Age Of The Earth: A Case Study

Many Christians believe that the age of the earth is a side issue, of non doctrinal importance, that one can believe in an old or young universe. The Christian apologist William Lang Craig believes that it hurts Christianity when Christians hold to a young earth position (Craig holds to a local flood as many other Christian apologist and Christian). The reason they give is that it is not scientifically possible, others have posited that it hurts the gospel message. Others have said young earth believers unwittingly damage Christianity 's

(Campbell, 2016). Two giants in childhood lead poisoning research and advocacy, Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. David Bellinger, summarize the adverse effects of lead very completely, yet succinctly: “Lead is a devastating poison. It damages children’s brains, erodes intelligence, diminishes creativity and the ability to weigh consequences and make good decisions, impairs language skills, shortens attention span, and predisposes to hyperactive and aggressive behavior. Lead exposure in early childhood is linked to later increased risk for dyslexia and school failure.”(p. 3).

Until the early 1900's, scientists used several methods of measurement in their efforts to determine the age of the Earth. They studied sedimentation and erosion, stratification (with fossil evidence), measured the salinity of the oceans, and used thermodynamics to determine loss of heat since the Earth's beginning. Each of these approaches yielded estimates that the Earth was anywhere from 24 to 100 million years old.

Unfortunately, it has proven to be deadly for humans, especially for children. Lead production shifted into high gear in the 1920’s. Chemists figured out lead could be marketed in gasoline which is called tetraethyl-lead (TEL). The creation of this product led to the birth of the Ethyl Lead Corporation (ELC). ELC formed in 1923 by General Motors and Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. It was purchased by Albermarle Paper Manufacturing Company in Richmond, Virginia in 1962. General Motors sold the company due to the growing concerns of the product. Researchers discovered that TEL contributed to the soil, air, and water lead pollution and toxic to humans. Lead made the gasoline more efficient, however; its lead pollution levels increased over 625 times over the previous levels. The Lead levels were a huge concern for General Motors. They did not want to be liable for anything. During the 70's and 80's, car manufacturers moved towards unleaded gasoline, but the damage was

Patterson determined the age of the Earth using information regarding lead and uranium. Patterson knew the rate of decay of uranium, and he knew

Lead poisoning in children was first discovered in 1890 in Queensland, Australia. The lead source was not identified until 1904, when a researcher traced it to the paint used on railings and verandahs. The first discovery of lead poisoning in the United States (with a traceable source) was in 1914; the child had chewed the paint off of his crib. At this time they linked lead poisoning as a cause of convulsions in children. As research progressed and more children were found with high lead levels, symptoms caused by lead were expanded to include lead meningitis, acute encephalopathy, intellectual dullness, reduced consciousness, seizures, comas, and death (Chisholm, 1982).

In 1820 another French man named James Fourier took the next step in estimating the Earth’s age. He accounted for the fact that the Earth is still hot in its core and using mathematical techniques that he developed and we still use today for time-varying phenomena, came up with a number too staggering foe him to write down. He did however leave us his equations and it is easy to plug in the same numbers and get the answer that he could not say, which comes out to be 100 million years. (Gribbin, 16)

Before the discovery of radiometric methods to determine the age of the Earth, the first few attempts were off by thousands of millions

Lead, a naturally occurring metal and can be used in almost everything. It can cause serious health issues if it is exposed for a long time, particularly in children as they are more susceptible to absorbing and retaining lead in their bodies. Each year, in the United States 310,000 of 1- to 5-year age group are found to have unsafe levels of lead in their blood, which can cause a wide range of symptoms. (1)

* Lead. Lead is hazardous to health as it accumulates in the body and affects the central nervous system. Children and pregnant women are most at risk.

One of the main issues related to lead exposure is the risk of brain development problems. This is something that is especially possible in children because their brains are still developing. According to the Mayo Clinic, irreversible damage could occur if a child is exposed to lead.

The first major contribution included how Holmes was the first human to estimate the age of the Earth. Holmes was able to find the age of the Earth by using the method know as Radioactive Dating. Radioactive Dating is when energy emitted by radioactive minerals in the form of particles and rays could be used to date minerals. Radioactive Dating can also be know as measuring the decay of certain unstable atoms. Holmes got his Radioactive Dating method from Rutherford Ernest.

Scientists carrying out experiments using the Sandia’s Z machine which helped solving the 2 billion year old problem.

For decades the age of the Earth has been a major conflict between science and religion, but why is it such a big conflict? If, in the year AD 1600, an individual had asked an educated European how old the planet Earth was and to recount its history, the response would have been that it was about 6000 years old and that its ancient history was given by the biblical account in Genesis (Changing Views of the History of the Earth). If one asked the same question of an educated European in AD 1900, one would have received a totally different answer (Changing Views of the History of the Earth). The answer would have been the Earth was ancient, there had not been a Noachian flood, and that the species of life had not been fixed over the history of Earth (Changing Views of the History of the Earth). In short, Genesis was an allegory and not literal history (Changing Views of the History of the Earth). This brings up the different views between “young earth creationists” and “old earth creationists” and those that support an infinite universe. The problem today is each side contains major valid points of evidence of both biblical and scientific, on the age of the planet Earth.

To please the public the industry also said they would conduct research about the effects of lead, but the research was funded by the lead industry so they skewed the presentation of the results to the public. Soon there were also cases reported of lead poisoning in children from their habit of biting lead-painted toys. This time the lead industry tried to distract the public by increasing their advertisements highlighting the benefits of lead using the mascot of the Dutch Boy Painter and slogans, such as “ethyl is to gasoline what vitamins are to food.” However, by the 1970’s with the introduction of safer elements and the decrease in public support, the lead industry lost its importance in the world.