Pharyngula (blog)
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Type of site
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Blog |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Created by | PZ Myers |
| Website | freethoughtblogs |
| Commercial | No |
| Launched | June 19, 2002 |
| Current status | Active |
Pharyngula, a blog founded by PZ Myers and written by Myers, is hosted on ScienceBlogs (2005–2011, in full, and 2011–present, in part) and on FreeThoughtBlogs (2011–present). In 2006 the science journal Nature listed it as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist based on popularity. The blog addresses a range of topics, including Myers' academic specialty, biology. It has become particularly well-known for Myers' writing style (characterized by sarcasm) and for his criticism of intelligent design and creationism. In 2009, Hemant Mehta ranked Pharyngula the most popular atheist blog, based on subscriber levels and other factors.
According to Alexa Internet, Pharyngula.org was started on June 19, 2002. It started out as an experiment in writing instruction for a class. Students were required to submit mini-essays to be published online. After the project was finished, Myers still had the web-publishing software, and started to use it personally. The blog is named after his favourite stage in embryonic development, the pharyngula stage. Pharyngula moved to hosting at ScienceBlogs in 2005.
In 2007, Myers reviewed Stuart Pivar's book Lifecode, which argues that self-organization at the embryonic and fetal stages determines the development and final structure of organisms. Myers reviewed the book negatively, stating that the diagrams and ideas in the book arose from Pivar's imagination and had no basis in actual evidence. After some discussion in the comments threads of Pharyngula, Pivar sued Myers for libel. Within a week Pivar withdrew the lawsuit, stating that "the real issue got sidelined" and that his problem was more with Seed Media Group.
In June 2008, Myers commented on national press reports that a University of Central Florida student took a host (Eucharist wafer) from a Catholic Mass in response to forcible attempts to stop him from carrying it back to his seat, where he claimed he planned to show it to a fellow student who was curious about the Catholic faith. After death threats were directed against the student by some who were offended by the student's behavior, Myers composed his first blog post on the topic.
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