Dr.GH

In a rather odd way, Periannan Senapathy could also be taken to be a very radical evolutionist. So radical that all known life forms evolved primordially as purely abstract, random DNA sequences.


Ribosomes? Wee dun need no stinkin' ribisoms!

pz

That guy has been around for a long time -- genuine crackpot material.

I wouldn't call him an evolutionist, though. He doesn't even qualify as a transformationist. He really is a creationist, it's just that instead of a god or a flying saucer pilot, he has a magic cauldron of goo that spontaneously spits up organisms.

lpetrich

This reminds me of the old notion of spontaneous generation. Quote from this site:

Alexander Ross gave a clear statement of the opinion that most people held towards spontaneous generation. "So may he (Sir Thomas Browne) doubt whether in cheese and timber worms are generated; or if beetles and wasps in cow's dung; or if butterflies, locusts, grasshoppers, shell-fish, snails, eels, and such like, be procreated of putrefied matter, which is apt to receive the form of that creature to which it is by formative power disposed. To question this is to question reason, sense, and experience. If he doubts of this let him go to Egypt, and there he will find the fields swarming with mice, begot of the mud of Nylus, to the great calamity of the inhabitants."

And from this site:

Van Helmont’s “evidence” for spontaneous generation

“for if you press a piece of underwear soiled with sweat together with some wheat in an open mouth jar, after about 21 days the odor changes and the ferment coming out of the underwear and penetrating through the husks of the wheat, changes the wheat into mice. But what is more remarkable is that mice of both sexes emerge (from the wheat) and these mice successfully reproduce with mice born naturally from parents… But what is even more remarkable is that the mice which came out were not small mice… but fully grown.”

(some spelling fixed)

theyeti

I have a copy of Senapathy's book. It puts the works of Henry Morris, Philip Johnson, and Duane Gish to shame. It is a collection of quote mines, bad logic, omission of relevant facts, ignorance of evolutionary theory, and hand waving. Oh, and did I mention quote mines? It is truly awful.

The circumstances under which I obtained ownership of the book are somewhat funny though. Believe it or not, the book I have was a complementary copy given by Senapathy to Nobel prize winner Stanley Cohen. When Cohen retired from Vanderbilt, he gave away most of the contents of his office to his colleagues, one of which is now my adviser. I saw the book on his shelf and asked if I could have it, since he had obviously not read it and wasn't planning to. There's no indication that Cohen ever read Senapathy's book either. In fact, there is a personal letter to Cohen still neatly tucked into the front of the book.

I also happen to have a copy of Christian Schwabe's book, which basically espouses the same nonsense of Senapathy, and it's pretty bad too but nothing compared to Senapathy. Schwabe works in my department and is nice enough to let me use his CD spectrophotometer from time to time. I "borrowed" the book from the front office where it was placed coffee-table style along with recent issues of various scientific journals; I really need to return it, especially since you can get it off the web (with one chapter mysteriously missing). It seems that I've got the market cornered on non-religious evolution cranks.

theyeti

theyeti

I just noticed that Gert Korthof wrote a brand new (Dec. 29, 2002) review of Senapathy's book:

Independent Birth of Organisms: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Senapathy!

Yep, that's actually the title. Korthof is usually very lenient towards the books he reviews; you know something's seriously wrong with the ones he derides.

You can also download the entire copy of Senapathy's book in searchable pdf format (all 3 MB) if you want to experience the travesty for yourself. The link is at the bottom of Korthof's review.

theyeti

Dr.GH

Korthof is a very bright man. Thanks for the link.