Tiktaalik was the front page headline story in the NY Times yesterday.
While I was reading the story, one of my employer-physicians happened by and asked, "I know that's of great interest to people like you and me, but why is it a front page story?"
It occurred to me that it was a front page story for general readership because of the strenuous efforts of creationists et al. to undermine the credibility of the ToE and to impose religious views in the classroom. Without their social and academic agenda, the story would have been saved for the Science section or buried on a back page: ironically, political attempts to attack the ToE have resulted in wider publicity for its triumphs.
Mixing science and faith is hazardous to science but even more so to faith: the all-or-nothing literalist/creationist viewpoint can only be rocked again and again by such discoveries.
Having great confidence in the ToE, and being aware that fossil finding is becoming increasingly predictive and fruitful, I've long been curious about what the creationist response will be to such slam-dunk fossil proofs.
From what I've seen so far, it will range from complete denial to assertions that God made both kinds and kind-chimeras, a Dr. Frankenstein kind of deity...
Anyway, here's to Tiktaalik--boyo, we hardly knew ye.