Is America ready for a creationist president?

That's a rhetorical question, as it looks like the answer is going to be no!

But anyone comforted by the fact that neither presidential candidate is a creationist, should think again. The Lancet has just published this letter by John Alam in which he calculates the risk of McCain dying during each year of his four-year term of office from a recurrence of his melanoma as 6%, i.e. 24% overall. The figure has been contested--see this posting on Wired Science (which oddly seems to have the figure as 22%, even from Alam). But then the Wired author Brandon Keim points out that a man of McCain's age stands around a 11% chance of dying within four years even without melanoma.

So what all this means is that a McCain victory would bring a 11-24% chance of a creationist president (i.e. Sarah Palin), a risk that is too high for any sane person*. So, let's just hope the polls are right and we are looking forward to an Obama landslide!

*some will argue that America already has a creationist president, but my understanding is that Bush's official position is teach the controversy fence-sitting.

Which science book should the next US president read?

Nature magazine (which was founded with help from Darwin's associates Huxley and Hooker and celebrates its 139th birthday on US election day, November 4th) posed this question in its 24 September issue:

Which science book should the next US president read?

In response, Jerry Coyne,  Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago wrote

"Anyone aspiring to be president should have a basic acquaintance with evolution and with the masses of evidence that it's not just a theory, but a fact. Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species comes to mind, but it is outdated and written in turgid Victorian prose that is uncongenial to modern readers. Future US leaders should read a short, popular work that lays out the evidence for evolution and dispels the spectres of creationism and intelligent design without dwelling on religion. Sadly, no book fills this niche. My attempt, Why Evolution is True (Viking, 2009), will be published only after the election...

Sorry, Jerry, the correct answer to the question is The Rough Guide to Evolution, which will be available just a few weeks after the election. In fact, I'll make sure Barack Obama gets a signed copy and just for devilment make sure that creationist Sarah Palin gets one too, to enjoy after her lapse back into obscurity!

Ron Numbers on humans, dinosaurs, and Sarah Palin

There is a whole chapter in the Rough Guide to Evolution on the religious opposition to the theory of evolution by natural selection. I was very fortunate to have the chapter looked over by Ron Numbers, who probably ranks as number one world expert on creationism and by Lauri Lebo, a journalist who covered the Dover trial. Both provided helpful feedback and reassurance that I had my facts straight (but usual caveat: any mistakes remain my responsibility, not theirs). 

I was thus interested to see Ron Numbers' take on the Sarah Palin's creationism. Read more on the Harvard University Press Publicity Blog.

Palinology versus Pythonology

Further to earlier discussion of Sarah Palin, I just came across this YouTube video, which proposes that McCain picked the wrong Palin, and that he should have gone for Michael Palin instead!

Before you say this has nothing to do with evolution, there are clear links between Monty Python (if not Michael Palin) and evolutionary theory, as seen here:

In fact, the parallels between this sketch and Michael Behe's evasive and vague responses at the Dover trial led William Saletan writing in Slate magazine to label the exchange "Monty Python's Flying Creationism"!

Forget all those TV debates, let's judge the presidential and vice-presidential candidates on each side by how well they can perform the Dead Parrot sketch!