From: "Fredric L. Rice" <frice@raids.org>
To: FMims@aol.com,rod@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au,azirafel@concentric.net
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 20:16:42 -0800
Subject: Mims and Martin Gardner

fm> Thanks for the imposing web site.
fm> It's a powerful resource for both sides of the agenda.

Thank you. And it is indeed a great honor to receive mail from you, sir, and I hope you don't mind if I forward your note to members of my staff since they assist me in making decisions concerning some of the things available from The Skeptic Tank.

fm> You list my name and an article by Martin gardner which includes
fm> several major errors. Gardner later apologized to me for these
fm> errors and published a corrected version of the article in a
fm> subsequent book. Would it not be appropriate to provide this
fm> information--along with my response to him in SI?

Yes, there are a great many text files here which cover the question of Creationists holding academic, scientific positions within well-respected fields and institutions. It's a fascinating subject and, since you seem to be the first reasonable Creationist within contemporary times, has been centered around you.

You have been discussed in FidoNet's SKEPTIC forum, in fact.

I haven't noticed any text evidence that your Creationist beliefs had adversely impacted your position with SA (which I subscribe to religiously, by the way.) It appeared to have been a question of respectability for SA which rightly had to worry about a flat-Earth believer on their scientific staff. That's my opinion, of course, and I mean no disrespect.

Yet to answer your question, I would think that any comment from you concerning inaccuracies should be published in Skeptical Inquirer, yes. Since the question has been brought up among other academic forums, I would also say that corrections from yourself and admissions of error from Mr. Martin Gardner should also be appropriate for publication in every newsletter and magazine where the question has been raised.

If you have been refused such coverage for your corrections in SI, I certainly would like to know about it since that would be, I feel, atypical behavior coming from CSICOP.

Also if you have a text copy of your corrections, I would like to have a copy. I will place it available here and make a note about its file name and contents in every other text file which discusses the issue so that it gets wide distribution. If you happen to have a copy of Mr. Gardner's apology, would you also send me a copy of that as well?

fm> Thanks.
fm> Forrest M. Mims III

No problem. If I can be of any assistance in anything, please let me know.

By the way: Have you decided whether or not trees in the Garden of Eden had rings? :-}