In the context of biology, evolution claims that life developed by chance out of inorganic material, and then acquired more and more complexity and sufficient variety to fill the Earth with the different existing species today. In this context, evolution has some subdivisions. First, according to where it takes place, it is divided into microevolution or “variations” (both within a species), and macroevolution (between species). Second, scientific progress has caused evolution itself to evolve into such different versions as classical Darwinism, neo-Darwinism, and punctuated equilibrium. As our space is limited, we will concentrate on the very basics of evolution, and leave some of the alternatives aside. Also, we will not cover many of the oppositions and objections in minor evolutionary issues or detail.

Slick writes: “The driving forces behind evolution are considered to be random genetic transformations (mutations) and natural selection. Mutations provide genetic variation and natural selection (predation, environmental conditions, etc.)” (Slick 1998). Thus, beneficial genetic combinations are sorted from non-beneficial ones and carried from generation to generation. In other words, the organism that survives natural selection [process] passes the new (improved) genetic information to future generations, who continue to pass them down with every new generation.2 At first, all of this might seem self-consistent and even logical. But an inquisitive mind should not accept anything on the basis of apparent “logic” without exploring, because observation without extensive searching can be quite misleading. (See the example of a recent discovery about dinosaurs.)

In his The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin described the basics of his theory and sought to substantiate it by fossil findings. More specifically, he based his theory on intermediate links between species (ancestors to descendants). Even though this is his strongest evidence (!), in the same book he asks: “Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record”3 (Darwin, 1859, chapter 9). He himself agrees that the strongest evidence of evolution assuredly does not exist, and foresaw that the fossil record will be a thread against evolution in future.

The above argument might raise the question:

“Well, in the 1850s geology was not that developed, so now we might have some geological evidence about intermediate links.” Yes, geology has developed a lot since then, but it has provided no strong evidence for such a link. For example, we are all familiar with the term “missing link,” because after 250 years of exploration such “links” are still “missing.” Not only is humanity’s ancestral line formed of missing links, but so are the ancestral lines of such other living things as animals, birds, fish, and plants.4

As Jepsen L.Glenn states: “Links are missing just where we most fervently desire them, and it is all too probable that many ‘links will continue to be missing”5 (Jepsen, 1963, p.114). And he was right because they are still missing. “The missing links between man and the apes…is merely the most glamorous of a whole hierarchy of phantom creatures. In the fossil record, missing links are the rule: the story of life is as disjointed as a silent newsreel, in which species succeed one another as abruptly as Balkan prime ministers. The more scientists have searched for the transitional forms between species, the more they have been frustrated… Evidence from fossils now points overwhelmingly away from the classical Darwinism which most Americans learned in high school…”6 (Newsweek, Nov. 3, 1980, p. 95).

Due to such difficulties, which have been around since Darwin’s time, evolutionists have transformed the theory into Neo-Darwinism and other versions (see above). This means that the quest for truth in this matter has not been settled. On the other hand, due to insufficiency of historical data, sources, and methods to reproduce the beginning of life, some scientists classify the origin of life as either unknowable or unanswerable7 and hence as best left to belief or logic. Even though the process of life and its adventure is not reproducible, science is increasing the hfstorical data about the origin of life and the history of living things. But surprisingly, the new data do not support evolution.

As for observation (together with historical findings), we still have to search beyond our eyes and imagination. For instance, museums, textbooks, scientific magazines, and movies traditionally portray dinosaurs as standing up 12 meters high or more, because dinosaur fossils had very long necks. This was enough for scientists to deduce that they were tall, ate tree leaves, and fought with other creatures standing upright. But a recent study at Northern Illinois University, showed that the joint structure in their necks allowed them to lift their head at most 2 to 3 meters.8 Therefore, seeing is not enough for sound deduction, and drawing pictures, assembling bones, and one’s imagination does not necessarily produce sound logic.

Alterations to the theory of evolution over the last 250 years imply that as science progresses, it does not support the theory but rather changes or at least modifies it. As mentioned earlier, due to the lack of evolutionary links between species, the theory adopted “punctuated equilibrium.” which states that “evolution took huge sudden jumps … in 100,000- or 300,000-year increments or so, during different periods of earth history.”9 Thus there can be no gradual improvement. This is not a mere modification of the theory, but a total digression from Darwin’s original version. When scientists discovered huge gaps between species, they were so predisposed to evolution that they changed its basic theoretical premises and still called it “evolution.” Unfortunately, the public is usually unaware of such advances or modifications, and continues to believe that the theory of evolution is “scientific.”

As regards supposed “missing links,” we give the most argumentative evolutionary record, the alleged evolutionary record of man, as an example:

1. -Ramapithecus – 10 to 14 million years ago.

2. -Australopithecus-1 to 4 million years ago.

A. -Afarensis – 3 to 3.6 million years ago.

B. -Africanus-2.5 to 3 million years ago.

C. -Robustus-3 to 1.8 million years ago

D. -Boisei-1.8 million years ago.

3. -Zinjanthropus (also known as East Africa Man) -1.5 to 2 million years ago.

4. -Homo Habilis-2 million years ago.

5. -Pithecanthropus-500.000 years ago.

A. -Nebraska Man (also known as Hesperopithecus haroldcookii).

B. -Piltdown Man (also known as Eanthropus dawsoni, or Dawn Man).

6. -Homo Erectus-300,000 years ago (also known as Java Man and as Peking Man or Sinjanthropus pekinensis)

7. -Sapiens

A. -Neanderthal-30,000 to 75,000 years ago.

B. -Cromagnon-10,000 to 50,000 years ago.

C. -Modern-10,000 years ago.

D. -Homo Sapiens-present.

These dates were taken from the November 1985 issue of The Notional Geographic magazine.10 Now, let’s see what really constitutes these links one by one:

Ramapithecus: Ramapithecus, which consists of a handful of teeth and jaw fragments, is considered to be a hominid (human evolutionary ancestor) solely on the basis of its dental record.11 David Pilbeam, one of the first to state that Ramapethicus was a hominid, says that he now is not so sure that it is a human ancestor, and that he has found new fossils of the species that invalidate earlier conclusions.12

Australopithecus: Found by Dart in 1924, Australopithecus Africanus, consists of a skull, a jaw, some teeth, and pelvis, limb, and footfragments. This creature is divided into two main species: Australopithecus Africanus and Australopithecus Robustus. Australopithecus is not considered a human ancestor.13

Zinjanthropus: In 1950, Louis and Mary Leakey found 400 pieces of a skull in the Olduvai Gorge in Africa. They claimed that this hominid ancestor was 1,750,000 years old. This age was determined on their dating of the rocks in which the bones were located by the potassium argon method. In 1960, they found a child’s skull of a more advanced type 12 inches deeper in the rock. This led Leakey to say that Zinjanthropus was not hominid, but rather entirely ape. Carbon 14 dating of mammal bones in the same stratum suggests an age of only 10,000 years or 3,100 years.

Nebraska Man: In 1922, a geologist named Cook found a tooth in Nebraska’s Snake Creek bed. Professor Osborn (The New York Museum) and Sir Smith C. Aubrey of London said it belonged to an ape man. It was later found to be the tooth of an extinct pig.14

Piltdown Man: In 1912, Charles Dawson and others found a skullcap, jawbone, and teeth in a gravel pit in Sussex, England. From these, they constructed an ape man, named him Piltdown (or Dawn) Man, and dated him at 500,000 years BC. In 1953, British scientists discovered that the jawbone belonged to a monkey that had been stained to indicate age, that the teeth had been filed to make them look human, and that the skullcap was really an elephant’s kneecap. The hoax fooled experts for many years.15

Java Man: In 1892 in Java (now part of Indonesia), Dubois found a skullcap, teeth, and femur bone about 60 feet from each other. He said these belonged to the same hominid ancestor, and that it was about 500,000 years old. He failed to mention that he had found two human skulls nearby in virtually the same level of burial. In 1908, the German Selenka expedition found that lava flows in Java made an age of more than 500 years impossible. In 1936, Dubois admitted that Java Man was an ape.16

Peking Man: Between 1922 and 1939, the bones of 38 individuals were discovered at Choukoutien, southwest of Peking. Experts in several countries said these belonged to ape men. Mr. O’Connell, a missionary in China, claimed this was a lime pit and that local men and women killed monkeys and then ate their brains. When the hill collapsed, people were buried and fossilized. The mixture of bones was used to create an ape man. The original specimens were lost in WWII. O’Connell says Peking man is altogether human.

Neanderthal Man: The first bones of Neanderthal Man, found in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1856, indicated a stooped posture. He was said to be one step above apes, and was dated at 200,000 years. Later, he was found to have arthritis. Since then, skeletons in an upright position have been found in caves in Palestine. Their brain size is larger than that of modern man.

Cromagnon: Cromagnon bones of have been found in caves in France. Although they are dated at 50,000 years,their brain size is larger than that of modern man.17,18

As seen above, these so-called human ancestors are either apes or based solely on teeth, or they are just human beings with larger brains and bigger bodies, which might mean more complexity. So what makes the above table of links scientific? I think only the make-up is scientific: fancy Latin names, estimated millions of years by some questionable method, and publication in a scientific journal. It is this presentation that makes people view this as not make-believe but rather a sophisticated track record of human ancestors. If the Carbon 14 method is reliable (it is questionable), we should accept that man’s real ancestors are Neanderthals and Cromagnons, who were still men and appeared around 30,000 to 75,000 years ago with no hominid (human ancestor) predecessors. Thus they emerged immediately, and hence were created in this excellent form. As for other species: “Each species of mammal-like reptile that has been found appears suddenly in the fossil record and is not preceded by the species that is directly ancestral to it. It disappears some time later, equally abruptly, without leaving a directly descended species.”19 (New Scientist, No. 1295, p. 581).

Let’s return to the basics of evolution-did life appear on Earth out of inorganic material spontaneously and by chance? Scientific evidence suggests the formation was spontaneous, but not by chance. The formation of life out of inorganic material by chance would require an enormous amount of time and combinations of molecules. Even if we assume that all these combinations existed on Earth, is it possible that life can emerge by chance? Is it mathematically probable?

Let’s give some probabilistic results in exponential notation for the sake of simplicity. For those who are not familiar with such notation, here is a brief description. 42 is 4×4, or 16 where 2 is the exponent and 4 is the base. Likewise 53 equals to 5x5x5 or 125. When the exponent is negative, like 3-3 it means 1 divided by 3x3x3 or 1/27th. Now for a quick illustration of why we use exponents: consider that we take 250 pieces of paper each 1/10 mm thick and put them in stack. How high will the stack be? The answer is 250 x 1/10 mm, which seems quite perceivable and not so large (due to the simplicity of the notation). However, the result is approximately 1.1258×1014 mm or 112,589,990.7km, which is 17,652.87 equatorial radii of the Earth. Of course, the first notation’s simplicity is due to the exponential 250, which is in fact 1,124,899,906,842,624. As another example, consider the estimated approximate number of the atoms in the universe, which is 1079 atoms. This is a one with 79 zeroes after it. Now the exponents in quotes and example below will be more familiar.

“To get a cell by chance would require at least one hundred functional proteins to appear simultaneously in one place. That is one hundred simultaneous events each of an independent probability which could hardly be more than 10-20 giving a maximum combined probability of 10-2000 ” 20 (Denten, 1985).

