SCIENCE & THE BIBLE by Bolton Davidheiser, Ph.D., Chairman o f the Science Division, Biola College
Cooperative Book Publisher (Author invests in 1st edition) BOOK MANUSCR IPTS CONSIDERED by cooperative publisher who offers authors early publication, higher royalty, national distribution, and beautifully designed books. All subjects welcomed. Write, or send your MS directly. GREENWICH BOOK PUBLISHERS, INC. Atten. MR. HALSEY 489 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORK 17, N.Y. HONG kONG is the GATEWAY to Asia used by The Bible Institute o f Los Angeles, Inc. GOSPEL PREACHING — Emmanuel Church holding regular services in English and Chinese in the heart of the colony and the Countryside. MEDICAL M IN ISTRY — Emmanuel Clinic with two doctors and a regular staff of nurses and evangelists, treating over 1,500 monthly. PRINTED PAGE — Biola Book Room, a large evangelical book store in downtown Kowloon distributing Bibles and literature in English and Chinese. YOUTH CENTER — Recently built in the New Territories. Primary and Evening Schools for factory workers and their chil dren. Summer and winter Bible Confer ences. A FOUR FOLD MINISTRY
The Worst Journey in the World
I n 1911 three men of Scott’s Ant arctic expedition, Dr. Bill Wilson, Lieutenant H. R. Bowers arid Apsley Cherry-Garrard, set out on what has been called the worst journey in the world. It was midwinter and the temperature fell below -70°; but worst of all was the darkness because the sun was far below the horizon. The purpose of the journey was to collect some eggs of the emperor penguin. This penguin was 'thought to be the most primitive of birds and it was therefore believed that a study of its embryology would yield im portant evidence on the evolution of birds from reptiles. All their supplies were put on two sledges and for seven days they pulled them, one at a time, over snow so hard and granular that they did not have the strength to pull both together. They used a candle to search for the one they left behind while pulling the other. Fog increased until it was impossible to leave a sledge behind and find it again. At last they came to a place where they were able to pull both sledges at the same time, but they were now among pressure ridges and cravasses. Some of them were great gaping cracks in the ice and others were thinly bridged with ice or snow. It is bad enough to be in such a place in the daylight but in the dark, and sometimes in fog besides, their experi ences can hardly be imagined. When one of them fell into a cravasse he would dangle at the end of his har ness about 15 feet down until the others pulled him up. On one notable occasion a bit of moonlight at just the right moment saved them from all falling into a cravasse together. Several times their march was halted by blizzards, but on these oc casions the temperature was not as low as before and the ice which ac cumulated i n s i d e the i r clothing melted from their perspiration and they got some rest. Although they knew they did sleep because they had nightmares and they could hear
each other snore, they were rarely conscious of sleep and sometimes be came frostbitten even in their sleep ing bags. When they reached their destina tion they built a hut, but a hurricane blew off the roof and they lay for days in the ' drifting snow waiting for the wind to cease. Their tent was blown away which meant cer tain death unless found, for they could not make the return trip with out it. It was recovered, however, and with another blizzard impending they started back with three eggs. They slept while marching and woke when they bumped into each other. The nerves of one man’s teeth were killed by the cold and the chattering of his teeth cracked them to pieces. Bowers and Wilson died some months later along with Capt. Scott, after having reached the South Pole. Apsley Cherry-Garrard took the three eggs back to London and presented them to the natural history museum. Here he was insulted and abomina bly treated by curators who had no interest in the history of the eggs. Finally the penguin eggs were examined by Prof. Cossar Ewart of Edinburgh Univ., who stated in his official report that although those who have devoted much time to the study of birds have assumed that feathers were developed from rep tiles’ scales, a study of the develop ment of feathers affords no evidence justifying this assumption. In the penguin embryos he noted that feath ers began to develop before the scales of the feet, instead of after. If feath ers developed from scales, the scales should appear first, according to the theory responsible for the journey. Not satisfied with stopping here, he pursued the study somewhat further, and this also proved negative. His report ends with the statement that if the conclusions reached are justi fied “ the worst journey in the world in the interest of science was not made in vain.”
For complete information and gifts, please write:
Charles A . Roberts, D.D., Supt. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. Hong Kong Department 558 South Hope St., Los Angeles 17, California
W e know not often what we are able to do: but temptations show us what we are. — Thomas a Kempis
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The King's Business/June 1958
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