kent hovind dissertation

Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertations

Kent Hovind promotes himself as Dr. Kent Hovind or Dr. Dino . Prior to his 58 felony convictions and ten-year prison sentence, Hovind received a Ph.D. from Patriot Bible University , an unaccredited Christian college . Because of Hovind's use of the title of "Doctor" based on a degree from an unaccredited institution, legitimate scientists have closely examined his bona fides, including the work he submitted to fulfill the requirements for a doctorate.

This has proved difficult, because unlike common academic practice, Patriot does not make its students' dissertations available to the academic community.

On December 9, 2009, WikiLeaks released Hovind's dissertation in Christian Education. [1] Usually, legitimate scholars are thrilled to find that people want to read their dissertations, but legitimate scholars don't get their degrees from diploma mills like Patriot Bible University. Bloggers and forum participants have widely linked to Hovind's dissertation, since it contains a heady mixture of scientific inaccuracy, incoherent writing, frequent spelling errors, shoddy scholarship, and other things which make the skeptical community giggle with glee.

In 2013, Hovind claimed to have four doctorates, in (Christian) Education, Theology, Biblical Ministry, and Divinity (Honorary). [2] :4 This article focuses on the first and makes brief mention of the third. Evidence of the supposed degree in Theology has not as yet been found, nor are any details available on the "honorary" doctorate in Divinity. There are actually accredited seminaries and theological colleges that offer master's and doctoral degrees in Christian Education. [3]

• 1 Background
• 2.1 Intellectual quality (???)
• 2.2 Misreadings of history, philosophy, science, and damn near everything else
• 2.3 Notable quotables
• 2.4 Metrics
• 3 2013 dissertation
• 4 External links
• 6 References

Background [ edit ]

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D, derived from the Latin philosophiæ doctor , lit. "teacher of philosophy") is the highest degree attainable in science and the arts. Completing a PhD takes an average of 8.2 years in full-time postgraduate research, which culminates in the production of an original contribution to scholarship. [4] Dissertations are the final product of this research and are supervised by a committee of academics in the relevant field, usually consisting of between three to five scholars. Upon completion of a final draft, a defense is held where the public is invited and the candidate defends his or her work in front of the committee, who ask questions and make comments. If approved, the committee signs off on the work at the defense and it is required to be stored in that university's library. Like any other publication in a library, dissertations are available to anyone who wants to read them.

This is not the case for Hovind's dissertation. Firstly, Hovind's dissertation was not publicly available. Hovind claims to have lost his copy of the dissertation, [5] while Patriot Bible University does not make dissertations available. A copy of Hovind's 1991 dissertation was obtained by Skip Evans, who "receive[d] the original document, complete with a taped-in clipping from a magazine." [6] A copy is currently in the possession of the National Center for Science Education and was reviewed by Karen Bartelt. [5] Bartelt's review was the only online analysis of the dissertation before Wikileaks made the copy available. She found Hovind's dissertation makes no useful contribution to scholarship, except perhaps as an example of how not to write one. Hovind's alma mater is not accredited by any U.S. Department of Education-recognised body, and his degrees are not granted any status in the academic or scientific mainstream. Hovind's dissertation is approved by only one person: Dr. Wayne Knight, [5] who later fled from Colorado to Texas after pleading guilty to crimes relating to child molestation at a related business/religious school. [7] [8]

Those who have completed a Ph.D are allowed to prefix their name with "Dr". However, many choose not to do so out of modesty or so their expertise in nuclear physics, history, or philosophy doesn't get mistaken when a medical doctor is actually required. Even if not in modesty, not having the title "Dr." in front of one's name in a phone book keeps one from midnight calls asking for medical assistance on how to deal with some medical ailment. Hovind, needless to say, has no such modesty and refers to himself as Dr. Kent Hovind or Dr. Dino. In fact, he even used the prefix in Pensacola, Florida's phone book. This is common among those with doctorates from diploma mills, such as Dr Gillian McKeith Ph.D vs Ben Goldacre . For example, Hovind publicly insisted on the title, saying, "I notice you're calling him ‘Dr’ and me ‘Mr,’ so I'm just making a level playing field here; I have a doctorate's degree also, although it's not from an accredited university, but I don't think that matters." [9]

1991 dissertation [ edit ]

Intellectual quality () [ edit ].

Even his first paragraph contains a dangling modifier, a grammatical error against which high-school guides to composition warn:

"As an evangelist, God has given me the opportunity to teach and preach the wonderful story of His wonderful creation..." Hovind is the evangelist, and "God" isn't, but such is not how the sentence parses. Instead, it reads as if he's calling himself an evangelist. ("As an evangelist, I have been given this opportunity by God" would have made much more sense.) It is not enough to simply reject capitalization of an attribute to distinguish God from oneself in so clumsy a sentence. It would not pass a copy-editor at a publisher attentive to quality, let alone a doctoral committee at a genuine college or university. The intellectual quality does not improve.

