Aussie creation geologist joins Creation Museum staff
The folks at Answers in Genesis are crowing about the latest addition to the YabbaDabbaDo Museum staff, geologist Andrew Snelling, “one of the world’s most respected creation scientists (sic).”
Snelling, who holds a doctorate in geology science from the University of Sydney in Australia, used to work for Ken Ham, the AiG head, in the Land Down Under. Snelling has focused on disproving the commonly accepted idea among most geologists that the Earth’s crust has been formed and shaped over millions of years. Like most Young Earth Creationists, he contends that the earth is no older than 6,000 years, and that features like the Grand Canyon were formed by the Great Flood.
Snelling’s work rests on his theory that radioactive dating methods, by which geologists estimate the age of rock, are based on a false assumption: that the rate at which radioisotopes decay has been constant throughout history.
Modern science assumes that all radioisotopes of a certain type are created equal. That is, a sample of carbon-14 from the US is identical to one from Borneo, or a sample of uranium-238 from Earth is the same as one from the Moon. Their nuclear structures, and the laws of quantum mechanics, determine their decay rates and thus their half-lives.
Most geologists also assume that the elements today are identical to those in the past. That is, a sample of U-238 now should behave the same as one from deep inside the Earth (or anywhere else in the universe for that matter). This assumption (and it’s a pretty good one) enables geologists to “date” rocks and the sediments surrounding those rocks. Knowing the age of the sediments enables archaeologists to date fossils and human artifacts.
Before Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Beekman, there was Mr Wizard. During the dim days of black-and-white broadcast TV, Don Herbert portrayed a kindly, soft-spoken science pal to scores of youngsters appearing on his show, and thousands of kids watching at home on the TV. I turned on “Watch Mr. Wizard” whenever it was on, and mourned its loss when it was canceled in 1964.
