Sir, - I realise we have entered the "silly season" and that genuine new items and opinion are at a premium. However, was it really necessary to subject your readers to the creationist drivel that appeared last Wednesday (Opinion, July 18th)? The article by Dr Dominique Tassot represents Young-Earth Creationism in its basest and most deceitful guise.
Dr Tassot uses the time-worn creationist tactic of scouring the scientific literature and commentary for textual snippets which, when taken out of context suggest to the casual reader that evolutionary biology is in crisis. Dr Tassot adds nothing new to this tiresome debate.
Without exception, every single point he raises has been thoroughly debunked and discredited by the scientific community.
In addition, the majority of the sources that Dr Tassot uses to support his feeble case are respected biologists and physicists who would be appalled if they realised that their work was being used to fuel misinformation of this nature.
Further information about creationists and the pseudoscience they use to support their arguments can be found at the Talk Origins website (www.talkorigins.org). - Yours, etc.,
David MacHugh, Ph.D., Lecturer in Animal Molecular Genetics Department of Animal Science and Production, University College Dublin.