Misreadings of history, philosophy, science, and damn near everything else [ edit ]

Hovind attempts to provide a genealogy of evolution that starts with Satan himself (of course) before he was cast out of heaven, then to God striking down the Tower of Babel . He traces this through ancient Greek philosophy, eastern religions, and the Church Fathers. He gets large chunks of this ancient history wrong, and what little bits of truth do sneak in are surrounded by oceans of irrelevance and idiocy.

Socrates , Hovind tells us, didn't write "many" books. Technically true: Socrates didn't write any books, and is infamous for asserting that one shouldn't write books! [10] Hovind describes Socrates, Plato , and Aristotle as being " pantheists ," and thus attempts to understand in modern terms a religious system that does not easily match modern expectations and categories. If you want to apply a modern label, polytheism catches the spirit a lot better than pantheism. (There are some ancient philosophers you can describe as holding broadly pantheistic ideas: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Zeno, and Heraclitus among the Greeks, and Marcus Aurelius and Plotinus among the Romans.)

Hovind fails when he attempts to understand Plato and Socrates, ascribing positions to them that are held by participants in Platonic dialogues, most of which feature Socrates as a character, but only some of the dialogues can be thought of as containing the Socrates of history, while the others have Socrates as a literary tool that Plato can use.

Hovind asserts that Democrates is the founder of Atomism, rather than Democritus.

"Zoroaster" is the name given to the religion (Zoroaster is, in fact, the founder of Zoroastrianism ), a blunder similar to writing "Christ" when you mean "Christianity" or "Muhammad" when you mean "Islam." Hovind claims Zoroastrianism was founded around 600 BCE . Most scholars actually state it was much earlier, around 1000 BCE. He completely misunderstands Zoroastrian beliefs, claiming that the essence of it is that "Satan and God are equally powerful." In fact, Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda (the "God" character) will banish Angra Mainyu (the "Satan" character) and bring about the end times, and then a savior figure will come along and raise up the dead. According to Hovind, in Zoroastrianism "a lack of importance [is] placed on God." Apparently, despite being a Middle Eastern monotheistic religion with a number of broadly equivalent traits to Judaism and Christianity, "Zoroasterism" (as Hovind also refers to Zoroastrianism) is actually the bearer of the flame of evolutionism, as it has been carried from the Fall of Man through Satan and then through the works of the Greek philosophers.

Which is fine, except for the fact that if the ancient Greeks, Zoroastrians, and eastern mystics were all budding proto-Darwinists, you might expect some historians and philosophers who study the ancients to have spotted it – and that the work of Darwin and Wallace in the nineteenth century might have been a bit less revolutionary and surprising than it actually was. Ditto with the Comte de Buffon, who supposedly "was very influential in spreading the doctrine of evolution around the world", this after a long paragraph discussing "Voltair".

Hovind claims that Hinduism , Zoroastrianism, Buddhism , Taoism , and Confucianism , which all are really evolution cults in disguise, made it easy for Communism to take over in China . (How this is possible is not known. Evolution was not initially researched till the 1800s.) On the same note, Communism has spread really well in Iranian Zoroastrian communities and in India , where Hinduism and Buddhism are prevalent. This hypothesis also explains the resistance to Chinese Communism by the Tibetan Buddhist monks really well, and the religious history of Russia and Cuba . In reality, the survival of the fittest found in Capitalist market economics has more to do with natural selection than the Communist ideal of "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

Hovind also claims that "the Islam religion [sic] accepts evolution very readily", conveniently ignoring Islamic creationists like Harun Yahya . He also makes some pretty silly remarks about the Church Fathers which are backed up with the same sort of evidence as everything else in the dissertation – that is, about the same quality and quantity as you get in a Chick tract or the Weekly World News .

Notable quotables [ edit ]

The following are quotes found in Kent Hovind's thesis.

Metrics [ edit ]

Using the text from the OCR version of "Dr." Hovind's dissertation, Google Docs gives the following metrics: ( Note: These metrics are derived from the text starting with "INTRODUCTION" and continuing until the sentence "I believe Jesus was right." )

• Word: 25,546
• Paragraphs: 401
• Sentences: 1,951

Readability

• Average sentences per paragraph: 4.87
• Average words per sentence: 13.09
• Flesch Reading Ease: 69.44
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 7.00
• Automated Readability Index: 7.00

According to the Wikipedia page on Flesch Reading Ease, a Flesch Reading Ease score of 69.44 would correspond to being "easily understandable to 13- to 15-year-old students." [11] The lower the index, the harder the piece is to read. The Wikipedia page states that the average 11-year-old student's written assignment has a "Reading Ease" of 60–70, which would indicate that the writing style of Kent's supposed PhD-level paper is on par with that of a pre-pubescent student.

