Apart from very ‘modern’ examples, which are really archaeology, I can think of no cases of radioactive decay being used to date fossils.” Agar, Derek V., “Fossil Frustrations,” New Scientist, vol. 100 (November 10, 1983), p. 425. [Emphasis added] “Radiometric dating would not have been feasible if the Geologic Column had not been erected first.” O’Rourke, J. E., “Pragmatism versus Materialism in Stratigraphy,” American Journal of Science, vol. 276 (January 1976), p. 54 If there were a column of sediments … Unfortunately no such column exists.” Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Earth Science 1989, p. 326 “Scientists use index fossils to determine the age of rock layers.” [You date the rocks by using the fossils.] Glenco, Earth Science, 1999. thIS KIND OF CYCLICAL REASONING rocks to determine age of fossils and fossils to age rocks has been questioned by prominent geologists. “It cannot be denied that from a strictly philosophical standpoint geologists are here arguing in a circle. The succession of organisms has been determined by a study of their remains embedded in the rocks, and the relative ages of the rocks are determined by the remains of organisms that they contain.” Rastall, R. H., “Geology,” Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 10 (1949), p. 16 The highly respected coauthor of the Theory of Punctuated Equilibria, Dr. Niles Eldredge, Curator, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, since 1969, has written that the fossils cannot be used to date the rocks that they are found in. One reason for this is that we now know that all animal and plant kinds are found all the way “back” to the beginning of Cambrian layers. There is no gradual ascension of life forms in the rock layers. There is no “Tree of Life” to be found in the ground “Paleontologists cannot operate this way. There is no way simply to look at a fossil and say how old it is unless you know the age of the rocks it comes from. And this poses something of a problem: if we date the rocks by their fossils, how can we then turn around and talk about patterns of evolutionary change through time in the fossil record?” Eldredge, Niles, Time Frames: The Rethinking of Darwinian Evolution and the Theory of Punctuated Equilibria president of the Canadian Geological Society, Dr. Derek Agar: “Ever since William [“Fossil”] Smith [1769-1839] at the beginning of the 19th century, fossils have been and still are the best and most accurate method of dating and correlating the rocks in which they occur. Apart from very ‘modern’ examples, which are really archaeology, I can think of no cases of radioactive decay being used to date fossils.” Agar, Derek V., “Fossil Frustrations,” New Scientist, vol. 100 (November 10, 1983), p. 425 [Emphasis added] “The charge of circular reasoning in stratigraphy [the study of layers in the ground] can be handled in several ways. [1] It can be ignored, as not the proper concern of the public. [2] It can be denied, by calling down the Law of Evolution. [3] It can be admitted, as a common practice … [4] or it can be avoided, by pragmatic reasoning.” O’Rourke, J. E., “Pragmatism versus Materialism in Stratigraphy,” American Journal of Science, vol. 276
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