Wednesday 1 August 2012

Getting excited about evolution with the NHM Evolution App

One of the things that saddens me most about Creationism (apart from all the lies and indoctrination) is the way that it sometimes manages to suck my enthusiasm for evolution. I don't mean my conviction - I have never seen anything from the YEC or ID crowd that even comes close to making me think "hang on a minute..." - but more my sense of excitement and wonder at real Natural History. It blows all the Creation myths away. Then there is the fascination and intrigue of some of the remaining unanswered questions, such as what sparked the Cambrian explosion. (Again, not questions that challenge the evidence for evolution, but things that we currently do not have a good/complete consensus explanation for - the stuff that drives scientific enquiry.)

Happily, the Natural History Museum have come up with the perfect antidote in the form of the NHM Evolution iPad app, which was launched earlier this month. I've only just downloaded it, so I'll have to save a proper review for another day but my initial impressions are great. It's beautiful, informative, well designed and has got me excited about evolution all over again.

Browsing through the different Deep Time features - "Timeband", "Timeline", "Timeglobe" and "Events" - I find it impossible not to be overwhelmed by how much sense it all makes. I feel really sorry for people who are made to reject the beauty and literal awesomeness of the true history of the planet we live on and the creatures that have lived on it before us. If you have any interest in Natural History - and an iPad! - this looks like it will be £9.99 well spent!

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