"Atlas of Creation" !

or "How to spend millions of dollars to move us back to the dark ages."

Today I and several of my colleagues received in the mail a very large (I'm talking 20-pound) book called The Atlas of Creation, by one Harun Yahya (no jokes, please -- it's a pen name for Adnar Oktar (no jokes, please, that's the real name)).  

It is a lavishly-illustrated (beautiful color plates, on every one of its 800+, 11" x 14.4" pages) compendium of fossils that "display the invalidity of the theory of evolution."

Heh.

My questions are several:

Who else has received one of these?  How many brazillion of these things are out there?  Who paid for it?  (It was sent unsolicited to me and my colleagues.)

Who are these people?  Where do they get their funding?

So, let us know if you, too, are the lucky winner of a book that has illustrations and photographs that are gorgeous, but the words of which are complete dreck.

I'm curious how many of these things are out there.

•  Tips for

  good science education!

  Seriously, as an educator I'm livid.  This is insanity of the purest form.

  by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:41:12 PM PDT

  •  Well they are not tips but...

    I gave you a shout out today in C&J.

    by DemiGoddess on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:56:10 PM PDT

    •  Wow!

      I am knocked out!

      And happy!  You made my day.

      You're the best.

      by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:00:15 PM PDT

•  what type of educator are you?

  You might report this to the RichardDawkins.net site.

  Also, we (at the FSM church) had better get our act together and send out our competing theory of creation.

  :-)

  by onanyes on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:44:13 PM PDT

  •  I'm one of those strange

    "experimental psychologists."

    I teach science.  This book ain't got any.

    I'll pop over there and see if anyone's talking about it.  I mean, the shipping alone must have cost a fortune.

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:46:36 PM PDT

•  I didn't get one (pout)

  and I work in a hotbed of evolutionists (science dept of a major university)

  Dang!  Who do I have to offend to get a free book to make fun of?

  by Tracker on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:44:25 PM PDT

  •  Could be because I'm in Kansas?

    Who knows?

    I'd offer to send you mine, but I don't think I can afford the shipping.  It's huge.

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:47:06 PM PDT

•  "Not the slightest change?"

  One wonders how the author accounts for Labradoodles...

  by kmiddle on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:44:39 PM PDT

  •  LOL I have a Doodleman pinscher

    :-)

    ^5 on laberdoodle

    I needed a specific kind of dog....1 that was a natural guard and watch dog, highly inteligent, easily trainable, and naturaly a lover of water.

    The dooodleman pinscher fit that bill.  :-)  great dogs

    The poodle inteligence adds to the already inteligent doberman and the duck hunting genes don't take anything away from the dobie's watch dog genes while adding more body fat and better hair for enduring the water while also naturaly loving the water like a poodle.  The dobie natural guard dog/ protective thing needs no explaining.  Dobie's never need training to protect family and or property.

    :-)

    Anyway;  sorry for the disertation on what I consider to be the best dogs around for anybody living near ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans and or on a boat.

    I just had to mention the doodleman pinscher since you mentioned the doberdoodle

    breeder (a great breeder of this type)pics here

    http://www.aspencypress.com/...

    PS

    Evolution yesterday, evolution today, and evolution tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    :-)

    by jimmyboyo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:06:31 PM PDT

    •  Hard to imagine that canine combo!

      Glad to hear it is a Doberman mixed with a Standard Poodle.
      They are cute and the name "Doodleman Pinscher" totally cracks me up.

      by cosette on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:17:12 PM PDT

      •  :-)

        :-)

        by jimmyboyo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:20:08 PM PDT

    •  but you must admit

      your doodleman pinscher has nothing to do with evolution. that's selective breeding, something quite different.

      :)

      by birdbrain64 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 02:57:04 PM PDT

      •  Smartass

        picky scientist.

        ;)

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 03:57:09 PM PDT

        •  LOL

          :-)

          by jimmyboyo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 04:14:43 PM PDT

        •  LOL!

          yessir. that's me.

          and you say it like it's a bad thing. ;)

          by birdbrain64 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:13:53 PM PDT

          •  Admiration only, ma'am.

            Pure, unmitigated admiration.

            by Marc in KS on Fri Sep 07, 2007 at 05:45:19 AM PDT

      •  True but it is a far cry from an unchanged wolf

        and or fox the originators of dog lines

        by jimmyboyo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 04:14:29 PM PDT

        •  all dogs are still a process of

          selective breeding by humans.
          who knows what might have happened had wolves and humans not started cooperating....

