Clay Burell's Public Library

Clearly moved by the marchers' plight, both houses of the United States Congress announced Wednesday they had begun work on a $3 trillion piece of legislation that would completely overhaul the nation's education system.

In the philosophy of science, one begins with a hypothesis, tests it rigorously and either falsifies or supports it. After a long period of support, such a hypothesis is termed a theory, implying an overarching complex of intertwined well-supported hypotheses. Each strand may be tested further and modified in light of new data, experiments or analyses; such is the status of both evolution and gravitation. As Wade writes, a “theory, no matter how strongly you believe in it, inherently holds a small question mark.”

This is what makes science an endeavor different from others, including religion, law or even aspects of medicine. Wade finally argues that it is one of the glories of evolution that it is the “theory without which nothing in biology makes sense.” But in addition to his distinction between evolution as history and evolution as science, we must recognize today that explaining evolution to those who would doubt it requires a stronger argument outside the classroom or the science journal. The “law of evolution” is one way to fulfill that requirement.

In his mostly favorable review of “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Nicholas Wade expresses his opinion that Dawkins, a distinguished biologist, has committed a fundamental error as serious as any a scientist can make; the error of presenting science as dogma. Dawkins’s offense, we are told, is that he presents evolution as a “fact” rather than a “theory.” Wade suggests that it seems Dawkins “doesn’t know what a theory is.”

Is it possible for a science writer to be more presumptuous than this? Dawkins is referring to the overwhelming physical evidence of biological evolution — both fossil evidence and molecular evidence — as “fact,” which as far as scientific facts go, is as firm a fact as any. It is the mechanism of evolution that is still not completely understood, and attempts to describe this mechanism are “theories of evolution.”

It is Wade who is confused. In his effort to show both sides of the issue in the continuing debate between scientists and doubters of evolution, Wade has gone completely off the rails. In general, the press has tended to make this mistake — not to acknowledge that sometimes one side of a debate is simply completely wrong — period. By turning focus to his own subjective opinion that Dawkins is “tripped up by his zeal,” rather than spotlighting an important issue of scientific ignorance, Wade does his readers an egregious disservice.

Peter C. Rowson

Menlo Park, Calif.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

The Self-Strengthening Movement (Chinese: 洋務運動 or 自強運動; 1861 AD - 1895 AD) was a reform organised during the late Qing. With the defeat in the Opium Wars and the outbreak of Taiping Rebellion, the emperor and the imperial officials realised that it was necessary to improve the country's statement with a series of reforms. Therefore, the Self-Strengthening Movement was started.




The movement could be divided into three phases: the first phase (1861 AD - 1872 AD), the second phase (1872 AD - 1885 AD) and the third phase (1885 AD - 1895 AD). The Major Leaders are Yixin, Prince Gong (Chinese: 恭親王), Wenxiang (Chinese: 文祥), Zeng Guofan (Chinese: 曾國藩), Li Hongzhang (Chinese: 李鴻章), Zuo Zongtang (Chinese: 左宗棠), Shen Baozhen (Chinese: 沈葆禎) and Zhang Zhidong (Chinese: 張之洞). However, owing to the conservatives opposition and the problems of modernization, it failed finally.




[change] The Reforms



• National Defence
  
  • Arsenals were built in Shanghai and Xiamen.
  • Shipyards were built in Fuzhou and Tianjin.
  • The Beiyang Fleet was organized by Li Hongzhang.
  • Industry and Trade
    
    • Modern banks were built.
    • Many idustries were built in the South of China.
    • Diplomatic Modernization
      
      • The Zongli Yamen, a foreign office of the Qing Dynasty, was set up in 1861 AD.
      • In 1868 AD, the Qing government sent its first official diplomatic mission aboard.
      • Policial Reforms
        
        • Useless government posts were to be abolished.
        • Economic Reforms
          
          • Modern banks would be built.
          • Railways were to be built.
          • Military Reform
            
            • The army and navy were to be equipped with modern weapons.
            • A national militia would be organised.
            
            
          
          

          [change]