to offer a public display of a book that I have written. The title of this book is The Fact of Evolution? Return to List of Topics Why did you choose Google-Sites? The short answer is that Google-Sites offers free access to the Internet-Cloud. Because this is a non-profit work, the availability of a free product is a big consideration. Although I am on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Google, I appreciate the value of all the products that they offer the public free of charge. Return to List of Topics What is your impression of Google-Sites? In Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Directive, a Russian financial wizard with a mafia background, made the following comment: If somebody put sixteen million dollars in Grigori account, Grigori not insist on dental examination of the gift horse.1
That being said, I believe that Google-Sites has many issues that make it lower quality than other Google products. One of the most annoying things to me was the fact that fonts and line spacing mysteriously change size in a manner that is beyond the control of the website author. Other users of Google-Sites have experienced similar problems. Another feature is that I would love is the ability to alias hyperlinks. Currently, my documents show up with hyperlink names that have obscure ID numbers generated by Google. It would be preferable to have them aliased to a hyperlink with these forms: http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/document_name.doc http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/document_name.pdf But as the saying goes, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Return to List of Topics
The Fact of Evolution?
Copyright © 2011 by David M. Kern
March 2, 2011
About This Website
http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/
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Why is your website so plain? A website doesn’t have to be fancy to be useful. The Drudge Report is one of the simplest sites on the Internet. Despite its simplicity, it draws millions of visitors each day.2 Return to List of Topics Why display this book on the Internet? Mainline publishers typically do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is very hard to find a mainline publisher who will even consider evaluating a book from an unknown author. At this point, I am an unpublished author with no audience whatsoever. Hence, I decided to display my book on the Internet and avoid the hassle of dealing with publishers. The Internet has opened up publishing options that were previously not available. A number of completely unknown people have been able to attract a huge Internet audience by providing information that people want to read. For example, Matt Drudge’s website has become a huge success with millions of visitors each day.3 It is clear that the scientific-topic like the Fact of Evolution will not attract the audience size that a political-topic, such as the Drudge Report, will. But, if I have written a book worth reading, I believe an audience of interested readers will find my book through the magic of the Internet. I didn’t write this book for financial motivations. I wrote it because I believe that many of the arguments used to promote the Fact of Evolution resemble political-spin more than they resemble objective facts. I believe promoting speculation as fact is not a good thing for science. I hope that this book provokes an open and polite debate of the Fact of Evolution. I am happy to share my thoughts with anybody interested in evaluating and debating the reasons for my skepticism. I hope this book encourages both proponent and skeptics of the Fact of Evolution to separate uncontroversial facts from controversial speculation. Return to List of Topics The Advantages of an Internet Book Although I love printed books, an Internet book has many advantages. Because I did not write this book with a profit motive, I think it is a great fit for my application. Here are some of the advantages that I see for my publishing my book on the Internet: • It fits well with EBook readers like the Amazon-Kindle4 and the Apple-IPAD.5 • The potential audience range of the Internet is huge (as Matt Drudge discovered).6 • Additional information on nearly any topic of interest is a Google-search away. • Referenced Internet sites can be quickly accessed when on-line. • Searching for words, phrases, and names is quick and easy. • Internet words are cheap relative to printed words. • You only have to print chapters you have a significant interest in. The Fact of Evolution?
Copyright © 2011 by David M. Kern
March 2, 2011
About This Website
http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/
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• I didn’t have to work with an agent to get my book published. • I have the final decision on the content of my book. That being said, I think that printed books will never be replaced completely. People like printed books for a wide variety of reasons. Any advantages offered by the Internet will never obsolete those reasons. Return to List of Topics
The Fact of Evolution?
Copyright © 2011 by David M. Kern
March 2, 2011
About This Website
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http://sites.google.com/site/factofevolution/
Acknowledgements Endnotes are contained in the following section. The following shorthand notation connects the numbered endnotes to permission statements: N(x, y, z, …) indicates endnotes numbered ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’. I gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce quotes from the following copyrighted material: N(11): Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1999), http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6024.html. Reprinted with permission from Science, Evolution, and Creationism, 2008 by the National Academy of Sciences, Courtesy of the National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. N(29, 30, 33-38): Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Notes and References 1 Robert Ludlum, The Janson Directive (New York: Saint Martin’s Press, 2002), p. 210. 2 See http://www.drudgereport.com. 3 See http://www.drudgereport.com. 4. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle for background information. 5. See http://www.apple.com/ipad/ for background information. 6. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Drudge for background information.
The Fact of Evolution?
Copyright © 2011 by David M. Kern
March 2, 2011
