J. Laurence Kulp
Encyclopedia
John Laurence Kulp was a 20th century geochemist. He led major studies on the effects of nuclear fallout
and acid rain
. He was a prominent advocate in American Scientific Affiliation
circles in favor of an Old Earth
and against the pseudoscience
of flood geology
. Kulp died on September 25, 2006 at the age of 85.
and was brought up as a practically atheistic Episcopalian. As a young man he left the Episcopal Church and entered into fellowship with the Plymouth Brethren
. He attended Drew University
, then entered Wheaton College
as a junior transfer student. He spent a year in graduate school at Ohio State University
before moving to Princeton University
, where he obtained a Ph.D.
in physical chemistry
in 1945.
between 1947 and 1965. He was also at various times vice president for research and development at Weyerhaeuser Company, director of research of the National Acid Precipitation
Assessment Program, affiliate professor at the University of Washington
, a consultant in environmental and energy affairs, and owner of Teledyne Isotopes.
His primary field was radiometric dating
, which was transforming the field of geology in the 1950s. He was a pioneer in the field of Carbon 14 dating
and in 1950, established the Carbon 14 research centre at Columbia University, the second in the United States.
During the 1950s he helped convince politicians that atomic bomb testing was a danger to health in regard to strontium-90 finding its way into the human food chain.
Kulp's research in radiometric dating
included:
In 1960, using the findings of radiometric dating
, he published a geological time scale estimating the age of each geological era.
, that investigated the levels of strontium
-90 finding itself into the human food chain because of nuclear weapons testing. Strontium-90 was chosen as it can easily find its way into the human body, through the food chain, by being first absorbed by vegetation and then directly or perhaps indirectly via, for example, cattle, into the human body. In February 1957, Kulp and his team reported that a human has typically about "0.12 micromicrocuries of strontium-90 for each gram of body calcium". (A micromicrocurie is a millionth of a millionth of a curie
, what is now called a picocurie. 0.12 µµCi = 0.12 pCi = 0.44 mBq
) The report estimated that by 1970, if no further atomic bomb testing was carried out, the average level would be about 1.3 picocurie (48 mBq) of strontium-90 for each gram of body calcium. The reason for the estimated rise without any further testing was attributed to the large length of time strontium-90, due to its properties, is able to stay in the stratosphere
before gradually settling to earth. The report believed that what was considered a permissible level of 1.2 nCi could be reached if nuclear bomb testing continued, especially in calcium deficient soils where vegetation would absorb strontium-90 as a suitable replacement for calcium.
The report made the front page of the New York Times on February 8, 1957. In June of the same year the National Academy of Science stated that both genetic effects and strontium-90 were potential long term hazards of nuclear weapons testing.
in 1980. In 1987 it issued an interim report stating that the effects of acid rain
on the ecosphere in the U.S.A. was not particularly great. This finding was controversial and the report was not well received, especially by environmentalists, and was considered by many to be politically incorrect. Most of the United States Congress
also gave the report a hostile reception. Kulp resigned as director soon after, for personal reasons. Although the reports conclusions were subsequently endorsed by the scientific community, the final report was prevented from being released by the Environmental Protection Agency
until Congress had passed new rules in regards to S02 and N20 emissions in the fall of 1990. This final report, released under James Mahoney as director, differed little to the interim report.
(ASA), a fellowship of scientists who are also Christians, which provided him with a forum to debate the religious implications of geology, and to expose the errors and "pseudo-science" of the likes of George McCready Price
and Harry Rimmer
, which he was afraid would only bring derision to orthodox Christianity. In this, he was the most important scientist contributing to the split within conservative Protestantism
into self-identifying evangelicals and fundamentalists.