“The probability of life having originated through random choice at any one of the 1046 occasions is then about 10-255. The smallness of this number means that it is virtually impossible that life has originated by a random association of molecules. The proposition that a living structure could have arisen in a single event through random association of molecules must be rejected” 21 (Quastler, 1964, p. 7).

“The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an intelligent Designer”22 (Dawkins, p. 130).

There are hundreds of such quotes from well-known scientists and experts on this subject.

Thus, the probability of life coming from inorganic material by chance is virtually zero. Hence evolutionists had to devise another idea from probability theory. The principle follows as: “Given an infinite amount of time, the probability of something happening, no matter how remote the probability is 1.” 23

But does this idea save evolution? Before putting this idea on test, let’s present the estimates of Earth’s24 and the universe’s25 age.

Note that the highest age estimate for the Earth is 4.6 billion, and that the highest estimate for the universe’s age is 18 billion years. Thus, as the universe existed for a limited amount of time, the basic premise of the evolutionists using probability theory is refuted. What is the probability of a 100-part organism (no living cell has this few) forming if for 30 billion years, a generous estimate of the universe’s age, there were 1 billion billion billion billion combinations of its parts every second (1036 combinations per second). In other words, is that enough time? Here we take an artificial cell of 100 parts (since any living cell has more than 100 parts, this is a very low estimate),overestimate of the universe’s age (to silence opponents), and overestimate the number of events per second beyond what really is possible.

Living cells are composed of DNA. The simplest life forms on Earth are viruses, which consist of thousands of parts. Let our artificial organism be a 100-part virus. If we suppose that these parts can only lie on a straight line, the total number of all possible orderings is 100! (100! means 100 factorial, or 100x99x98x ……x4x3x2xl). This straight line assumption favors evolution, since there may be many other ways on which DNA-parts may lie. To illustrate further: if we have two sticks, how many ways can we arrange them? 2! = 2×1 or 2 different ways; if we have 3 sticks? 3! = 3x2x1, or 6 different ways, Had we 5 sticks?, 5!=120 different waysand so on. Note that as the number of sticks increases, the number of possible arrangements increases dramatically. As the virus can have DNA-parts in many forms other than a straight line, the total number of possible arrangements of DNA-parts is more than 100!. But for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that it is 100!. Then 100 parts can combine in 100!=9.32258232×10157 different possible ways. Hence the probability of our virus to form in its particular order is approximately one in 10157.

The next question addressed is: Is 30 billion (3×1010) years enough for this very simple virus to form? The possible number of combinations per second is 1036 , and 30 billion years is equal to 3×1036 (years)x365(days)x24(hours)x60(minutes)x60(seconds), or 9.4608×1037 seconds. Now to find the total number of combinations for all life in the universe, we multiply 1036 combinations per second with 9.4608×1037 seconds, for a result of 9.4608×1073 combinations. Hence only a tiny fraction of all possible formations could have occurred, and the probability of our virus to form from the beginning of the universe till now is 9.4608×1073 over 9.32258232×10157, which is approximately one in 1083 combinations (virtually zero). (This example is a slight modification of the one given by Matthew J. Slick of CARM.26)

Some evolutionists claim that since life exists on Earth, this minute probability actually occurred. But here they are completely losing track of objectivity, a necessity in science. When they presume that evolution is a fact, they do not allow contrary evidence to influence them. Their obstinacy prevents them from seeing that this case is not like a lottery, in which all the possible number of combinations are sold, so that a winner will be for sure (here winner is analogous to our virus). Keep in mind that only 0.000….% (there are 81 zeroes after the decimal) of all combinations could be covered until now. Therefore, the probability of living cells forming by chance is very close to zero, and the universe’s presumed age is not sufficient for even the formation of a 100-part virus. If we look at cells with hundreds of parts, which would be more realistic, the odds against their forming are multiplied exponentially. Yet evolutionists maintain that the spontaneous formation of life on the Earth is a fact. Hence it is created spontaneously by a Supreme Being.

The third basis of evolution is the continued formation of genetic material, which is credited to mutations and the selection of favorable genetic formation by nature (natural selection). But the primary problem with mutation is that it is almost always destructive (one should draw a clear line between genetic engineering and arbitrary alteration of the genetic code, the latter is called mutation). Since a favorable genetic code is needed for natural selection, mutations should occur a priori. In other words, mutations should be responsible for genetic variety, not natural selection, which operates only on existing genes (it cannot create new genes). Mutations occur randomly and should transform the existing gene into a new gene possesing an advantage. But many evolutionists continue to assert that natural selection drives the genetic transition. This implies that genes should perform their newly evolved functions before they evolve into new genes. This is like claimimg that birds can fly when they are still in their eggs. Therefore, random chance and not natural selection is responsible for evolution of new genes. Hence, until a new gene offers a competitive advantage, natural selection cannot occur.27

Now a careful reader might recall that the probability of a 100-part virus (a virus whose genetic code consists of 100 DNA-units) was I in 10157, and given l036 possible combinations per second the probability of this virus to form since the beginning of the universe (assumed to be approximately 9.4608×1037 seconds) was 1 in 1083 combinations. Here there is no need to find the probability of a 100-part virus evolving into a 1,000-part bacterium (the simplest bacterium consists of millions of DNA-parts), since the probability of a virus forming from inorganic material was virtually zero. But for curious readers, here is a very simplistic approach: There are two extremes in this problem: 1) an additional 900 parts form and combine with the previous 100 parts, and 2) every part of the 100 existing parts evolves into 10 new parts. Every other possibility of 100 existing parts evolving into 1,000 new parts falls somewhere between these two cases.

Case l: 900 parts can combine in 900!=6.75×102270 different possible ways. For the sake of simplicity, we assume that these 900 parts will just join the previous 100 parts at one edge of the existing DNA. Hence the odds of combining 900 parts with the previous 100 parts to form a specific 1000-part straight-line formation is 1 in 6.75×102270 combinations. With 1036 possible combinations per second and 9.4608×1037 seconds as the universe’s age, even if a 100-part virus existed at the beginning of the universe, the probability of the forming a 1,000-part bacteria from that virus is 9.4608×1053 /900!=l.4×10-2216.

Case 2: The probability of 10 parts evolving from each one of 100-existing parts. The likelihood of forming a new one part from an existing part is (either it forms or not). Hence the probability of 10 new parts evolving from one old part is (1/2)=10 = 2-10 =1/1024. There are 100 such events; hence, the probability is (2-10)100 =9.33×10-302. Given 1036 events per second and 9.4608×1037 seconds as the universe’s age, the probability of forming a 1,000- part virus out of a 100-part virus is (9.4068×1053) /(21000 )=8.83×10-248.

Now keep in mind that a virus has thousands of parts, and that a bacteria has millions of parts. Also, consider the evolution of multicelled organisms from unicellular organisms, plants from multicelled organisms, animals from plants, and men from animals. There are quadrillions of parts to be evolved at each step, and the above probability should be multiplied exponentially in the denominator. In sum, there is no way evolution can happen by chance.

As seen above, whatever is claimed to support evolution turns out to not support it. Now recall that for natural selection to occur, favorably evolved genes should exist and each gene’s evolutions should be cumulative. As we have proven that the large-scale change of genetic material is impossible, can natural selection drive cumulative small-scale changes in genes? The study shows that by preserving the functionality of existing genes, natural selection fights evolution, for existing genes are not free to evolve into new genes. The genes are locked by natural selection, that is, if a gene evolves into a new gene the original gene is lost. Now, if the original gene benefits the organism, its loss will be a competitive disadvantage to the organism (hence the organism will be eliminated or disfavored by natural selection). If the gene is non-beneficial, it would be eliminated by natural selection. Therefore natural selection locks existing genes into their place. Theoretically, genes might transform at the expense of losing their previous functionality, but this transformation is not cumulative. The only opposition might arise in the case of the new gene being more beneficiary than the previous one. This is slightly misleading, for if the new gene offers more benefit on the same characteristic, then no variation is possible even within a species (which is not the case on Earth). If the new gene offers a beneficial new characteristic, the original characteristic is lost and hence a disadvantage occurs. This is not much of a benefit.

This discrepancy in evolution was first observed by a scientist named Ohno (1978), who says: “Yet, being an effective policeman, natural selection is extremely conservative by nature, from a bacterium only numerous forms of bacteria would have emerged. The creation of metazoans, vertebrates, and finally mammals from unicellular organisms would have been quite impossible, for such big leaps in evolution required the creation of new gene loci with previously non-existent functions. Only the cistron (a segment of DNA that is equivalent to a gene and that specifies a single functional unit as a protein or enzyme) which became redundant was able to escape from the relentless pressure of natural selection, and by escaping, it accumulated formerly forbidden mutations to emerge as a new gene locus.”

As Ohno said, even if a virus or a bacteria existed in the beginning, only these and their variations would be alive today. Also, those redundant gene loci are the only genes that can escape from natural selection, and all mutations must occur on them. However, only a new trait can result from this mutation. Then this locus is again under the lock of natural selection, since it gained a new functionality. Furthermore, it does not allow the creation of new genes to acquire the complexity of metazoans, vertebrates, and finally mammals. Hence “as long as a particular function of an organism is under the control of a single gene locus, natural selection does not permit perpetuation of mutations which result in affecting the functionally critical site of a peptide chain specified by that locus. Hence, allelic mutations are incapable of changing the assigned function of genes”28 (Ohno,1978). This observation is quite important, because evolution needs numerous, successive small changes of existing genes-the above observation proves that changes at a gene locus are not cumulative.29

Why then is Darwinism so prevalent in the scientific world? Why is it still taught in schools and shown in documentary films as a fact? Are the evolutionists unable to see the discrepancies and improbability of evolution? The answer to these questions lie mostly in the fact that the primary motivation for advancing Darwinism was philosophical, not scientific.30 The underlying philosophy behind Darwinism is naturalism, whose roots are in classical Greek philosophy. Darwin knew little about genetics, but the spread of Darwinism was the result of combination of Darwinism with genetics in 1930s and 1940s. This combination is a result of the prevalence of naturalism among philosophers and scientists in recent centuries. Therefore, there is a close relationship between Darwinism and naturalism-indeed, Darwinism became the branch of naturalism in biology. Therefore, in a future article we will examine the source(naturalism) that Darwinism nourishes and elaborate on the aspects of Darwinism that we did not cover or about which we just gave tangent remarks.

