The Greatest Science Story Ever Told

On March 17, 2010, a permanent “Human Evolution Exhibit” opened in the Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The remarkable exhibit tells the story of human evolution over the last six million years and demonstrates how modern humans (homo sapiens) and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor. Together with mountains of other scientific findings, the exhibit should convince ardent doubters of evolution-people who believe everything in the Bible is the literal word of God and, therefore, completely true. Even though their numbers are slowly declining, polls indicate a majority of Americans still hold this belief. Why did the curator of the Human Origins Exhibit, Rick Potts, say “…the exhibit can be considered compatible with religious perspectives?” Possibly to curry favor with, or deflect criticism from, this group.

Read About the Exhibit

The operative words are “can” and “perspectives,” because many of us already do. Many of us believe the Bible should be viewed as a guidebook on how people should live full peaceful lives by respecting others. It is obvious, at least to many of us, that it is not an accurate historical document. Being a good person does not require believing:

• The Earth is less than 10,000 years old
• Homosexuals are hated by God
• God is vengeful
• Man walked with dinosaurs, and
• The Universe and everything in it was “created” in 144 hours

Most religious fundamentalists, in my opinion, will never consider the story in the Book of Genesis and the science of human evolution compatible because they believe the Bible is sacred and its entire contents inviolable.

Anthropologists tell us that for most of man’s history tribal customs, superstitions, myths, legends, and religious beliefs were communicated orally. Being nomadic hunter gatherers, some of their stories, customs and beliefs were easily altered by changing environments and new discoveries and circumstances. The stories were altered so often they didn’t have time to be considered sacred by tribal members. When writing was invented and people started remaining in one location for long periods, their most popular stories were written down. Once written, the texts were much more difficult to change. Over time the documents and their meanings were viewed as holy and, therefore, sacred and unchangeable.

Politicians in the United States who suggest that the US Constitution is a “living document,” open to new interpretations by succeeding generations, are harshly criticized by many who say the document is not subject to interpretation; that the Founders’ intent is clear and unmistakable to all for all time! However, despite the difficulty to do so, the US Constitution has been amended. Its meaning and intents have been, and are, re-interpreted as social needs and public opinions changes. The same is true for scientific documents. Long-established scientific “facts” published in prestigious journals and academic textbooks are often modified or discarded entirely when new, contrarian, evidence is discovered. Not so for sacred religious documents. Think the Bible could be re-written to make it compatible with the findings of modern science?

Although the human evolution exhibit is extraordinarily detailed, its account of man’s appearance on Earth explains only a tiny part of what I think is the greatest science story of all time: creation of the Universe and all things in it—by natural means.

Scientists believe that around 13.7 billion years ago, give or take a week, our Universe began with a very Big Bang. They claim to have compelling empirical evidence—data that can be tested—that the event emanated from an infinitesimally small, incredibly dense, and extremely hot form of energy that has, over millions of years, expanded ever outward while it cooled and condensed to form stars. Gravity caused stars to arrange themselves into enormous clusters, or galaxies. Although astrophysicists periodically find additional galaxies, the number of galaxies is currently estimated at around 100 billion. Further, each galaxy is home to around 100 billion stars!

The incredible story continues: over millions of years some of the more massive stars exploded, releasing stored energy and chemical elements into space. As before, that energy and those chemical elements eventually cooled and condensed as gravity acted on them to form planets. Earth was formed around 4.5 billion years ago. A billion years later, chemical clusters in Earth’s ocean produced a cell with a protective membrane that allowed certain chemicals to enter, using them to produce energy, reproduce, and expel waste products. This first living cell evolved and diversified, over a 3.5 billion year period to create all things that have ever lived and died on Earth.

The fact that mankind’s brain is capable of conceiving such a story and develop the tools to prove it, is an amazing story indeed.

Read Settled Science to learn more of the details of “Creation” and the evolution of man.