I saw the Burgess Shale

For those of you interested in matters scientific, above all the study of evolution, the Burgess Shale is the Holy Grail of paleontology. This rock strata in the Canadian Rockies bears a profusion of early Cambrian-era fossils, shedding much light and demanding much interpretation of the so-called “Cambrian explosion” of multicellular life.

Acclaimed paleontologist and science popularizer Stephen Jay Gould came up with his theory of “punctuated equilibrium” after wrestling with the artifacts of the Burgess Shale.

Anyway, after I decided to go to Banff National Park in Alberta as part of my vacation last month, I realized the actual Burgess Shale is in neighboring Yoho National Park in British Columbia. So I included it as part of my trip.

In the picture at right, the Burgess Shale is in the mountain behind beautiful Emerald Lake.

Now, you can’t actually visit it without a tour guide, similar to not being able to visit places like Mesa Verde National Park and Navajo National Monument in the United States solo, and for similar reason. Just as some of the American and other visitor to those sites in the Southwest will steal Anazasi pots and other artifacts if left alone, like-minded people would hack fossils out the shale at Burgess if not monitored.

No matter. I saw an important part of the refutation of Intelligent Design, if from a distance, in an absolutely beautiful setting on a wonderful day.