Prior to his acting as an ad-hoc geological advisor to a Wheaton College
alumna working towards a masters degree in physical anthropology
at Columbia University
Kulp, by his own admission, had "only read the various pseudo-scientific statements in Christian apologetical literature which blindly asserted that there was no evidence for man or manlike creatures earlier than 10,000 years ago." He was shocked to discover that "[a] careful study of the tremendous number of geological facts concerning the chronology of the Pleistocene
period make[s] it apparent that such creatures have been on the earth probably hundreds of thousands of years." This discovery led Kulp to present a paper on the Antiquity of Hominoid Fossils to the Third Annual Convention of the ASA in 1948. The paper led to considerable discussion and disagreement, particularly with the convention's host, botanist and Young Earth creationist Edwin Y. Monsma (who would later become one of the co-founders of the Creation Research Society
).
At the next ASA convention (whose attendees included Price himself), Kulp submitted a paper, Deluge Geology execrating flood geology, which he stated had "grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists." He asserted that the "major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and geological laws" and focused on "four basic errors":
Kulp's conclusion was that a Christian was faced with two choices. Either it was created millions of years ago or that God has apparently deceived humanity in providing data which does not support a 6000 to 10000 year old Earth. He viewed "flood geology" as offering no third choice, that it was unscientific, ludicrous and "has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people". He also accused George McCready Price
of ignorance and deception, including misrepresentation of geological data when defending flood geology
. The paper failed to evoke the fireworks that Kulp and ASA president F. Alton Everest
expected it to generate. Kulp submitted a second paper presented at that convention on radiocarbon dating
, which argued that "preliminary work indicates Neanderthal
remains (the youngest stratigraphically of the prehistoric fossil men) are at least older than 25,000 years."
Kulp's influence was largely responsible for isolating flood geologists within the ASA, and Deluge Geology caused them considerable discomfort for years to come.
Kulp approached geology with a critical eye but once convinced of the validity of a geological principle was not prepared to sacrifice well established scientific facts for the convenience of supporting the interpretation of the early Chapters of Genesis as given by mainstream "fundamentalists". He gained support from the Christian apologist Bernard Ramm
who, in his support of Kulp in his criticism of flood geology, said "If uniformitarianism
makes a scientific case for itself to a Christian scholar, that Christian scholar has every right to believe it, and if he is a man and not a coward he will believe it in spite of the intimidation that he is supposedly gone over into the camp of the enemy".
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
and acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
. He was a prominent advocate in American Scientific Affiliation
American Scientific Affiliation
The American Scientific Affiliation is a Christian religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publishes a journal, Perspectives of Science and Christian Faith...
circles in favor of an Old Earth
Age of the Earth
The age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples...
and against the pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
of flood geology
Flood geology
Flood geology is the interpretation of the geological history of the Earth in terms of the global flood described in Genesis 6–9. Similar views played a part in the early development of the science of geology, even after the Biblical chronology had been rejected by geologists in favour of an...
. Kulp died on September 25, 2006 at the age of 85.
Early life and education
Kulp was raised in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and was brought up as a practically atheistic Episcopalian. As a young man he left the Episcopal Church and entered into fellowship with the Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
. He attended Drew University
Drew University
Drew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...
, then entered Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
as a junior transfer student. He spent a year in graduate school at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
before moving to Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he obtained a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
in 1945.
Scientific career
Kulp was professor of geochemistry at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
between 1947 and 1965. He was also at various times vice president for research and development at Weyerhaeuser Company, director of research of the National Acid Precipitation
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
Assessment Program, affiliate professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, a consultant in environmental and energy affairs, and owner of Teledyne Isotopes.
His primary field was radiometric dating
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
, which was transforming the field of geology in the 1950s. He was a pioneer in the field of Carbon 14 dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
and in 1950, established the Carbon 14 research centre at Columbia University, the second in the United States.
During the 1950s he helped convince politicians that atomic bomb testing was a danger to health in regard to strontium-90 finding its way into the human food chain.
Kulp's research in radiometric dating
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
included:
- Potassium-argon datingPotassium-argon datingPotassium–argon dating or K–Ar dating is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium into argon . Potassium is a common element found in many materials, such as micas, clay minerals,...