FOOTNOTES

1. Merriam-Webster, Inc, ‘WWebster Dictionary (1999) at http://www.m-w.com.
2. Matthew J. Slick, CARM (1998) at http://www.carm.org/evfactor.htm.
3. http://hjein.get2net.dk/Paleontology, online books, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, Chapter 11: “On the imperfection of the geologic record” (1859).
4. Slick, CARM (1998) at http://www.carm.org/evfactor.htm.
5. L. Glenn Jepsen, Ernst Mayr, and George Gaylord Simpson, Genetics, Paleontology, and Evolution (New York: Athenaeum, 1963), 114.
6. “Is Man a Subtle Accident?” Newsweek [Nov. 3, 1980), 95.
7. Selim Uzunoglu, Upon the Unknown and the Unknowable (1998).
8. Zaman / America, International Newspaper (May 3, 1999).
9. Slick (1998) at http://www.cann.org/evfactor.htm.
10. The National Geographic, vol. 168, no. 5 (Nov. 1985), 568-73.
11. E. L. Simons, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 167 (1969), 319; E. L. Simons, ScientificAmerican, vol. 211 (1964), 50; D. R. Pilbeam, Nature, vol. 219 (1968), 1335; E. L. Simons and D. R. Pilbeam, Science, vol. 173 (1971), 23.
12. New York Times (February 18, 1979), 41.
13. C. Oxnard, University of Chicago Magazine (Winter 1974), 11-22 A. Montagu, Man: His First Million Years (Yonkers, NY: World Publishers, 1957), 51-52.
14. S. K. Gregory, Science, vol. 66, p. 579 (1927) as cited in Duane T. Gish, Evolution: The Fossils Say No (San Diego, CA: Creation Life Publishers, 1981), 130.
15. 5. Zuckerman, Beyond the Ivory Tower (New York: Taplinger, 1970), 75-94 as cited in Gish, Evolution, 132.
16. W. Howell, Mankind in the Making (Garden City, NJ: Doubleday and Co., 1967), 155-56 as cited in Gish, Evolution, 125.
17. For further information on evolution, consult Luther D. Sunderland, Darwin’s Enigma (Santee, CA: Master Book Publishers, Santee, CA 1984); Gish, Evolution; Marshall Hall and Sandra Hall, The Truth: God or Evolution?: The Craig Press, 1974); and A. E. Wilder-Smith, Man’s Origin, Man’s Destiny (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1975), 55438.
18. The reference numbers 10-17 can be tracked at http://www.carm.org/evfactor.htm.
19. Tom Kemp, “The Reptiles That Became Mammals,” New Scientist, vol. 93, no. 1295, (March 4, 1982), 581.
20. Michael Denten, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Warwickshire, UK, Burnett Books Limited, 1985).
21. Henry Quastler, The Emergence of Biological Organization (New Haven, CT, and London, UK: Yale University Press, 1964), 7.
22. Richard Dawkins, “The Necessiiv of Dazwinism,” New Scientist, vol.94 (April 15, 1982), 130.
23. http://www.gogoscience.com/forums/messages/6267.shtml.
24. http://www.ozemail.com.au/~sjdando/mutation.htm.
25. http://ast.leeds.ac.uk/research/age.html (Optical astronomy group at Leeds, UK).
26. Slick (1998) at http://www.carm.org/evfactor.htm
27. Stu Pullen (1998) at http://www.darwinsmistake.com/BOOK/.
28. Ohno, Susumu Evolution by Gene Duplication (New York: Springer Verlag, 1978). HYPERLINK
29. Stu Pullen (1998) at http://www.daiwinsmistake.com/BOOK/.
30. William A. Dembski et al., Mere Creation, Science, Faith and Intelligent Design (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998).),p.74

FAITH AND WORKS

To receive the favor of Allah, faith and works are crucial. The Prophet Muhammad stated that faith is required to enter Paradise (Muslim 1:96), and the Apostle Paul wrote that, “the righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17). In both religions faith goes hand in hand with good deeds and requires them to perfect it (Qur’an 2:177; James 2:22). Indeed, Jesus says that only those who do God’s will can enter heaven (Matthew 7:21). 

LOVE

Just as faith without works is dead (James 2:17), so, too, is it dead without love. 

Love of one’s neighbor

Muhammad affirmed: “You will not believe as long as you do not love one another” (Muslim 1: 96) and “No man is a true believer unless he wants for his brother that which he wants for himself” (Bukhari 1:12). Concurring, Jesus said that to love your neighbor as yourself was like loving God (Matthew 23:37-39).

Although the word “love” appears less frequently in the Qur’an than in the Bible, the notion of love permeates it. True love consists of right action towards one’s neighbor, of taking care of others, of and helping those in need. In verse after verse, the Qur’an enjoins believers to be charitable to orphans, widows, travelers, and the poor. According to one hadith: “The best Islam is that you feed the hungry and spread peace among people you know and those you do not know.” Similarly, Jesus tied Peter’s loving him to taking care of his disciples (John 21:15-17), and John asserts that those who do not help a brother in need when they are able to do so do not have the love of God in them (1 John 3:17).

Love of God

Love of neighbors is a cornerstone of both Islam and Christianity, but love of God is the foundation. Such love is expressed in many ways, but let’s look at four: prayer, repentance, contentment, and surrender to God.

People desire to be with and talk with those they love. Thus, Christians and Muslims who love God “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and “remember Allah much” (Qur’an 33:21). Prayer is a cleansing activity, partially because engaging in it allows people to see God’s greatness and their own unworthiness. Such understanding brings repentance, which is essential to receiving God’s approval and forgiveness (Qur’an 20:82; Muslim 2:1142; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 5:32; 15:7).

Through cycles of prayer, repentance, and forgiveness, the believers’ love of God grows. This gradually results in a weakening of the desires for worldly things, the cause of discontent. Becoming content with what God has allotted them, they “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), whether good or bad. Such believers are loved by people and by God, as one hadith says: “Desire not the world, and God will love you; and desire not what men have, and they will love you.”

To be fully content means to be surrendered to Allah, a key concept in Islam. Indeed, the word “Islam” is understood to mean surrender, as it says in the Qur’an (3:19): “The religion before Allah is Islam.” Christianity believes the same, for as Jesus said, the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). In other words, give your entire being to God.

Those who completely devote themselves to God are, naturally, are the closest to Him. Yet God is near all believers. Christians believe that God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, lives within them (1 Corinthians 6:19). For Islam, the indwelling concept is not prevalent, but God is nearer to the believer than his jugular veins (Qur’an 50:16) and says: “When my servants ask you about me, tell them I am near, I hear the prayer of the one who calls upon Me” (Qur’an 2:186).

PARADISE

Both Christianity and Islam teach that those who love God, believe in God, and do good deeds will receive rewards (Matthew 5:5-11, 6:1-6 10:41-42, 16:27, 1 Corinthians 3:14, 9:17, Ephesians 6:8, Qur’an 2:62, 3:144,145,148). The best reward, of course, is eternal life in Paradise.

Who gets this reward? In both religions, the answer is quite controversial. There are those who say that only adherents to of their own religion-whether Christianity or Islam-go to Heaven. Many Christians confidently assert that only those who believe in Jesus will have eternal life (John 3:18, 11:25-26), and many Muslims affirm just as strongly affirm that only those who believe in Allah and accept Muhammad as His Messenger will enter Paradise.

In both religions, however, others disagree. Some Christians claim that it is necessary only that one has to believe in God and try to do good (Matthew 7:21, 10:42, 25:31-46). Likewise, some Muslims who agree with this view cite the Qur’an (2:62): “Believers, Jews, Sabaeans, or Christians-whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does what is right-shall have nothing to fear or to regret.”

Adherents to both religions concur, though, that eternal life is a gift of God and based completely upon His mercy (Romans 9:15-16, Qur’an 3:74, 10:99-100; Bukhari 7:577). Nevertheless, God does not reject anyone who comes to Him: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8), and “He who loves to meet Allah, Allah also loves to meet him. . .” (Muslim 2:1120).

MISUNDERSTANDING

As the Bible and the Qur’an agree on many things, why then do Muslims and Christians perceive each other so differently and so often misunderstand each other? Such a question, of course, deserves an in-depth, multi-faceted answer; however, we will look at just one of those facets: a difference of emphasis and vocabulary.

Muslims tend to emphasize right action, while Christians tend to focus on right belief. Consequently, when Christians hear Muslims say that they are earning merit through their good deeds, they jump to the conclusion that Islam is a religion of works, not faith, and that Muslims are trying to earn their salvation, which no one can do. Also, Christians, disturbed by Muslims’ emphasis on imitating the prophet Prophet Muhammad, perceive Muslims as legalistic and fixed on externals rather than on such transforming internals like as love. They not realize that for Muslims, good deeds earn merit only if one has faith, and that it is love of the Prophet that leads them to follow his example.

In turn, when Muslims hear Christians talking about freedom and love, they believe that Christians can sin as much as they want and still enter Paradise, a perception bolstered by the immorality of not only ordinary people but also of the highly visible religious and political leaders in the West. Muslims fail to understand that the love of God prevents pious Christians from sinning. And there are other similar vocabulary problems resulting in misunderstanding and misperception that are exacerbated by the natural belief that theirs is the true and final religion. This misguided attitude causes both Muslims and Christians to exaggerate any potential difference to its worst extreme, and to forget that their own religions have the same concepts, albeit sometimes de-emphasized or expressed differently.

MAIN DIFFERENCES

Not all differences are a matter of misperception; a few are even fundamental. The most important one concerns the nature of God. Both Christianity and Islam agree that God is the Creator of the universe, the source of truth, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, full of compassion and mercy, but also the One who dispenses justice. Despite this agreement, however, Christians believe in a Trinity, three persons in one Godhead: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. In contrast, Muslims (and Jews) assert that Jesus is not God, but and that God is one without any has no partners (Qur’an 37:4; Deuteronomy 6:4).

A second major difference is the concept of atonement. Christians believe that Jesus died as a sacrifice for everyone’s sins (Hebrews 9:26; 1 Peter 1:2, 19; 1 John 2:2), which becomes effective for the individual upon his or her confession of belief to those who believe in Jesus (John 3:15-18; Romans 1:16). In Islam, though, sacrifices do not atone for sin but represent one’s devotion to Allah. Consequently, no sacrificial intercessor is necessary or possible (Qur’an 2:256). Instead, God forgives those who sincerely repent and make right correct their previous wrongs.

CONCLUSION

Although the disagreement on the nature of God and on the atonement of Jesus seems unresolvable, most differences are more a matter of emphasis rather than of disagreement.

Christianity stresses right belief and faith, but no Christian would deny that they should do good deeds and have good behavior. On the contrary, they “work” hard to please God because of their faith. Muslims, on the other hand, assuming that faith is necessary, prefer to emphasize the practical side of perfecting their faith via good works. Christians and Muslims agree that faith is necessary and that good works are important.

In reality, if one were simply to watch the outward behavior of pious Muslims and Christians in their daily lives, it would be quite difficult to know who was a Muslim and who was a Christian-for the pious of both religions who love their God and who have surrendered their lives to Him pray much, help the needy, and are kind towards their neighbors and their families. Due to its shortness, this article will necessarily make broad generalizations that have many exceptions.

All hadiths not given a source come from the book The Sayings of Muhammad by Allama Sir Abdullah Alal-Ma’mun Alal-Suhrawardy, who affirmed their authenticity (p. 18).

In a dialogue, it is as if the meaning flows in separate rivers running beside one another in their own channel. This stream has a dynamic nature; it changes and grows. At times these rivers join together in a reservoir with a communal semantic or a lake of reconciliation.

The aim of a dialogue, in spite of differences of opinion and conviction, is to gain understanding and acceptance. The word “dialogue” is therefore distinct from the word discussion. Those who engage in dialogue do not seek to defeat or silence the other person, nor do they adopt a defensive attitude at the outset. They seek to find out, to learn and to understand collectively.

Dialogue implies being amenable to another person’s point of view. It requires that one pay attention and listen to another individual so that the heart and the mind might “open.” This mutual acceptance makes it possible to understand each other, learn together, and make a collective contribution. A wise person once stated, this process causes an endless deepening of meaning like two mirrors that reflect each other.

Dialogue is also one of the most effective means in the struggle against negative conditioning, prejudice, and fanaticism.

Certain qualities are essential if a dialogue is to be effective, and these qualities are: sincerity, humility, and epistemic curiosity.

