Easter Island, along with other small remote Pacific islands, has always fascinated me. Check out chapters on the demise of population on these islands in Jared Diamond's Collapse. I would definitely love to visit it some day. In the mean time, here is a spectacular photograph of the Solar eclipse from Easter Island from this past July 11th (from APOD):
and here are two bonus pictures of the island:
What is Irtiqa?
Irtiqa is Salman Hameed's blog. A few years ago (before Facebook killed many of the blogs), it used to track stories of science & religion, especially those related to Muslim societies. That is still one of its foci, but now it dovetails more of Salman's interests including film, astronomy, science fiction, and science outreach in both Pakistan and the US.
Irtiqa literally means evolution in Urdu. But it does not imply only biological evolution. Instead, it is an all encompassing word used for evolution of the universe, biological evolution, and also for biological/human development. While it has created confusion in debates over biological evolution in South Asia, it provides a nice integrative name for this blog. For further information, contact Salman Hameed.
The blog banner is designed by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. You can find all his creative endeavors at Orangie.
Salman Hameed
Salman is an astronomer and Associate Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, and you can find videos of all these lectures below. Contact information here.
LABELS
- Arab Spring
- art
- Astronomy
- Astronomy Pictures from Pakistan
- atheism
- beliefs of scientists
- Catholic Church and science
- creationism
- education
- education in muslim world
- ethics morality and science
- evolution
- faith and medicine
- film theater and television
- Friday Journal Club
- general
- history
- humor
- intelligent design
- Irtiqa Conversations
- Islam and Modernity
- islam and science
- Islamic Calendar
- islamic creationism
- Judaism and science
- media
- Muslims in Europe
- off topic
- Pakistan
- politics of science and religion
- posts by Nidhal Guessoum
- primates
- pseudoscience
- religion and environmentalism
- Religion and Health
- Religion and Technology
- Saturday Video
- science and Native religions
- science and religion books
- science fiction
- science in muslim world
- science of belief
- science of morality
- science religion and terrorism
- UFO religions
Blog Archive
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2010
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July
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- Noah's ark and the missing luggage problem...
- Oh boy - he knows how to make us realize our small...
- Satellites for the Arab-Muslim world
- Eco-Islam and a "green Imam" in Tanzania
- Dancing Soul - A trippy Sunday, courtesy of Werner...
- Sayyid Qutb liked "Gone with the Wind"?
- Galileo's middle finger rises again in Florence
- Film Autopsy (Review) of Inception
- Crucial primate fossil find from Saudi Arabia
- ‘God & Physics’ Conference in Oxford
- Falling trees and spilling oil: Acts of God?
- Solar Eclipse from Easter Island
- Is "Islamic Fundamentalism" on the rise in Turkey?
- Sagan on Science, Religion, and the Universe
- If you are looking for movies...
- Early Life on Earth: a Moroccan makes a historic d...
- Stem-cells debate in a play
- Jon Stewart on NASA's outreach to the Muslim world
- A "Miracle" in Chakwal, Pakistan?
- The psychology and sociology of miracle cures
- NASA reaching out to the Muslim world
- Population Explosion in the Muslim World
- Who/What created Faisal Shahzad?
- APPNA meeting and Mars
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July
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2 comments:
Nice post Salman. My two fascinations (Moais and the Totality) in one picture. Great
I maintain that humans, by their nature as “definers”, see in their “observations” data which matches our model of God. When exploring this notion, I created a graphic so I could better explain the concept. The resulting graphic led me to pose the question: “Which God shall I worship, the God I created or the God that created me?” I work to be honest to my own principles. I invite and challenge everyone reading this blog to pose that question to them. To better understand the challenge before you see <a href="http://leewimberly.home.comcast.net/~leewimberly//index.html>“Exploring the Gap between Science and Religion”.</a>
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