          :)

          i really don't mean to be a pain. really. (ok, just an irritation. not a pain. heh.)

          but as someone with a career in basic science/genetics, i am sorta fussy about this stuff. heh.

          by birdbrain64 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:13:15 PM PDT

          •  Be fussy. We need more fussy people

            :-)

            I know that different breeds have nothing to do with evolution.  i only started posting about Doodleman pinschers because someone else mentioned laberdoodles.

            :-)

            By all means be fussy.  If we had more fussy people before then maybe the creationists would never have gotten the foot hold they have via inteligent design meme

            by jimmyboyo on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 07:15:39 PM PDT

            •  and the doodlemans are *so* cute!

              a happy dog, too, i bet.

              by birdbrain64 on Fri Sep 07, 2007 at 06:59:15 AM PDT

              •  :-)

                :-)

                by jimmyboyo on Fri Sep 07, 2007 at 11:02:13 AM PDT

    •  I want one!

      I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.  I cannot get a puppy.  My 11-year-old dog dislikes puppies.  The cat abhors puppies.

      by Tracker on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:29:37 PM PDT

•  I Assume You've Seen This Link

  http://www.harunyahya.com/...

  by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:47:11 PM PDT

  •  Yeah.

    And inserted in the book was a page of text that outlines his history.

    He's a former interior decorator.  Fine credentials to be teaching about science...

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:48:45 PM PDT

    •  Or Try This

      http://eteraz.wordpress.com/...

      by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:49:14 PM PDT

      •  Cool.

        That gets at some of my questions.

        What a colossal waste of money.

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:50:40 PM PDT

        •  It's a free coffee table book

          Plus you can probably use it when you actually want to have your laptop on your lap.

          by theran on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:00:17 PM PDT

          •  I don't have a coffee table

            big enough for this puppy.

            Hmm.  Maybe I should use it as the coffee table!

            by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:04:20 PM PDT

            •  LOL shades of Kramer... n/t

              by dougymi on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:18:10 PM PDT

      •  this links to my blog

        thanks

        by eteraz on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 04:18:08 PM PDT

    •  You undemocratic or something? Everyone's got a

      right to their own opinion - those scientists are no better than anyone else.

      / snark

      by Wee Mama on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:59:58 PM PDT

      •  Teach the controversy ... n/t

        by kmiddle on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:14:52 PM PDT

      •  I'm always sad

        to see a 'snark' tag added to such comments (although I may have done it myself a time or two).  I always figure let someone prove themselves incapable of reading by taking that seriously so we can weed out the feebler.

        And, no, that's not snark.  I am unendingly appalled by some of my liberal colleagues who accept the liberal position reflexively rather than introspectively arriving at the conclusion.  I have had them by me while engaged in a debate with someone and having them chime in with some doltish comment meant to support the liberal position but serving only to embarrass me and, I hope, other thinking liberals.

        In any event, perhaps you could scan and post some of the pages (although copyright issues may forbid this) and we can have derisive commentary from the collective here.

        by lgrooney on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:21:55 PM PDT

  •  Thanks! Those links are priceless

    beginning with:

    Adnan Oktar is a prominent Turkish intellectual.

    Don't you love a personal web site that starts with the declaration that the person is a prominent intellectual?

    Then there's:

    The author has also produced various works on Zionist racism and Freemasonry and their negative effects on world history and politics.

    based on:

    The common point in all the writer's works is that all the topics covered by his works are in full agreement with the Qur'an, and strongly affirmed by Qur'anic understanding.

    Hmm. An anti-semitic creationist proselytizing Islamic beliefs in Kansas. Well, he's got two out of three parts right. Sigh.

    by TerribleTom on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:04:03 PM PDT

    •  If the kansans can

      believe so wholeheartedly in some virgin-birth hippie, spending three postmortem days doing a fiery jig only to come back to life before bodily ascension into the clouds... and the host of other miracles to go with the associated life... there may be hope of a conversion to belief in a final prophet taking transcendent instructions for the world in a desert cave.

      by lgrooney on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:54:50 PM PDT

  •  The guy looks like....

    some James Bond villain, and he wants people to take him seriously....?!?!

    by cometman on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:21:11 PM PDT

  •  Quite the snappy dresser

    Wish I could afford such a nice wardrobe!

    by MKinTN on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:58:53 PM PDT

•  Is there a return address on that?

  That way you can find out who sent it.  If not, you can ask the Post Office to trace where it came from (or if it was sent through FedEx, them).  If they did not give you a return address, I am pretty sure there's a law they can be sued under (for sending you mail without a way to trace it).

  by deaniac83 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:47:31 PM PDT

  •  The return address is

    "North American Branch Office" in Long Island City, NY.