Sincerity

Goodwill engenders trust. Mutual trust is the most important condition for the expression of deeper thought and feelings. Openhearted people do not fear communication with or the influence of others.

Humility

One of the greatest virtues is being able to set aside oneself for the sake of others. Sincerely humble people are aware of the limits of their abilities and always back away from transgression.

Humility implies the notion that we know little and still have much to learn. It also implies the willingness to change and develop in accordance with all that we have learned.

In dialogues that are governed by humility, both sides search for the boundaries of their available knowledge and notions and, they both depart to discover unknown places. They travel from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

Epistemic Curiosity

The nature of people enables them to be curious and search for truth. This basic drive should be a primary component of a healthy foundation for dialogue.

Together we can search for the answers to these questions among many others: 

• Who are we?

• Why do we exist?

• What is our origin?

• What is the destination of our journey?

• What is our relationship to the Creator?

• What is the relationship among people, life, and the universe?

• What is the relationship between faith and science?

• How should we interpret critical thinking?

• Are their metaphysical laws, just as there are physical laws? 

Most likely, the deepest desire of a person is to bequeath to subsequent generations, who will inhabit this aged earth until the end of time, something essential and of fundamental importance, thus giving to his own transiency an aspect of something that is long lasting.

Affection, virtue, compassion, fairness, and concord are universal aspects of spiritual enlightenment and happiness that will never lose their value. They are the conditions of a meaningful and blessed life and comprise the best legacy we could wish to leave others.

To chemically identify substances, scientists around the world are trying to develop artificial taste sensors that mimic the human tongue. Recently researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have developed an electronic sensor that has the potential to detect taste as well as to identify the chemicals of any substances.1 It has uses for food and beverage development as well as medical applications.

Besides the tongue, an electronic nose has also recently been developed to mimic the sense of smell, but it can only detect volatile molecules in the air. Since many chemicals of interest, such as those in food and beverages, are not easily transported into vapor phase, there needs to be a way of detecting a combination of them in solution, such as the electronic tongue.

A team of engineers and chemists in Austin has come up with a prototype of the artificial tongue which resembles the mammalian tongue in some ways. The surface of the human tongue contains cavities which hold chemical receptors known as taste buds. The artificial tongue consists of an array of tiny chemical sensors on a square-centimeter chip. The sensors are actually polymer microbeads placed inside micromachined wells on a silicon wafer which mimics real taste buds on a human tongue. Each bead responds to specific conditions (for example, high acidity or charged ions). A special camera records those colors, which the researchers can then monitor on a computer.

One obvious application of the electronic tongue is in the rapid testing of new foods and beverages; the results could be quickly compared with databases of known popular consumer tastes. When developed further, the electronic tongue should be able to analyze chemical processing streams, biological fluids and other complex mixtures without exposing human beings to possibly harmful substances such as antigens, toxins, and bacteria. For the tasting of ice cream, though, we will likely continue to use our own tongues.

FOOTNOTES

• J.J. Lavigne, S. Savoy, M.B. Clevenger, J.E. Ritchic, B. McDoniel, S.J. Yoo, E.V.
• Ansyln, J. T. McDevitt, J. B. Shear and D. Neikirk, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1998, 120, 6429-6430.
• See also R. Dagani, Chem. & Eng. News, June 29, 1998, 12.

Sight: When we look around, we see several shades of colors and hundreds of thousands of images. Human beings, and several animals, are able to see images when light enters the eye and releases an electrical signal through our the nerves to the brain. These signals are then transformed into the images, or pictures, that we see. All creatures see these images differently; some see images in different outlines in shape, color, clarity, circumstances, and distance.

Dogs, because of their hunting needs, see twice as much as do human beings. In addition, dogs have an outstanding ability to follow movement and to perceive direction, speed, and trajectory. Trajectory is what gives dogs the innate ability to plot an angle and predict an angle of movement. For example, dogs have an astonishing ability to know the exact spot where a moving object will land and know from which angle it will be coming. This is the reason why dogs are such good ball and Frisbee catchers; because they visually know the exact point of impact of an object as it falls back to the ground. Cats, on the other hand, have a different reason for being such good jumpers. Cats’ faces are flat between the eyes, a rare feature in the animal world, which makes it easier for them to work together. As a result, a cat can focus sharply and three-dimensionally, an ability that allows it to visually judge distances with great accuracy before jumping.

Rabbits, for example, are one of the few animals that can see all around them (front and back) without turning in either direction. Their eyes are located on the sides of their head, which enables them to see in all directions. Rabbits, frequent preys for predators, are always on the alert, and their eyes are located in the best place to help them see their enemies.

Human beings and wildlife animals have two kinds of vision cells that are located inside the back of the eye: cones and rods. Cones detect colors in bright light, including black, white, and gray. Rods provide sharp vision in dim light, but do not detect colors. Night creatures have more rods than cones, which provide them with sharper vision at night-but with only shades of gray. Also, to assist these creatures in the dark, they have a special layer in the back of their eyes, called the tapetum, which acts as a mirror when light passes through it. If the rod does not detect the light during the first passing, the tapetum reflects the light back to the rod, thus giving the rod a second chance to pick up on the light and see an image. It is this layer that makes some animal’s eyes shine in dim light.

An owl’s eye, for example, is so sensitive in picking up light, that research shows that an owl can follow a trial lit up by a candle 1,000 feet away (3,600 meters).1

Another amazing sight feature is found in predator birds: “telescopic” eyes that allow them to see by making a far away distant object appear larger. Birds such as the hawk and eagle have the sharpest sight of any animal. These birds have about 1.04 million vision cells in the back of their eyes, which that enables them to see a mouse from as far as one mile away.2 (Human beings have only about 130 million vision cells.)3

Although animals are believed to see colors similar to the way humans do, scientists are not sure how bees and insects see color. Scientists believe that, among some other creatures, bees, birds, and insects can see a color that human beings can not: ultraviolet colors. In addition to red, blue, and yellow, flowers often have ultraviolet patterns that show these birds and insects the way to the plant’s nectar and pollen. Such sight makes it possible for these creatures to find and feed on the flowers’ nectar and pollen.

However, not all animals have only two eyes. Jumping spiders, for instance, have eight eyes. There are two big eyes in the front, and six smaller eyes on the top of the head slightly toward the sides. The two front eyes are very well developed and act as a pair of binoculars that give the spider a clear image of objects up to one foot (30 cms) away. The little eyes are called secondary eyes. These eyes can spot moving objects and have a built-in reflecting layer that helps the spider to see objects in dim light. The secondary eyes are the eyes that actually measure the distance the spider needs to jump to catch its prey.

Hearing: Just as with other senses, human beings and animals have different levels of hearing. Most animals have only two ears, which helps all of us locate the origin of a sound. Having two ears helps us locate where a sound comes from. Since sound reaches the ears at slightly different times, this makes a sound louder than in one ear. This difference in volume and arrival time in one ear is an indication as to the origin of the sound. Sound is expressed in hertz (cycles per second), which are repetitive vibrations per second. Adult human beings, with a normal hearing ability, can hear from twenty to twenty thousand cycles per second. Amazingly, wolves can hear up to eighty thousand cycles per second, and dogs can hear up to thirty-five thousand cycles per second, almost twice as many as humans.

Cats have a surprising hearing of between fifty to one hundred thousand cycles per second-three to five times than what human beings can hear. In addition, a cat’s ear has thirty muscles that control the ear muscles that can rotate 180 degrees. This give cats the opportunity to hear its surroundings without moving its head.

An owl’s ear, however, are located at different heights. The difference in height enables an owlit to determine if a noise is coming from a high distance or from the ground. Another interesting feature of many owls is a flat heart-shaped face. The shape of its face functions as a reflector that makes faint sounds louder. These two features enable owls to be the great hunters they are and helps them to hunt in the dark.

Not all animals and insects have “ears”; some have holes in either in their head or in another part of their body, and others have eardrums, such as birds, insects, and fish. Fish’s ears, for example, are located under its skin behind its eyes. This way, a fish can pick up on vibrations that pass their skin under the water. Other fish makes some of these noises by vibrating an internal organ or by rubbing their fins together. Fish use these vibrations to communicate with other fish, to mate, to warn other fish, or to swim together in groups.

Smell: Animals with different smelling needs have been created with different noses and different smelling abilities. Among the different abilities and noses, an elephant’s nose stands out in many individuals’ minds; at least mine. These animals’ noses are so amazingly equipped with different functions, it is surprising. An elephant’s nose (trunk) and upper lip weighs, on average, 300 lbs. (136 kgs.), and can take up and hold more than one gallon (3.7 lt.) of water at a time for spraying on another animal’s back. The trunk is also strong enough to pick up large logs, yet functional enough to gather thin blades to eat. In addition, an elephant can raise its trunk high in the air to smell if any predators are in the area. Another function that I grin at, is that elephants weighing so heavy sink to the bottom of a rivers when they try crossing it; however, they use their noses as snorkels when crossing a deep river by lifting their noses high above the water line to breathe.

Dogs have an astounding sense of smell; they are one of the animals with the best sense of smell. Dogs can pick up odors in concentrations of one part per trillion. A book called Scent, published by veterinarian Dr. Hugo Verbruggen, and dog trainer Milo D. Pearsall, mentions an experiment that illustrates how well dogs can pick up odors. It mentions that if a single gram of butyric acid, a chemical constituent in human perspiration, were released in a ten-story building and evaporated, a human being might be able to smell the odor for a very short moment by sniffing at a window. A dog, in comparison though, would be able to pick up the odor in the same amount if it were to spread over a city the size of Philadelphia anywhere within the city up to an altitude of three hundred feet (90 meters).4 It also mentions that if humans had only ten percent of a dog’s smelling ability that dogs have, we would have a totally different understanding of our world we.

Camels are desert animals that have been created with special channels that can hold moisture in the dry desert. Also, when the wind blows, a camel can close its nostrils to keep out the sand and dust.

Ants also fascinate me. These tiny creatures use odors to identify if an ant belongs in their colony or if it is an intruder. In addition, when an ant dies a certain odor is released, and other ants in the colony will carry the dead ant to a burial site. An experiment has been performed by scientists that placed this “dead” odor on a healthy ant. Although the marked ant was struggling and kept returning to the nest, other ants constantly carried this marked ant to their burial grounds in the belief that it was dead.5

Taste: Taste and smell are chemical senses. Although scientists can only guess what an animal can and does taste, they do know that animals have different taste buds. Taste buds are made up of tiny taste cells that enable us to taste sweet, sour, bitter, and salty substances. Mammals have the most taste buds, while birds have the fewest; insects have none. However, these animals and insects have special taste cells to detect the certain foods they need for survival.

Touch: All animals have a sense of touch. Many scientists believe that touch is the most important sense. The sense of touch indicates if we are hurt, cold, hot, and much more. Blind and visually impaired individuals rely on the feeling of touch to read Braille. Many animals and insects, however, have built-in antennas that help them avoid too close physical contact with other insects and help them detect food and surrounding conditions.

A blowfly (any fly that deposits its eggs on meat or wounds), for instance, uses its antennas to determine if the wind conditions are best for flying. If the wind is blowing too fast, the blowfly will wait until the wind calms down. This is an important feature, for this insect would not be able to survive flying in a strong wind.

