Duane Gish



Man, the caliber of the spokesman sure has gone down in the past several decades! [ ICR spokesman ] Duane Gish has been fighting the teaching of evolution for much of that time.

Of course — in that time, we've discovered a million pieces of biological evidence, including genetics. Another million pieces of astronomical evidence, indicating the age of the earth and the universe. A million pieces of geological evidence, including many transitional fossils, and so-called "missing link"-pieces of the evolution of man. ALL of which supports evolution.

But is Duane swayin'? [chuckles] Not a chance.

Duane Tolbert Gish (1921—2013 ), a biochemist, became arguably best known as a creationist who regularly engaged in debates on the subject of creationism. Gish, once vice-president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), published at least 14 peer-reviewed academic papers, none related to evolutionary biology at all, and none originating after 1971. He wrote more than 15 books, including Evolution, the fossils say no! (1972). Gish received a PhD in biochemistry from Berkeley in 1953 and became well known for using his experience as a researcher as a stick in debates with evolutionists, even though he had no relevant peer-reviewed papers. He retired from his long-held position as a staff scientist at ICR circa 2005 CE.

Gish extensively discussed his belief that chemical evolution fails to address the question of abiogenesis and the origins of life. Gish initially regarded the Earth's age as irrelevant to creationism, but later became convinced of a Young Earth, in line with other ICR members.

Debating style
Gish notoriously used a rapid-fire approach during a debate, presenting arguments and changing topics very quickly and — in a manner intended to be extra impervious to reason — arguably wisely, considering none of his individual statements would stand up to closer scrutiny.

This approach, originally known as a proof by verbosity, has since been dubbed the "Gish Gallop".

Massimo Pigliucci, who debated Gish five times, noted that Gish ignored evidence contrary to his religious beliefs.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Gish was accused by evolutionists of making several blunders in his creation science writings and debates.


 * Claiming there are no fossil precursors to the dinosaur Triceratops (despite obvious precursors such as Protoceratops being well-known since the 1920s and the ancient Yinlong being known since the 2000's). Gish made other similarly incorrect statements about the fossil record, including claims about transitional forms, the fossil record for birds and the status of Archaeopteryx.
 * Claiming that Solly Zuckerman had access to modern knowledge of Australopithecus yet still stated they were not ancestors of Homo sapiens — Zuckerman's original conclusions were based on evidence available before the Lucy fossil was discovered, revolutionising the field of physical anthropology.
 * Claiming that Neanderthals were modern humans, "fully human Homo sapiens just like you and me," which is false given the morphological difference between modern humans and Neanderthals. (Well, the "homo sapiens" part is false; Neanderthals were fully human, just not the same species of human as us).
 * Claiming that evolution by natural selection is rendered impossible by the second law of thermodynamics.
 * Claiming that the dinosaur Parasaurolophus used its distinctive crest as a mixing chamber for breathing fire.

Abridged bibliography

 * The Amazing Story of Creation: From Science and the Bible
 * Creation: acts, facts, impacts
 * Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics
 * Creationist Research 1964-1988
 * Dinosaurs: Those Terrible Lizards
 * Dinosaurs by Design
 * Evidence against Evolution
 * Evolution, the Fossils say No!
 * Evolution: the Challenge of the Fossil Record
 * Manipulating Life, Where Does it Stop?: Genetic Engineering
 * Speculations and Experiments on the Origins of Life
 * Teaching Creation Science in Public Schools
 * Up with creation!: ICR acts/facts/impacts, 1976-1977
 * ''Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!