- Rubidium-strontium datingRubidium-strontium datingThe rubidium-strontium dating method is a radiometric dating technique that geologists use to determine the age of rocks.Development of this process was aided by Fritz Strassmann, who later went on to discover nuclear fission with Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner....
- Uranium-lead datingUranium-lead datingUranium-lead is one of the oldest and most refined of the radiometric dating schemes, with a routine age range of about 1 million years to over 4.5 billion years, and with routine precisions in the 0.1-1 percent range...
- Carbon-14Carbon-14Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues , to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological...
In 1960, using the findings of radiometric dating
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
, he published a geological time scale estimating the age of each geological era.
Strontium-90 nuclear fallout research
Kulp led a team, financed by the United States Atomic Energy CommissionUnited States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
, that investigated the levels of strontium
Strontium
Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
-90 finding itself into the human food chain because of nuclear weapons testing. Strontium-90 was chosen as it can easily find its way into the human body, through the food chain, by being first absorbed by vegetation and then directly or perhaps indirectly via, for example, cattle, into the human body. In February 1957, Kulp and his team reported that a human has typically about "0.12 micromicrocuries of strontium-90 for each gram of body calcium". (A micromicrocurie is a millionth of a millionth of a curie
Curie
The curie is a unit of radioactivity, defined asThis is roughly the activity of 1 gram of the radium isotope 226Ra, a substance studied by the pioneers of radiology, Marie and Pierre Curie, for whom the unit was named. In addition to the curie, activity can be measured using an SI derived unit,...
, what is now called a picocurie. 0.12 µµCi = 0.12 pCi = 0.44 mBq
Becquerel
The becquerel is the SI-derived unit of radioactivity. One Bq is defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. The Bq unit is therefore equivalent to an inverse second, s−1...
) The report estimated that by 1970, if no further atomic bomb testing was carried out, the average level would be about 1.3 picocurie (48 mBq) of strontium-90 for each gram of body calcium. The reason for the estimated rise without any further testing was attributed to the large length of time strontium-90, due to its properties, is able to stay in the stratosphere
Stratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
before gradually settling to earth. The report believed that what was considered a permissible level of 1.2 nCi could be reached if nuclear bomb testing continued, especially in calcium deficient soils where vegetation would absorb strontium-90 as a suitable replacement for calcium.
The report made the front page of the New York Times on February 8, 1957. In June of the same year the National Academy of Science stated that both genetic effects and strontium-90 were potential long term hazards of nuclear weapons testing.
Acid rain study
Kulp was the director of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, which was established by the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1980. In 1987 it issued an interim report stating that the effects of acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
on the ecosphere in the U.S.A. was not particularly great. This finding was controversial and the report was not well received, especially by environmentalists, and was considered by many to be politically incorrect. Most of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
also gave the report a hostile reception. Kulp resigned as director soon after, for personal reasons. Although the reports conclusions were subsequently endorsed by the scientific community, the final report was prevented from being released by the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
until Congress had passed new rules in regards to S02 and N20 emissions in the fall of 1990. This final report, released under James Mahoney as director, differed little to the interim report.
Criticism of flood geology
Kulp was one of the first American fundamentalists to be trained in geology. In 1945, he joined the American Scientific AffiliationAmerican Scientific Affiliation
The American Scientific Affiliation is a Christian religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publishes a journal, Perspectives of Science and Christian Faith...
(ASA), a fellowship of scientists who are also Christians, which provided him with a forum to debate the religious implications of geology, and to expose the errors and "pseudo-science" of the likes of George McCready Price
George McCready Price
George McCready Price was a Canadian creationist. He produced several anti-evolution and creationist works, particularly on the subject of flood geology...
and Harry Rimmer
Harry Rimmer
Harry Rimmer was an American creationist, evangelist and writer of anti-evolution pamphlets. He is most prominent as an early pioneer in the creationist movement in the United States.-Early life:...