    Branch office of what?

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:49:42 PM PDT

    •  It Should Be Taha Publishers Ltd.

      but then again it might have been send from a fulfillment house (insert a third party direct mailer).

      by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:51:23 PM PDT

      •  That's not on the label.

        The thing that really sticks in my craw is that it's described as a "Scientific Atlas."

        Crap.  Unmitigated crap.

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:54:31 PM PDT

        •  Well...

          It's in print, so it must be true, right?

          /snark

          by AnnCetera on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:15:54 PM PDT

    •  Good question

      Google that address or look in online yellow or white pages and see if anything comes up.  Also email a copy of the photo of the packaging (with your name (address blacked out) with your story to your local newspaper and TV station, and post them on here.

      by deaniac83 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:54:39 PM PDT

•  Fact Check!

  Per Amazon

  Shipping Weight: 14 pounds  

  You know, I am only joking, right?

  by dansk47 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:50:57 PM PDT

  •  Well,

    perhaps I'm exaggerating.  But the image on the Amazon web site doesn't look like the one I got.

    I can't wait for Volume 2!  I'm all a-twitter!

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:52:24 PM PDT

    •  Ok, well, maybe you got the

      deluxe copy! Don't get too excited re: Vol. II, we can't have you to twitter away.

      by dansk47 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:54:44 PM PDT

•  So it shouldn't be a total loss

  cut out the "gorgeous" illustrations and decorate your classroom with them.

  Be sure to recycle the scraps!

  by MyBrainWorks on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:51:25 PM PDT

•  Quick Question Or Two

  was the book sent to your work or home address?

  My gut is somebody bought a direct mail list and that is how you got it. Being a teacher and in KS I could see how you were selected. But you said you were a psychnology teacher and not biology. Is that correct?

  by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:57:40 PM PDT

  •  Work.

    And right, I'm in the psych department.  All of us got one.  I should ask my colleagues in bio and see if they got them, too.

    Maybe because I'm in Kansas and I'm in a psych department they think I'm convertible.

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:03:16 PM PDT

    •  That Is What I Thought

      I am a marketing guy. And I can buy a direct mail list for just about anything.

      BTW: Whoever bought this list did a really bad job.

      by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:05:42 PM PDT

    •  I should check with my wife

      To see if she got one. She's an aquistions librarian for a university. But then again, it's a Catholic institution, they've got their own competing dogma.

      by bleeding blue on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:17:55 PM PDT

    •  Department .... Ward?

      Who can keep these things straight!  Maybe they thought you might just be crazy enough ...

      by zephron on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:19:52 PM PDT

      •  We all have

        "Psych Ward" sweatshirts.

        Nerd humor.  I apologize.

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:20:37 PM PDT

        •  Do You Teach Highschool or College

          just curious ..........

          by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:22:06 PM PDT

          •  College.

            Tiny liberal arts college.  850 students.

            Paradise, if you like to teach.

            by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:22:58 PM PDT

            •  Kind Of What I Thought

              my undergrad degree was in psy. Loved the field. But in a combo of low GRE scores (math was lacking) and working/running the suicide hotline I felt it was not something I could do for a living.

              So instead I took my knowledge of how humans think and went into marketing. Sorry :)!

              by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:26:03 PM PDT

              •  Heh.

                I had the same experience with the hotline as an undergrad, and decided that clinical/counseling work wasn't for me.

                I do perception work (well, I did -- now I teach).  Low-level vision.  Far less craziness and sadness.

                by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:27:37 PM PDT

                •  For Me It Was A Combo

                  of a lack of closure and politics. When I rose to run the darn thing the amount of politics was stunning. The fight for funding. Just the fight in general. You get what I am saying.

                  But the last year plus I was in charge. When we had somebody on the phone that we thought might harm themseleves or others I was paged (and this was the time where the pager was about the size of a car battery). I never got closure. I often bought a paper just curious if the person I spoke to the day before might have harmed themseleves. It was more then I could take.

                  by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:32:23 PM PDT

        •  They're stalking you!

          Actually, truth be told, I'm a little jealous.  As an astrophysicist I get plenty of batshit crazy stuff (some of it is absolutely fascinating!).  But never any pictures.  And some of the rantings could use a few figures!

          by zephron on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:24:02 PM PDT

•  Amazon prices: $55 to $125 for used copies

  Link
  Customer ratings:  One Star (out of five).

  by cosette on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:57:43 PM PDT

  •  Which Is A Dead Giveaway That It Was

    a limited printing .... for direct mail purposes.

    by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:00:06 PM PDT

•  I hope they send me one before it gets cold

  It'll come in handy when I run low on firewood.

  by Eddie Haskell on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 12:59:30 PM PDT

  •  The off-gassing

    from the burning of the ink would probably create a health hazard.  It's beautiful; the photographs and prints are astonishingly beautiful.