Similarly, the "Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level" indicates the approximate number of years of education needed to understand a piece of writing. According to these metrics, a student in the 7th grade should be able to fully understand Kent's "doctoral research". Interestingly, the Wikipedia page on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level has a higher calculated grade-level than Kent's Doctoral Dissertation, at 12.5.

The Automated Readability Index is another way of calculating the approximate grade required for a student to fully understand a piece of written work. Once again, the average 7th-grade student (approximately 12–13 years old) should be able to fully comprehend Kent's new research.

None of these metrics are damning in and of themselves; all else being equal, being able to express one's ideas in simple and accessible language is a good thing. However, there is a difference between expressing complex ideas in simple language and merely having simplistic ideas. Taken in the context of the thesis's other flaws, it becomes clear that complexity of thought was never among Hovind's issues.

2013 dissertation [ edit ]

While Hovind was in federal prison, he wrote another dissertation for a Doctor of Ministry degree from Patriot. [2] :4 According to Hovind:

In this unusual book I will try to give the reader THE BIG PICTURE of the history of the world and explain what is about to happen, based on The Book that has given thousands of predictions and prophecies and has never been wrong even one time yet!

Unlike his first dissertation, this one was written without chapters (it does have seven appendices). In 2013, it was published as an ebook titled What on Earth is about to happen.. for Heaven's sake?: A Dissertation on End Times According to the Bible and it argues that Jesus will appear on Earth in 2028. [12] [2] :239

Copyright © 2013 Kent Hovind All Rights Reserved [Publishing Information Here] Manufactured in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-xxxxx-xxx-x (paper) ISBN 978-0- xxxxx-xxx-x (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hovind Kent. What On Earth Is About To Happen For Heavens Sake; p. cm. ISBN 978-0-xxxxx-xxx-x (paper) ISBN 978-0- xxxxx-xxx-x (e-book).

In real books and dissertations, the "xxxxx-xxx-x" sequence is replaced by a proper ISBN number. Also note that "Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data" normally also contains a few keywords about the book (in this case, "Christianity" and "Eschatology" would be the most likely, though "complete BS " would also not be wrong).

Hovind claims to have spent four years on this 'dissertation', but looked at this page and failed to see that something was missing. He even managed to misspell the dissertation's title: "For Heavens Sake" instead of "For Heaven's Sake".

External links [ edit ]

• Young-earth creationist Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertation
• Inside the Mind of a Creationist: A Critical Analysis of Kent Hovind's “Doctoral Dissertation” by Nathan Dickey
• The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read, A Review of Kent Hovind's Thesis by Karen Bartelt, Ph.D
• Pharyngula - Kent Hovind’s Doctoral Dissertation
• Patriot University's hilarious rebuttal of the copy on Wikileaks (which it notably mislabels as an extension of Wikipedia ).
• What on Earth is about to happen.. for Heaven's sake Kent Hovind's 2013 dissertation

Notes [ edit ]

• ↑ Assuming anything with "rocks" is what he was looking for. See the Wikipedia article on Jupiter .

References [ edit ]

• ↑ Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertation . Mirrored from the original posting on WikiLeaks.
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hovind, K.E. (2013). What On Earth Is About To Happen... For Heaven's Sake?: A Dissertation on End Times According to the Bible .
• ↑ Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary offers a Master of Arts (M.A) degree in Christian Education .
• ↑ O'Shaughnessy, L. (10 July 2012). 10 reasons not to get a PhD . Retrieved 21 November 2012.
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bartelt, K. (2000). The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read . Retrieved 9 October 2015.
• ↑ National Center for Science Education (2 August 2012). Skip Evans dies Retrieved 21 November 2015.
• ↑ "The former church leader and superintendent of Hilltop Baptist Church in Colorado Springs entered a guilty plea in exchange for several charges being dropped by prosecutors." from Arrested Pastor Takes Plea Deal In Child Abuse Case , 7News, Feb 28, 2012
• ↑ Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex Assault Charges , KKTV, Jan 31, 2013
• ↑ Inside the Mind of a Creationist: A Critical Analysis of Kent Hovind's “Doctoral Dissertation”
• ↑ Plato’s Argument Against Writing
• ↑ See Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test at Wikipedia
• ↑ "When is The Lord Coming Back?," and claims: "During the feast of Trumpets in 2028."
• Bronze-level articles
• Creationism
• Pages using DynamicPageList parser function

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Inside the Mind of a Creationist: A Critical Analysis of Kent Hovind's “Doctoral Dissertation”

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The League of Reason Blog

Kent hovind’s doctoral dissertation, warning: it is highly recommended that you wear anti-stupid goggles at all times whilst being in the vicinity of this “document”..

