Re: [asa] (testing evolution) TE/EC Response - ideology according to Terry

Although historical and experimental science provide categories
differing in general style, looking closely at the difference between
them raises many problems. Also, descriptive science could be another
category of relevance, overlapping with the others in various ways.

For example, a geologist may want to know why certain fossils are
preserved as molds and others have the original shells. Study of the
structure of modern shells, study of other deposits with some shells
better preserved than others, examination of the structure of the
preserved shells, study of the chemistry of the minerals that make the
shells, etc. will point to the fact that one crystal form of calcium
carbonate is more stable thermodynamically at conditions approximating
those of the earth's surface or geologically shallow burial and that
all calcium carbonate is acid-soluble. These data enable you to make
predictions about other deposits, which you can go out and verify.

A chemist may want to know what is in the solution in a test tube. He
checks out evidence of past events such as publications relating to
previous similar experiments. He performs experiments on the
available sample, although the act of experimenting generally modifies
the sample so that the results are telling about an earlier state for
the tube contents, not what they are afterwards.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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