    But pure poison to burn -- although I cannot think of a better use for the thing.

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:02:01 PM PDT

    •  I made two suggestions above

      There must be others.  Do you have a monitor you'd like to raise up?  (All my officemates use ``A New Kind of Science'' for this.)

      by theran on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:03:42 PM PDT

      •  I have that book.

        Have had it for years.

        It remains almost entirely unread.  Turns out that it's not a new kind of science at all...

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:06:39 PM PDT

        •  If only there had been some clue...

          I think I am the only person who didn't buy it. :)

          by theran on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:08:01 PM PDT

    •  asdf...

      But pure poison to burn -- although I cannot think of a better use for the thing.

      Nope, not in a state where corn cobs are so plentiful.

      by TerribleTom on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:08:31 PM PDT

    •  I can think of one better...

      Use pages to line the litter box.

      by AnnCetera on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:13:38 PM PDT

      •  Abusing pooties isn't the answer...

        especially if those inks react poisonously to an acidic spray.

        They might make sturdy computer display monitor mounts.

        How about offering the books as 'prizes' to students writing the best paper on a topic or creating the best lab experiment?

        by antirove on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:30:53 PM PDT

•  According to Amazon

  Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought:

  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Christianity.

  The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible (3rd Edition).

  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jesus.

  Lots of idiots out there!

  by bleeding blue on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:09:24 PM PDT

  •  Ha!

    I am not surprised.

    This book is idiocy -- willful ignorance.

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:18:31 PM PDT

•  Damn, I wish I had one.

  I collect whacked out shit from creationists.  

  by clonecone on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:09:28 PM PDT

  •  If I could afford the postage,

    I'd send it to you.  :/

    by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:26:01 PM PDT

    •  It's a treasure you should cherish for a lifetime

      Or you could use it as a doorstop.

      by clonecone on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:26:47 PM PDT

      •  For a really really really

        big door.

        by Marc in KS on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:31:14 PM PDT

        •  or in a really really windy area .nt

          by RiaD on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:15:57 PM PDT

•  BTW: Maybe You Should Put It Up On eBay

  and make a buck or two :).

  by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:09:38 PM PDT

  •  And...

    Donate proceeds to AAAS.

    by AnnCetera on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:15:04 PM PDT

  •  He should hang onto it.

    It is Vol. 1 afterall.  Sounds like there's more wonderfulness to come.

    by clonecone on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:30:22 PM PDT

•  I've Always Wanted To Be A Teacher

  and if I was this man I'd bring the book into my classroom. Suggest people look at it and then write a paper on what their thoughts are. Then gather them put the book up on eBay. Promote it here and in other places. Then give the money away.

  by webranding on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:17:00 PM PDT

•  Harun Yahya is to Turkey as

  Kent Hovind is to the U.S.A.

  Go look in googlevideo or youtube for more of his trash.

  Unfortunately, Turkey and the U.S.A. are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to evolution science.

  

  by House on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:34:50 PM PDT

  •  Yikes

    It seems we're near the bottom of just about every catagory these days.

    by bleeding blue on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:37:53 PM PDT

    •  Au contraire.

      We still consume more and pollute more than anyone else.  USA!  USA!  USA!

      by Mehitabel9 on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:42:44 PM PDT

      •  I guess it's just how you look at things

        Gotta turn that frown upside down. That graph would be great news to "some people".

        by bleeding blue on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 01:48:00 PM PDT

•  harun got blogs banned in turkey

  this guy harun yahya is a turkish charlatan

  he's got all of wordpress blogs banned in turkey. i wrote about it at the guardian.

  http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/...

  by eteraz on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 02:27:21 PM PDT

•  I got one second-hand

  They were sent out to a large number of American scholars over the summer. I remember seeing an article in the New York Times about it. A geologist passed his copy on to me: he found it too beautiful to throw out and too insane to keep. Its juxtapositions of fossils with similar contemporary life forms might be useful for demonstrating evolution and how some creatures change very little. The evidence in the book actually supports Darwin quite nicely - despite its kitschy overlay of an Islamic ripoff of Christian fundamentalist young-earth creationism.

  by Matthias on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 03:33:27 PM PDT