Many animals and insects rely on the sensing of vibrations. For example, a spider relies on the shaking of its web to understand if it has caught food or if another spider has come to mate. A spider feels the vibrations through its long legs by waiting at the edge of its web. It is understood that when a spider returns to its web, it shakes the web to see how it vibrates. The results will let it know if something has been caught.

It is also interesting that some animals seek and show affection through touch, just like human beings do. Cats, dogs, monkeys, seals, and lions are some examples that show love and affection. As a cat owner, it is interesting to see the understanding of affection through touch. They enjoy being petted and seek for affection. A question asked by people, who have a cat or have been near a cat, is that why do cats purr and what causes this noise. Scientists believe that purring is produced by blood in a large vein in the chest that vibrates and is then magnified by air in the windpipe.6 Someone petting a cat can actually feel this vibration. Cats usually purr when they are happy or when being shown affection. However, the cat’s purr is more than a sign of content. Kittens, unlike many animals, are born blind and deaf. The vibration of their mother’s purring is a physical sign that the kittens can feel; it is somewhat of a signal to the kittens to be close to the mother and nurse. Also, the kittens’ purr is a signal back to the mother that their kittens are getting their milk and are healthy. This is an extraordinary survival mechanism.

“Super-natural senses”: There are several sensing abilities that scientists can not explain or categorize due to the several unique senses possessed by several animals and insects. Among them is the mosquito’s remarkable sense of heat that leads them to their victims. Female mosquitoes follow have several, however, the most remarkable one is that they can sense temperature differences of less than 1/250th of a degree Fahrenheit. This amazing sense of temperature enables them to land on the warmest and best vein of blood for food.

Another sense scientists have difficulty explaining is that birds, bees, and some other creatures have magnetism. Just as a compass has a magnetic needle that points north, these creatures have natural magnets that help them migrate and find food by using the earth’s magnetic field. They have natural tiny crystals of iron oxide, or also called magnetite, made front iron found in their blood. This enables these adorable creations to still find their way even when they can not see the sun.

People for many years have been puzzled how animals can sense an earthquake before its any “obvious” signs. One of the explanations is that animals, as described throughout the article, have unique and even, in some cases, better senses than human beings. Therefore, they are able to pick up on vibrations, sounds, and odors that humans physically can not, which may indicate to them that a disaster is about to occur.

A final note: Besides their senses, animals have a uniqueness and wondrous superiority over other animals the other with their physical attributes and characteristics. For example, some animals see or hear better than other animals, and some animals have unique physical attributes that other animals do not have. If you look at the beautiful and majestic kingdom of animals, you will find that each animal has a different beauty and awe that deserves much appreciation. This is a component that makes this world a fascinating and perfectly created one.

REFERENCES

1. The National Wildlife Federation “What do Do Animals See, Hear, Smell, and Feel?” (1990).
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Roger A Caras, A Dog is Listening. Summit Books. 1992.
5. The National Wildlife Federation” What do Do Animals See, Hear, Smell, and Feel?” (1990).
6. Arline Bleecker, “Why Do Cats Sulk?” Globe Digests. 1998.

THE CASPIAN PIPELINE DECISION

After the break-up of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent states, the Caspian region has become a magnet of interest for different powers, including China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. Five states border the Caspian Sea: Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have vast oil resources around the Caspian Sea, while Turkmenistan has significant natural gas reserves. However, as the region is landlocked, pipelines have to be constructed to transfer these resources to external markets. Since these three states have neither the expertise nor the financial resources for oil exploration, extraction, and transfer, they have to rely on foreign investment. After the pipeline is in place, the cash flow generated by oil and gas exports will be of great importance in the economic development of these states.

But not so fast. The situation has proven to be a very complex one involving the status of the Caspian Sea, regional disputes, and the conflicting economic and political interests of the countries involved. Due to the complexity of the decision and the billions of dollars at stake, the Azerbaijan International Operating Company’s (AIOC) feasibility report was delayed three times last year, which also delayed any decision of the final pipeline route.’1 This article investigates some of the issues surrounding the Caspian oil pipeline debate.

RESERVES

First, just how much oil is lying under the Caspian Basin? Early estimates of around 200 billion barrels predicted that the region would be another Persian Gulf.2 However, exploratory oil wells turned out to be disappointing. A conservative study by the James Baker Institute estimates proven reserves at 15 to 30 billion barrels.3 On the other hand, some experts argue that these numbers are misleadingly low. A reasonable estimate would be somewhere between 60 and 100 billion barrels. More than half of these reserves lies under Kazakhstan, and most of the rest lie elsewhere.4

Two main oil pipelines will be built and brought on line to serve the region up to 2010. At the present time, the only pipeline that has reached the final stages of negotiation is the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline for oil from Kazakhstan to the Russian port of Novorossysk.5 After this, the decision concerning the main oil export pipeline route from Baku (Azerbaijan) to a port, from where the oil will be transferred to external markets by tankers, gets complicated. There are competing proposals for this route from Baku, which include6:

• Novorossysk: To the north, a main oil export pipeline across Daghestan and Chechnya to Russia’s port of Novorossysk.

• China: To the east, there is a proposal to build an oil pipeline from eastern Kazakhstan’s Uzen field to western China as part of an overall $9.5 billion deal supported by CNPC, China’s state oil company CNPC.

• Supsa: To the north again, this route links Baku to Supsa, a Georgian port on Black Sea.

• Ceyhan: To the west, oil pipelines transiting from Baku to Ceyhan with links to cross-Caspian lines from oil and gas fields in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The route originates in Baku, enters Georgia, and reaches the southern Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan through eastern Turkey.

• Iran: To the south, an oil pipeline from the Caspian states across Iran, to a new port on the Gulf of Oman. Shipping oil by tankers or another alternative from Tabriz to Ceyhan has also been proposed by Iran.

All of these pipeline options are technically possible; most are commercially feasible at some volume. We now turn to the specifics of those routes.

THE ALTERNATIVES

China: This route has not been considered seriously by either the states or the companies. First of all, Chinese companies cannot provide competitive deals, possibly due to the recent economic recession. Second, the pipeline will be much longer and more expensive than the other alternatives. Third, China is primarily linked with Kazakhstan, and for transferring oil from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan (or directly to China) some real challenges remain: the pipeline has to pass either under the Caspian Sea (which is itself highly questionable, given the debate over the Caspian Sea’s status) or pass through disputed territories. Fourth, Asian markets are not the best place to export oil, since European markets will probably pay more.7

Supsa: For early oil, TEKFEN (a Turkish construction company) began construction of a 380 km. pipeline from Baku to Supsa. But as this pipeline, completed and opened in April 1999, will not be sufficient for the main export, a larger one along the same route should be built. Should this route be chosen, it will be the shortest route and, not surprisingly, the cheapest. Its price tag is $1.2 billion.8 The construction cost may be lower if the pipeline passes trough Armenia, rather than going around it. However, the long-lasting conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia makes this unlikely.

On the other hand, Georgia is not an ideal pipeline-transit country. Since achieving its independence in 1991, numerous territorial conflicts and separatist movements have taken place, all of which increase the risk of pipeline sabotage and other political risks. Russia currently supplies military support to Abkhazia in its independence struggle against the Georgian government.9 With the reestablishment of Russia’s extensive military basing rights in Georgia, the support apparently ceased, but most experts argue that Russia is still supporting, either directly or tacitly, regional instability to block pipeline alternatives through Georgia and to promote its own route (Novorossisk).

Another problem with the Supsa route relates to the Bosphorous Straits of Turkey. According to the 1936 Montreux Convention, tanker passage through the Straits is free. However, Turkey points to tightening political and physical constraints, as well as sharply increasing tanker accidents threatening the environment in Istanbul,’10 its most populated city. Turkey can certainly make the passage extremely difficult for tankers within the convention, by requiring extensive precautionary measures and removing their passage priority, causing tankers to wait for days before passing through the Straits. Most experts argue that Turkey is using the straits as a political lever to promote its own route (Ceyhan). But still, this uncertainty adds another variable to the calculation of pipeline companies.

Novorossisk: The 452 km. pipeline,11 which is estimated to cost $2 billion,12 starts at Baku, reaches the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossisk across Daghestan and Chechnya. Although cheap, this pipeline still faces the Straits problem mentioned above.

Although avoiding Georgia, this route has its own problems. Disagreements on distributing transit fees between Russia’s central and regional authorities may hinder negotiations. Russia does not have a particularly bright history regarding pipeline management. Moreover, the transfer may be subject to frequent disruptions due to instability in the north Caucasus. If Russia decides to bypass Chechnyian territories by an extension through Daghestan, there will be an added risk of pipeline sabotage by the Chechens.13 All these, when added to overcrowded port facilities and poor weather conditions at Novorossisk, make this route even less attractive.

Furthermore, there are political and economic factors to consider. From an influence point of view, most Central Asian republics have been under Russian influence for centuries. They still have economic, cultural, and military ties with Russia, which is anxious to maintain its influence in these republics for both security and economic reasons. Those republics dependent on Russia will pose much less danger, not to mention benefits from economic relations. On the other hand, the Central Asian republics want to be less and less dependent on Russia and discover their own identity by stepping out of the shadow of a now-defunct empire. Not surprisingly, the Azerbaijan government has expressed its reluctance concerning the Novorossisk route more than once. From a strategic point of view, Russia wants to keep her monopoly for oil transfer in the region so that it can be used as a strategic lever in the future. Economically, transit fees will be more than welcome in an economically depressed Russia. Furthermore, Russia will be able to purchase at lower rates than those in the international markets.

Ceyhan: The total length will be approximately 1,730 km (468 km in Azerbaijan, 225 km in Georgia, and 1,037 km in Turkey14). It is also an expensive alternative; estimates place its total cost at around $3 billion. The latest feasibility study, undertaken by a German company, put a price tag of $2.3 billion.15 The oil will serve to offset Turkey’s energy shortages, as well as giving it the economic advantage of transit fees.

The Ceyhan route has been favored by Azerbaijan, which wants to avoid giving Russia any influence over its resources. Azerbaijan is also seeking to avoid the proliferation of political Islam (from Iran) in Azerbaijan, thus undermining the possibility of an Iranian route. As for the Supsa route, it has the same Straits problem mentioned above. Thus, President Haydar Aliyev has repeatedly and publicly expressed his willingness for the Ceyhan route.14 However, his final decision will depend on the AIOC’s feasibility report. It is therefore considered unlikely that he will insist on Ceyhan route, if companies find the Ceyhan route to be economically less attractive. After all, the companies and not Azerbaijan are going to pay for the construction. The final route decision therefore will be a joint decision of the AIOC and President Aliyev.

The United States has also been publicly favoring the Ceyhan route.16 The reasoning is as follows:

• The pipeline goes directly into the Mediterranean Sea, thus avoiding straits and the Persian Gulf. This will serve to of the supply of energy, which is an American goal. So far, a significant number of major fields lie in the Persian Gulf; unfortunately, the United States does not have the best of relations with some of the states in that region. Russia already has control over Kazakh oil and it would be unwise to leave Azeri oil to the Russian monopoly.

• Turkey has been the United States’ ally in the region for a long time, and is closer to United States than Russia and Iran.

• As a democratic country and a supporter of free-market economies, Turkey’s influence on the Central Asian republics would be much more positive than that of Russia and Iran. The proliferation of Iranian-style political Islam may be particularly dangerous, whereas Turkey’s secular version of Islam is much more preferred, according to the Clinton administration.