, which he was afraid would only bring derision to orthodox Christianity. In this, he was the most important scientist contributing to the split within conservative Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
into self-identifying evangelicals and fundamentalists.
Prior to his acting as an ad-hoc geological advisor to a Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
alumna working towards a masters degree in physical anthropology
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Kulp, by his own admission, had "only read the various pseudo-scientific statements in Christian apologetical literature which blindly asserted that there was no evidence for man or manlike creatures earlier than 10,000 years ago." He was shocked to discover that "[a] careful study of the tremendous number of geological facts concerning the chronology of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
period make[s] it apparent that such creatures have been on the earth probably hundreds of thousands of years." This discovery led Kulp to present a paper on the Antiquity of Hominoid Fossils to the Third Annual Convention of the ASA in 1948. The paper led to considerable discussion and disagreement, particularly with the convention's host, botanist and Young Earth creationist Edwin Y. Monsma (who would later become one of the co-founders of the Creation Research Society
Creation Research Society
The Creation Research Society is a Christian research group that engages in creation science. The organization has produced various publications, including a journal and a creation-based biology textbook...
).
At the next ASA convention (whose attendees included Price himself), Kulp submitted a paper, Deluge Geology execrating flood geology, which he stated had "grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists." He asserted that the "major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and geological laws" and focused on "four basic errors":
- The "confusion that geology and evolution are synonomous"
- Assuming "that life has been on the earth only for a few thousand years, [and] therefore the flood must account for geological strata"
- Misunderstanding "the physical and chemical conditions under which rocks are formed"
- ignoring recent discoveries, such as radiometric datingRadiometric datingRadiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
, that undermined their assumptions
Kulp's conclusion was that a Christian was faced with two choices. Either it was created millions of years ago or that God has apparently deceived humanity in providing data which does not support a 6000 to 10000 year old Earth. He viewed "flood geology" as offering no third choice, that it was unscientific, ludicrous and "has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people". He also accused George McCready Price
George McCready Price
George McCready Price was a Canadian creationist. He produced several anti-evolution and creationist works, particularly on the subject of flood geology...
of ignorance and deception, including misrepresentation of geological data when defending flood geology
Flood geology
Flood geology is the interpretation of the geological history of the Earth in terms of the global flood described in Genesis 6–9. Similar views played a part in the early development of the science of geology, even after the Biblical chronology had been rejected by geologists in favour of an...
. The paper failed to evoke the fireworks that Kulp and ASA president F. Alton Everest
F. Alton Everest
F. Alton Everest was an American acoustical engineer, a cofounder of the American Scientific Affiliation, and its first president.-Academic and acoustic research career:...
expected it to generate. Kulp submitted a second paper presented at that convention on radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
, which argued that "preliminary work indicates Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
remains (the youngest stratigraphically of the prehistoric fossil men) are at least older than 25,000 years."
Kulp's influence was largely responsible for isolating flood geologists within the ASA, and Deluge Geology caused them considerable discomfort for years to come.
Kulp approached geology with a critical eye but once convinced of the validity of a geological principle was not prepared to sacrifice well established scientific facts for the convenience of supporting the interpretation of the early Chapters of Genesis as given by mainstream "fundamentalists". He gained support from the Christian apologist Bernard Ramm
Bernard Ramm
Bernard L. Ramm was a Baptist theologian and apologist within the broad Evangelical tradition. He wrote prolifically on topics concerned with biblical hermeneutics, religion and science, Christology, and apologetics...
who, in his support of Kulp in his criticism of flood geology, said "If uniformitarianism
Uniformitarianism (science)
In the philosophy of naturalism, the uniformitarianism assumption is that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe. It has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the...
makes a scientific case for itself to a Christian scholar, that Christian scholar has every right to believe it, and if he is a man and not a coward he will believe it in spite of the intimidation that he is supposedly gone over into the camp of the enemy".
External links
- "Acid Rain: Causes, Effects, and Control", J. Laurence Kulp