By Dr. Robert Thorson The plan to rebuild New Orleans in its present location is a powerful fiscal hurricane heading our way. It’s even more dangerous than the fiscal sandstorm being spent to rebuild Iraq. I understand the objective for rebuilding Iraq: to stabilize democracy in the volatile and oil-rich Middle East. I do not […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson The unsuccessful invasion of Iraq by the U.S. is 4 years old this month. My protest is at the end of this column, rather than on the street. But to warm you up, I call attention to a successful invasion of American turf about 13,000 years ago by the so-called Clovis […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson The pleasure of keeping a pet is compelling. Otherwise, Americans would not spend approximately $40 billion a year on pet services and supplies, an amount that is twice the Connecticut state budget. This pleasure accrues primarily to the keepers. The displeasure accrues to everyone, especially in urban and suburban settings. Consider […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Simplicity. Simplicity. Simplicity. This is what Henry David Thoreau said about monumental architecture. His family understood. After Henry’s untimely death in 1862, they marked his grave in Concord’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with nothing more than a brick of marble, set low to the ground. Literary pilgrims of the Victorian and Gilded […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really, really, really saturated with bad hurricane news. My brain is as sopping wet with storm prediction, disaster coverage and economic devastation as Gulf Coast residents are wet with brackish water, spilled sewage and toxic waste. Frankly, I’m going numb with the national […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson The creationists are back with a vengeance. This is bad news for liberal Christians and for science education. On May 28, the Creation Museum will open in Petersburg, Ky. This is no mom and pop operation. It’s a high-tech, 60,000-square-foot, $24 million commitment to prove that the biblical account of Genesis […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson On Tuesday, the University of Connecticut took the enlightened step of abolishing its Department of Geology & Geophysics. Now we faculty can stretch our legs, recombine with other departments in new ways and more effectively serve the people of Connecticut, who deserve more than they had been getting for their tax […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson It just got easier to believe in human evolution. Lucy has moved out of the limelight. Ardie has stepped into our lives. Lucy used to be to be oldest well-described ancestor on the evolutionary line leading toward humans. She was discovered in Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle in 1974 and nicknamed for the […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson When celebrating the birthday of a 2-year-old, parents usually light two candles on the cake. When celebrating Darwin’s bicentennial birthday, it makes sense to write two columns. Here’s my second metaphorical candle written in his honor. According to the latest national Gallup Poll on evolution (2007), nearly half of all Americans […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson The importance of young artists to society is underappreciated. Their lives provide a model where hope transcends reality, a necessary counterweight for lives where hope is subsumed by financial imperative. Young artists also provide the cultural novelty that allows art to evolve. As with organic evolution, most novelties don’t get a […]