From a security viewpoint, the Turkish Army has been securing eastern Anatolia since 1998 against the activities of the Kurdish terrorist organization PKK. The organization’s leader Abdullah Ocalan was recently captured in Kenya, which has considerably improved the prospects for regional security. On the other hand, Georgia’s problem with instability is also valid for Ceyhan.

Iran: Iran has proposed several routes. In general, those routes are less expensive than Ceyhan but more expensive than the other alternatives. There are no acute instabilities in the region. However, American sanctions directly affect Caspian pipeline development in Iran, notably through the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA). The goal of the 1996 law is to press for a change in Iran’s foreign policy, which was widely criticized as being supportive of terrorism and weapons proliferation as well as undermining the Middle East peace process. In practical terms, the ILSA prohibits direct foreign investment in Iran’s energy capability and infrastructure, and applies to America business as well as third parties.17

The United States remains strongly opposed to an Iranian route. As mentioned, such a route is not in the best interest of Azerbaijan either, due to the concerns of Iranian-style political Islam.

CONCLUSION

In recognition of the growing stress on the Ceyhan route, Georgia has aligned with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the United States to push for the Ceyhan alternative. On the other hand, Armenia has aligned with Russia and Iran to oppose the Ceyhan route (or for that matter, any route) that will benefit Azerbaijan (its enemy). The Armenian government argues that Azerbaijan will use the money from oil exports to increase its military build-up against Armenia. Iran and Russia are opposing the Ceyhan route, for rules out their own routes. As clearly seen, Russia, Armenia, and Iran have no common interest whatsoever, except blocking the Ceyhan route to promote their own conflicting interests.

On the other hand, companies are in an awkward situation. The United States and Azerbaijan are increasing their political power on the companies for the Ceyhan route, whereas companies find this route more expensive when compared to other options. They also argue that current proven oil reserves do not justify the construction of such an expensive pipeline. They say that the oil found may never be able to fill the pipeline. Another factor is that oil prices are at their lowest level in 20 years. The expenses will not be justified unless oil export profits justify the main export pipeline expenses. Thus, they are playing a wait-and-see game, to see whether more oil will be found or whether oil prices will increase. The debates around the Caspian pipeline are likely to continue next year, and a win-win deal involving all the Caspian states seems nowhere near.

FOOTNOTES

1. David Filipov, “Caspian Port’s Oil Gush Trickling,” Boston Globe, 10 February 1999, sec. A, p. 1.
2. R. E. Manning and J. A. Meyers, “Dream of Oil Drives Diplomacy,” Los Angeles Times, 1 November 1998, sec. M, p. 2.
3. The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, “Unlocking the Assets: Energy, and the Future of Central Asia and the Caucasus. A Political, Economic and Cultural Analysis,” Rice University Research Report (April 1998): 1.
4. The Energy Information Administration, “International Energy Outlook: 1998,” Research Report (1998): 34. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo98/home.html
5. Heslin, S., Key Constraints to Caspian Pipeline Development: Status, Significance and Outlook. Research Report for The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University (1998): 4.
6. Ibid., 4, 5.
7. The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, “Unlocking the Assets,” 3.
8. http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/contract/cox7l803.htm
9. H. Cemal, “Petrol Cografyasinda Yeni Kavsak Noktasi Turkiye,” Sabah Turkish Daily Newspaper, 3 October 1998.
10. Heslin, Key Constraints to Caspian Pipeline Development, 16.
11. “Kazakhstan Approves an Oil Pipeline Study,” Journal of Commerce, 30 October 1998, sec. A, p. 10.
12. Cemal, “Petrol Cografyasinda Yeni Kavsak Noktasi Turkiye.”
13. Heslin, Key Constraints to Caspian Pipeline Development, 7.
14. “Five Nations Endorse Caspian Oil Pipeline,” San Francisco Chronicle, 30 October 1998, sec. A, p. 14.
15. “Baku Ceyhan’a bir adim daha,” Yeni Yuzyil Turkish Daily Newspaper, 7 July 1998.
16. “Four Former Soviet Republics Join Turkey on Pipeline,” The Orlando Sentinel, 30 October 1998, sec. A, p. 20.
17. “U.S. Has Impact on Pipeline Route from Caspian Sea,’ Wall Street Journal, 30 October 1998, sec. A, p. 17.
18. Heslin, Key Constraints to Caspian Pipeline Development, 17-19.

Alexander Graham Bell, the famous inventor and scientist, mentioned three rules designed to keep people mentally young, alert, and strong. These are: observe, remember, and compare. Following these easy rules shows us how to build our perceptions, sharpen our intellect, and discover new ways of thinking. The first step is to observe concrete facts that can be found all around us, the second step is to remember the observed facts, and the third step is to compare them and formulate conclusions. As Bell said: “These conclusions are real knowledge, and they are your own.”

These three simple rules always keep our brains busy and alert, lead us to think and become aware of the facts around us, and help us make connections between these facts that will take us to real knowledge. Human beings are the only creatures who can think and who are always trying to acquire more knowledge. Dr. Kopil states that only man makes his own history by using his free will in conjunction with his knowledge. In humanity’s attempt to deal with the difficulties of the surrounding world, many men and women have used their minds and their search for more knowledge to make many inventions and discoveries. Today, men and women still struggle to give shape to the world by pursuing knowledge. In the words of Dr. Bell, who changed the faith of the world with his works and inventions: “The great advantage in pursuing knowledge is that we may capture something that will contribute to the welfare of the world.” The essential point is to use the power of the mind to bring safety and happiness to this world. Dr. Mahmud states that this is possible only by mental and spiritual purification. When the power of knowledge is used for other purposes, it often leads to dangerous and embarrassing results.

Dr. Bell gives us detective stories as an example, and asks us: “What is a detective story, if it is not a record of observing, remembering, and comparing facts and of then drawing conclusions?” Let’s put ourselves in place of detectives. Our first and most important goal is to be aware of the facts around us, to pursue that knowledge which will lead us to the best solution. We need to remember each clue we collect, and to make sure that we do not miss a single detail. At the end, we will find ourselves trying to draw the correct conclusion by comparing all of the knowledge that we have gathered. It is easy to reach conclusions from established facts. But what is important for us is to reach our own conclusions by thinking, asking, evaluating, and keeping our minds busy and alert-just like detectives. I think this gives us more satisfaction and pleasure than having answers just given to us free-of-charge.

It is also necessary to emphasize the mental education of very young children. Dr. Caprio states that knowledge is not objective and does not have an absolute structure. What we know and understand is only our perceptions of reality. The essential thing is not to tell children things directly, for this might kill the child’s imagination, creativeness, and, most important of all, the mind’s power to think. Instead, encourage them to discover things for themselves. Asking them questions is alright, but also encourage them to find the answers themselves. Dr. Wood claimed that knowledge is the product of active construction, which we make and share with others. According to Dr. Bell, if children arrive at the wrong answer, do not give them the right answer and do not tell them that they are mistaken or wrong; rather, ask other questions to help them realize their own mistake and push their inquiry further.

Dr. Bell gives us several examples: “Suppose you wanted to teach a child about moisture and condensation. You should state to him that there are minute particles of water vapor in the air exhaled from the lungs, and that this water vapor will be condensed under certain conditions.”

In the first example, you did not allow your child to discover the fact and to reach his or her own conclusion, whether it is right or wrong. However, you gave the general conclusion or an established fact and asked the child to memorize it. You did not encourage your child to think, understand the facts, and reach his or her own conclusions. You gave the child the answer without requiring any effort on his or her part.

“Now suppose you tell him nothing, but simply ask him to breathe into a glass tumbler. He sees the moisture on the glass. Ask him where it came from. Have him breathe against the outside of the tumbler. Have him try the experiment with a glass that is hot and with one that is ice-cold. Have him try it with other surfaces. Do not do his thinking for him. Make him observe what takes place, stimulating him to remember the different results he observes and, by comparing them, to arrive at conclusions.”

The second example shows us that parents should be guides for their children. Be patient and let them make the observation. Let them do their own thinking, which will enable them to reach their own conclusion.

It is a well-known fact that we use only a fraction of our brain’s potential power. Moreover, we are not sure how far our minds can go. However, what we know for sure is that we can stretch our mind’s capacity and increase our brain’s potential power. I will end my article with Dr. Bell’s words: “Self education is a lifelong affair. It comes, naturally and inevitably, through using the mind and following this Rule of Three: Observe, Remember, Compare.”

REFERENCES

1. Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, “Alexander Graham Bell,” Association review (Washington, DC: 1899).
2. Caprio, In Steffe, L. P., and Gale, J., Constructivisni in Education ( Lawrance Erlbaum: 1995)
3. Kopil, Alexa., ” Is the Brain the Origin of Man’s Mind?” The Fountain vol. 2., no.21 (Jan-Mar.1998).
4. Mahmud M. Sadat., “Thinking Straight and the Ways to Achieve It” The Fountain vol. 2., no.24 (Oct-Dec.1998).
5. Wood, T. “From Alternative Epistemologies to Practice in Education: Rethinking What It Means to Teach and Learn.” In Steffe, L. P., and Gale, J., Constructivism in Education (Lawrence Erlbaum: 1995).

Radar, a contraction of the words radio detection and ranging, is an electronic device for detecting and locating objects. It operates by transmitting a particular waveform pattern and detects the nature of the echo (return) signal.1 Radar is used to extend the capability of the man’s senses, especially that of vision. We can think of radar as being a substitute for the eye, although it can do so much more: it can see objects through such impervious conditions as darkness, haze, fog, rain, and snow, for its wavelengths are much longer than those of visible or infrared light. The human eye works as a passive device, since the object is illuminated by sunlight or other light sources. However, radar produces its own illumination via electromagnetic waves, which means that it is an active device. 

APPLICATIONS OF RADAR AND RADAR IMAGING

Radar is used in civilian applications as air-traffic-control radar to guide aircraft to a safe landing, and in commercial aircraft as radar altimeters to determine height and weather avoidance, as well as wind-shear radars to navigate in severe weather conditions.

The military uses radar for surveillance and weapons control. Examples of such radars are DEW (Distant Early Warning) and AEW (Airborne Early Warning), which detect aircraft, long-range search radars, and guided missile radars.2

Research scientists use radar as a measurement tool. Radars have been placed on satellites, space modules, and shuttles to explore meteors, planets, and other objects in the solar system.

In the case of an imaging radar, the radar travels along an airplane’s or a space shuttle’s flight path. The area underneath is illuminated by the radar, and the radar architecture builds the image as it moves on the top of its footprint (Fig.1). The radar image’s finer resolution is achieved by using a very long antenna array to focus transmitted and received energy into a sharp beam.2 The beam’s sharpness defines the resolution. Similarly, such optical systems as telescopes require large apertures (mirrors or lenses that are analogous to the radar antenna) to obtain fine imaging resolution. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a common and very popular technique in radar imaging that achieves a very fine resolution.3 In the following sections, we introduce and explain different types of SAR imaging techniques.

SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SAR)

SAR refers to a technique that synthesizes a very long antenna by combining echoes received by the radar when it travels.4.5 Typically, SAR is used to produce a two-dimensional (2-D) image. One dimension in the image is called range (or along track), and is a measure of the “line-of-sight” distance from the radar to the target (Fig.l). Range is determined by precisely measuring the time from a pulse’s transmission to receiving the echo from target. The range resolution is determined by the transmitted pulse’s width (i.e., narrow pulses yield fine range resolution).

The other dimension is called azimuth (or cross track), and is perpendicular to range. Usually, the length of the radar antenna determines azimuth resolution. However, a good azimuth resolution requires a radar antenna that is not practically carried by an airborne platform, for imaging radars are much lower in frequency (1 to 10 GHz) than optical systems (4,000 to 8,000 GHz). The length of the required antenna could be around several hundred meters, which obviously cannot be carried by an air vehicle.

However, SAR differs from other radars in that it collects data along the flight path when it travels, instead of using a large antenna. Therefore, a very small antenna is adequate for the job. After collecting the data, it processes this aperture data as if it came from a physically long antenna. The distance the aircraft flies in synthesizing the antenna is known as the synthetic aperture. A narrow synthetic beamwidth results from the relatively long synthetic aperture, which yields finer resolution than what is possible from a smaller physical antenna.

SARs are not as simple as described above. Transmitting short pulses to provide range resolution is generally not practical. Typically, longer pulses with wide-bandwidth modulation are transmitted, which complicates range processing but decreases peak power requirements on the transmitter. For even moderate azimuth resolutions, a target’s range to each location on the synthetic aperture changes along the synthetic aperture. The energy reflected from the target must be “mathematically focused” to compensate for the range dependence across the aperture prior to image formation. Additionally, for fine-resolution systems, range and azimuth processing is coupled (dependent on each other), which greatly increases computational processing. The trick in SAR processing is to correctly match the variation in frequency due to motion (moving target or moving radar) for each point in the image.

An example of SAR imaging is shown in Fig. 2. The colors in the image reflect the received signal intensity. The strongest signal level is red, whereas the weakest is black. The figure is a SAR image of San Francisco, California, obtained by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture (SIR-C/X-SAR) imaging radar when it flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 3, 1994. The size of the image is about 26 miles by 36 miles. The center of the area is 37.83 degrees north latitude, 122.38 degrees east longitude.

This particular SAR image is a good illustration of how SAR distinguishes urban areas from nearby relatively less populated areas. Such densely populated regions as downtown San Francisco (center) and the city of Oakland (at the right across the San Francisco Bay) show up as red images due to the alignment of streets and buildings vis A vis the incoming radar beam. The bridges in the area are easily detected by the imaging radar, including the Golden Gate Bridge (left center) at the opening of San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge (right center), and the San Mateo Bridge (bottom center). All dark regions on the image represent smooth water. Radar also easily detects the major faults in the area: those bounding the San Francisco-Oakland urban areas and the San Andreas Fault (at the lower left), As seen from the image, faults are shown as dark straight lines in the SAR image.

INCERSE SAR (ISAR)

While SAR images a region of the Earth from an airplane or an air shuttle, Inverse SAR (ISAR) images a flying object, such as airplane or an asteroid, from land-based radar. ISAR is very popular, and also very critical in military applications.6 It is commonly used for identification purposes. In a possible war scenario where there are too many aircraft in the sky, it is almost impossible to guess which one is friendly or hostile. In that case, ISAR imaging technique is used to identify the approaching aircraft and classify it from a collection of possible targets.

In theory, ISAR is an imaging technique that maps the locations of dominant scattering points of a target based on the multi-frequency, multi-aspect, backscattered data.7 In this data, the signal’s amplitude reflects the magnitude information of the scattering points on the target, while the backscattered signal’s phase is related to the location information of the scattering point off the target. After collecting this 2-D raw data, several signal-processing tools extract from this data the amplitude and location information of the scattering centers. Then, a 2-D image of the target is constructed by using a convenient image processing technique.

An example of ISAR imagery is shown in Fig. 3. The model of the test airplane (C-29 model) is shown at the lower portion, while a 2-D ISAR image of the airplane is constructed at the upper portion of Fig.3. The measurement is taken at the center frequency of 10 GHz, where the frequency bandwidth is 16 GHz. The data is collected from 0.10 steps to cover the entire 3600 azimuth. At the end, a 2048 by 2048 2-D grid is constructed by using the ISAR algorithm. By comparing both, it is seen that ISAR imaging provides accurate target information. By looking at this image, it is very easy to identify and classify the aircraft.

ISAR is an active operation of the radar at the target’s far field. Both receiving and transmitting antennas must be far away from the target. Recently, new ISAR imaging techniques that allow passive radar operation have been discovered. Antenna SAR (ASAR) and Antenna Coupling (ACSAR) imaging techniques use direct radiation from an antenna mounted on the near field of an airplane or a ship to image the dominant radiation points off these platforms. In these cases, the radar functions only as a receiver, for the target’s own antenna provides illumination to the target. These techniques are mainly used to determine the dominant radiation points off the target to explore ways to cancel or mitigate undesired extra radiation from the target’s platform.

The development of fast computers during the 1980s allowed researchers to apply intensive computational electromagnetic (CEM) tools that ultimately led them to develop new SAR/ISAR algorithms. One of the most appreciated and widely used tool is Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (INSAR) imaging, which allows the extraction of height information that can be used to render 3-D topographic views of a SAR scene.

INTERFEROMETRIC SAR (INSAR)

Radar interferometry involves coherently combining radar measurements made by two or more radar antennas displaced by a relatively small distance.8 Depending on the relative geometry of the two antennas, the combined measurements can be turned into measurements of surface topography, topographic change, or displacement over time. Mapping precision of around 2m in three dimensions over a wide area is now possible from airborne interferometric radars.

Here is how an INSAR works: A radar system launches electromagnetic energy to scan the ground terrain to be imaged. Two radar antennas collect the backscattered wave to obtain two different snapshots of SAR image. To avoid phase ambiguity, these antennas must be close enough to each other. Since the waves travel different distances from a particular scatterer to each antenna, the resultant phases of each SAR image is different. In the next step, an image called interferogram is formed by multiplying one SAR image by the complex conjugate of the other SAR image. The phase of the interferogram represents the differences in range to the scattering centers of each pixel in the image. These differences are caused by the terrain’s topography. Then, a signal-processing algorithm converts this phase information to extract the terrain’s topographic features. Finally, a 3-D INSAR image of the region is formed by combining the SAR images with the height information.

An example of INSAR imaging is illustrated in Fig.4, which depicts the Long Valley of east central California. The images were taken by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour during its two flights in April and October 1994. The four images show the steps necessary to produce 3-D data from radar interferometry. The image covers an area of 21 by 37 miles. The radar illumination is from the top of the image. The bright areas are hilly regions of big rocks and pine forest; the darker areas are the relatively smooth, sparsely vegetated valley floors. The curving ridge running across the image’s center from top to bottom is the northeast rim of the Long Valley caldera, a remnant crater from a massive volcanic eruption roughly 750,000 years ago.

The image in the upper right is an interferogram of the same region, constructed by combining data from the April and October flights. The different phases are shown as different color levels. These variations are caused by elevation differences in the area. The same color levels indicate that those regions have same altitudes. The image in the lower left shows a topographic map derived from the interferometric data. The black bold contour lines represent levels of elevation. In this particular image, elevation levels are spaced at 250-meter intervals. The last image is a 3-D view of the northeast rim of the caldera, looking toward the northwest. As can be seen from the image, it is possible to extract such geologic structural and landform features as elevation, vegetation, and soil type with the help of INSAR processing.

Another example of INSAR imaging is shown in Fig. 5, which depicts the Washington, DC, Mall area. A similar approach is used to form this 3-D image. The region starts from the Capitol building (top) to the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington Memorial Bridge (toward the right bottom). The Washington Monument is very easy to observe at the center of the image. The bright areas (from white to yellow) represent higher elevation places; darker colors (from green to dark blue) represent the areas of lower elevation. The Potomac river (right bottom of the image) and the reflecting pool (from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument) are all in dark blue because of the water and the lowest elevations. We can also clearly distinguish Constitution Avenue running from bottom to top. The green regions are intermediate elevation consisting mostly of vegetation. As seen from the image, the highest elevation is the top of the Washington Monument, the Library of Congress building, and the Capitol building.

CONCLUSION

In this paper, we presented a survey study of radar basics and radar imagery. It is obvious that radar has been a very important and useful tool throughout the 20th century, both in the military and industry. With developments in the computer era and new imaging algorithms, it looks like it will be a very critical tool in the 21st century as well. It is now possible to simulate very complex models and targets in a reasonable computation time in radar frequencies thanks to new developments in computational electromagnetics methods (CEM). Examples of those are Xpatch9 (a high frequency code that can predict the scattering from large, complex bodies) and FISC10 (a fast simulator of electromagnetic bodies at high frequencies). While computers continue to grow faster and faster, new electromagnetic simulators are also getting faster and more efficient. As a result, more compact, fancier, faster, and more accurate radar-imaging techniques are being developed.

REFERENCES

1. Morris, G. V. and Harkness, L. (1996) ‘Airborne Pulsed Doppler Radar’, Artech House.
2. Mensa, D. L. (1981) ‘High Resolution Radar Imaging’, pp. 185-189, Artech House.
3. Wehner, D. R. (1994) ‘High-Resolution Radar’. Artech House.
4. Carrara, W. C., Goodman, R. S. and Majewski, R. M. (1995) ‘Spotlight Synthetic Aperture Radar: Signal Processing Algorithms’, Artech House.
5. Franceschetti, G. and Lanari,. (1999) ‘Synthetic Aperture Radar Processing’, C. R. C. Press LLC.
6. Baltes, H. P. (1980) ‘Inverse Scatteiing Problems in Optics’, Springer-Verlag.
7. Chu, T. H. and Lin, D. B. (1991) ‘Microwave diversity imaging of perfectly conducting objects in the near-field region’, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 39, pp. 480-487.
8. Askne, J., et al. (1997) ‘C-band repeat-pass inter ferometric SAR observations of forest, IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, vol.35, pp. 25-35.
9. Lee, S. W. (1992) ‘Test cases for XPATCH’, Electromagn. Lab. Tech. Rept., ARTI-92-4, Univ. of Illinois.
10. Ctr. Computat. Electromagn. (1997) ‘User’s Manual for FISC (Fast Illinois Solver Code)’, Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and DEMACO. Inc.

Talha Sarac: Your Zen master used to call you “setu” which means, “bridge” in English. We all noticed that he was not wrong. You have been a bridge between East and West, “new” and “old,” people and nature. But what is your real purpose in doing your music?

Kitaro: People are losing their cultures day by day. The technology and this global village concept is and will be dominating the world. I want everybody to remember their origins and cultural heritage. This is not difficult. We only have to re-invent ourselves. My purpose is to help everybody in this process.

TS: What has changed since Albatross in your life?

Kitaro: A lot of things… right now, I am busy re-inventing my music and myself. This is a really strange situation, but I think it will help me get even better.

TS: How did you establish your own style, which you do not want people to categorize but is usually called “new age”?

Kitaro: The genre “new age” is roughly 20 years old. But, I want to tell you first, I think all this categorization should be reconsidered and organized again. For example, I do not want to put my style under any current category, because I do not believe there is one that suits…

TS: So you say we better have a category named after you…

Kitaro: That would be nice. (Laughs…)

TS: How do you decide to compose a new song and what influence you in that process?

Kitaro: Even a bird’s singing can be the influence for a new song. I love the nature and I am complete with it. Since, I live in the mountains, I have the chance to go out of the house and take a walk by the lake and listen to the nature’s original sounds. I cannot say that people can be helpful to me while composing, but the sunrises and sunsets are invaluable to me and to my music.

TS: What kind of circumstances should there be when you are composing your music, and does closing your eyes help you in any way when you are performing?

Kitaro: I have to be really alone when I am composing. I do not have many guests in my house in Colorado, but this does not mean I am reclusive. I have to be away from stress and be able to hear my heart. And this is only possible in my lakeside…

TS: You do not only use the latest technology in your music but you also use the oldest instruments which we do not know the names of. What are you trying to do?

Kitaro: People tend to forget what they were like, how they used to live and what their interests were. I am trying to bring the old and new together and blend the outcomes. It is not clever to ignore the richness and originality in the old instruments. And nobody can deny the practicality of the newest instruments. So I think I am lucky enough to be able to use all the instruments that could help my music get even better.

TS: There is a conception that the music Far Eastern musicians make is made to be enjoyed by Far Eastern people. But your music is widely accepted and appreciated in almost any part of the world. Is that conception is a misconception?

Kitaro: I believe in international music. Of course, every nation has its own traditional and cultural music perspectives. But, I am trying to make music beyond peoples. I see all the world nations as one big nation. The differences between those nations do not influence my music in a negative way.

TS: So that is the secret to your music then…

Kitaro: Keep your voice down… (laughs again…)

TS: You are also known the “peaceful” musician of the “peaceful” music. What are your thoughts about the ongoing struggles in Kosovo and in the other parts of world?

Kitaro: The world is coming to an end, and unfortunately we can not do anything to stop this. This war in Kosovo is a shameful war which we will regret to talk about in the future to our kids. I, of course, would like to participate in a concert that would be held in the war area, but I do not think those refugees are in a situation that they will enjoy a concert.

TS: Could you tell anything about your mysterious trip to Mt Fuji to perform the ritual drum ceremony?

Kitaro: I go there every year to play wadaikos. This year it will be performed in September fullmoon. This ceremony should be considered as my thanks to the nature which is the main influence on my music. There is no economic or politic reason to this ceremony.

TS: After this “New Millennium Tour” are there any other projects in or outside of the US?

Kitaro: As for the concert projects, no. But we have this new album coming out probably on September. The album is called “Thinking Of You.” I composed this song, which gave its name to the album, on the last Valentine’s Day. I hope everybody will enjoy listening to, as much as I did composing it. 

TS: We love to listen to Kitaro, but who does Kitaro listen to?

Kitaro: I like traditional music, and I try to listen to different nations’ traditional music. I want to say that, unfortunately, people tend to listen to their traditional music less and less…

The Prophet says that at the sixth week of the embryo’s development in the mother’s womb, God sends an angel who writes whether the person to come into the world will be righteous and prosperous or wicked and condemned. What does this mean, and how can we reconcile it with man’s having free will?

Answer

The explanations made earlier to reconcile destiny with man’s free will must suffice for an answer to this question. However, in order not to leave the question unanswered, we will say a few words concerning it.

As was pointed out earlier, destiny is a title of Divine knowledge. It is not something that annuls man’s free will and forces him to behave in a preordained way. Since God knows beforehand how each individual will behave in the world, He has an angel pre-record the person’s life history. Man behaves according to the dictates of his free will, not because God preordained his life.

Destiny is related to cause and effect. There are not two separate destinies, one for the cause, the other for the effect. God’s pre-knowledge of the individual’s behavior in a given circumstances does not contradict man’s having free will.

No one except God knows whether a person will go to Paradise or Hell. Although unbelief deserves eternal punishment, we may not judge an unbeliever as being destined for Hell, for it is possible that one day he or she will accept faith and ultimately go to Paradise. There are numerous people who, although once atheists, have embraced Islam. Islam came to guide unbelievers to faith and worship, and thereby make them worthy of eternal happiness in Paradise.

Question

What does Islamic fitra (primordial nature) mean?

Answer

In an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad says that every new-born is born in the Islamic fitra, after which his parents cause the child to become either Christian or Jew or a member of another religion.

The hadith means that everyone has the innate potential to become a Muslim. Meaning peace, salvation and obedience, Islam is, first of all, the natural religion of all creatures. Since everything in nature has been created to render absolute obedience to God and functions according to His laws, all creatures are Muslims. Considered from the viewpoint of their bodily structure, every human being and jinn, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or of another religion, is Muslim since all bodies operate according to the laws determined for them by God. If a new born could lead a completely monastic life free of environmental effects, he would remain a “natural” Muslim. This hadith has another meaning: The mind of a new-born is like a tape on which everything can be recorded, like dough that can be molded to any shape, or blank paper on which anything can be written. If one could be protected from any external effect that would make one’s mind impure, one could easily receive anything related to Islam and become a perfect Muslim. But if the mind impure with many adverse elements, or if Christian or Judaic tenets of belief and conduct are injected into it, the person will become either a Christian or a Jew or suffer great impediments to becoming a good Muslim.

Every new-born is like a seed to grow a good Muslim; in other words, everyone comes to the world as the seed of a future Muslim. Adverse conditions cause this seed to be deformed or spoiled and, consequently, to become either a Christian, a Jew, a member of another belief or, according to the nature of the conditions, a person without religion. There- fore, in order to produce a good Muslim, improving one’s family and environmental conditions is vitally important. After a child has reached the age of puberty, sins are a primary factor in deforming the seed. For this reason, it is said that every sin has the potential to guide the sinner to unbelief. So, one must try his or her utmost to protect himself or herself against sins. Family, education, and environment are also of great importance for this purpose.

Question

What does “guidance” mean, and how can one guide another?

Answer

Guidance is a light kindled in one by God as a result of one’s use of free will in the way of belief. As pointed out earlier, only God can guide one to the truth. There are many verses in the Qur’an that state this explicitly. For example:

If God willed, he could have brought them all to the guidance. (al-Anam, 6:35)

If it had been your Lords will, all who are on the Earth would have believed, altogether. (Yunus, 10:99)

You do not guide whom you like, but God guides whom He wills. (al-Qasas, 28:56)

For verily You cannot make the dead to hear, nor can you make the deaf to hear the call when they have turned to flee. Nor can you guide the blind out of their deviation. You can make none to hear save those who believe in Our Revelation so that they surrender and become Muslims. (al-Rum, 30:52-53)

Since it is God Who guides, we implore Him in every rak’a of our daily prescribed prayers, saying: “Guide us to the Straight Path.” God’s Messenger says: “I have been sent to call people to belief. It is none but God only Who guides them and places belief in their hearts.”

Besides the verses above and many other similar ones, we also see in the Qur’an other verses stating that God’s Messenger calls and guides people to the Straight Path:

Surely you call them to the Straight Path. (al-Mu’minun, 23:73)

Thus We have revealed a Spirit to you from Our Command. You did not know what was the Scripture, nor what the Faith was, but We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants. You are indeed guiding to a Straight Path. (al-Shura, 42:52)

These verses are not contradictory. As we have pointed out in the last question, God creates everyone with the potential to accept belief. However, the family, educational, and environmental conditions have a certain role in one’s guidance or misguidance. So, in order to call people to belief, God sent Messengers throughout human history and gave some of them Books whereby people could reform themselves. The Prophet Muhammad, the last of the Messengers, received the Qur’an from God by means of revelation. This Qur’an is the last of the Divine Books, and it has remained uncorrupted. The Book contains the principles of guidance, and, whether through the Book or through his personality and conduct and good example, the Messenger functions as a means to guidance. He recites the Divine Revelation to people, snows them the signs of God, and he purifies them of their misconceptions, superstitions, and sins. As a matter of fact, every thing and event, every phenomenon in the universe, is a sign pointing to God’s existence and unity. Therefore if one desires to believe sincerely and without prejudice, and struggles against carnal desires and the temptations of the evil-commanding self, and if one uses his or her free will to find the truth, surely God will guide him or her to one of the ways leading to Him. He declares in the Qur’an:

Be aware of God and seek the means [of approach to and knowledge of] Him, and strive in His way in order that you may succeed and be prosperous [in both worlds]. (al-Maida, 5:35)

As for those who strive in Us [in Our way and for Our sake and to reach Us], We surely guide them to Our paths; and verily God is with the good. (al-Ankabut, 29:69)

Whoever is aware of God [and keeps his duty to Him], He will point a way out for him. (al-Jumu’a, 62:2)

In order to find or to deserve guidance, one must strive for it sincerely and search for the ways leading to it. Those whom God has blessed with guidance should first of all represent guidance personally, set good examples for others, and then call others to guidance by using every possible lawful (Islamic) means. In many verses of the Qur’an, God commands His Messenger to do just that:

Warn your tribe of near kindred [of their end and the consequences of their deeds and of the punishment of Hell]. (al-Shu’ara, 26:214)

Remind and give advice, for you are one to remind. (al-Ghashiya, 88:21)

Proclaim openly and insistently what you are commanded. (al-Hijr, 15:94)

Call to the path of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the most courteous manner. (al-Nahi, 16:125)

Surely in the Messenger of God you have a good example for him who hopes for God and the Last Day, and remembers God oft. (aI-Ahzab, 33:21)

Gods Messenger communicated God’s Revelations to people and called them to belief in the best and most effective way possible. He also bore all difficulties and persecutions in this way. He did not care at all for the most alluring bribes offered to him to give up calling people to belief in God: rather, he continued his mission without expecting any worldly reward. Since his aim was to obtain God’s good pleasure and to cause people to be prosperous in both worlds, when he conquered Makka (an event marking his triumph in his holy struggle to) and made God’s Word in it prevalent, he forgave those who had bitterly persecuted both him and his followers for 21 years, saying: “No reproach this day shall be on you. God will forgive you. He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Go! You are free.”

The Prophet Muhammad once said to ‘Ali: “If someone finds guidance at your hand, this is better for you than having red camels.” (Bukhari, Jihad, 102; Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 35.)

According to the rule that “the one who causes is like the doer,” the one who leads another to guidance receives the same reward as the new believer earns, without any decrease in his own reward. Similarly, God’s Messenger says: “Whoever establishes a good path, he receives the same reward as those who follow that path thereafter until the Last Day, without any decrease in their reward. Whoever establishes an evil path, he is burdened with the same sins as those who follow it thereafter until the Last Day, without any decrease in their burden. (Muslim, Zakat, 69; Ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 203)

One who leads another to guidance should never remind him of it, by saying, for example: ‘If I had not been a means to your guidance, you could never have found guidance.” This is a grave sin and shows one’s ingratitude to God, for only God guides and causes one to lead another to guidance. Similarly, one who has found guidance by means of another should never attribute his guidance to that other and say, for example: “But for you, I could not have found guidance.” Instead, the one who leads another to guidance should think: “Praise be to God, for He has made me, a poor and needy person, a means for so meritorious a deed as leading another to guidance. God is so powerful, so merciful to His servants and so munificent that He creates clusters of grapes on wood. As wood has no right to ascribe to itself the grapes growing on it, I am no more than that wood to attribute another’s guidance to myself.” As for the one who found guidance, he should think: “God, my Master, has seen my need and helplessness and made one of His servants a means for my guidance. All praise be to Him.” Nevertheless, it is proper for the one led to guidance to feel thankful to the one through whom God led him to guidance. After all, since God is the Creator of us and of whatever we do, He also creates the means that enable guidance and misguidance. However, this does not negate or diminish man’s free will in relation to his guidance or misguidance.