NOTE: This is pretty much a copy and paste from the PDF document that has been circulating around the internet. An attempt to format the text for readability has been made as best as possible (difficult, considering the content). The content has been divided into sections rather than a page for each page of the PDF document because once transferred to a web page the pages became so small it was pointless. This content in no way reflects the views of the League of Reason and is only provided for informational purposes. So, here goes… brace yourself.

You can find the original PDF document here .

PATRIOT UNIVERSITY

DISSERTATION FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO DR. WAYNE KNIGHT

SUBMITTED BY KENT HOVIND PENSACOLA, FLORIDA MAY 25, 1991

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What on Earth is about to happen.. for Heaven's sake?: A Dissertation on End Times According to the Bible Paperback – August 29, 2013

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DISSERTATION FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Kent hovind.

First published May 25, 1991

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Young-earth creationist Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertation

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Young-earth creationist Kent E. Hovind's doctoral dissertation.

"Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I am a creation/science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida. I have been a high school science teacher since 1976. I've been very active in the creation/evolution controversy for quite some time."

Kent Kovind Hovind is a well-known "young-earth" biblical creationist. As such the strength of his dissertation is of broad interest.

According to our source, contrary to accepted practices in academia where doctoral dissertations are available to the public. Kent. Hovind, along with his alma mater, Patriot Bible University, has consistently refused to allow his dissertation to be offered for public reprint or scholarly inquiry.

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Kent Hovind's Doctoral Dissertation

Now everyone can read it: Kent Hovind's thesis from Patriot University has been scanned and put on the web. Remember to breathe now and then when you're laughing that hard.

Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I am a creation/science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida. I have been a high school science teacher since 1976. I've been very active in the creation/evolution controversy for quite some time.

He writes like a second-grader, and I haven't quoted the Christian ravings from it.

(via Kill the Afterlife )

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weaponsofmassdeception What are you talking about "NO CITATIONS whatsoever"? Hovind cites the Bible PLENTY of times haha!

"There's only one book you have to read!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa9xDar8rQg

Miskatonic University

It's such a great name that I have a hard time accepting that it does not exist. After all, Quinnipiac University exists. Mr. Lovecraft had a great ear for the believeable (except for the unpronouncable Chthulu).

Regarding "Patriot Bible University Christian non-gov’t Accredited Distance Learning Bible Degrees"...

In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of the scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.

    — Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

Mozart's Requiem arranged for accordion, mouth-organ and didgeridoo.

ok, now I kinda want to hear the Requiem performed on a didgeridoo. that would be epic

Lovecraft was inspired by the name of a real town in eastern Connecticut, Mystic . The name has nothing to do with mysticism but is a colonial era mangling of the name of the local Indian tribe, the Mashentuckets.

Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I'm a creation/science evangelist.

[Everybody]: HI KENT.

After all the first of the twele step is

We admit we were powerless over young Earth creationism—that our lives have become unmanageable.

darvolution proponentsist @ #321:

Jadehawk, OM @ #327:

He may not be Mozart, but Peter Sculthorpe's Requiem utilises a didj!

@315: I have a Cambridge PhD and I would cheerfully purchase one from Miskatonic if you can get the artwork convincingly... writhing and non-Euclidean. I have a dissertation largely prepared in which I conclusively show that the real reason why global warming must be avoided is that further melting of the Antarctice ice sheet will infallibly release the shoggoths from their subterranean lair, and may even unleash the yet greater and nameless evil that lurks behind the battlements of Kadath in the frozen wastes.

does he get one fact right?

I think the following quote is deomnstrably true:

"I cannot explain it, because I don’t understand it."

This excretion trying to disguise itself as a dissertation adds a whole 'nother dimension to the idea of a ph.d as "piled higher and deeper."

The mind boggles.

Stephen Wells #331

I have a dissertation largely prepared...

Does it begin "Hi, my name is Steve Wells."? Or are you more formal, beginning in the Hovind fashion "Hello, my name is Stephen Wells."?

...in which I conclusively show that the real reason why global warming must be avoided is that further melting of the Antarctice ice sheet will infallibly release the shoggoths from their subterranean lair, and may even unleash the yet greater and nameless evil that lurks behind the battlements of Kadath in the frozen wastes.

Now that's a reasonable topic for a dissertation.

What are you talking about "NO CITATIONS whatsoever"? Hovind cites the Bible PLENTY of times haha!

Also once Newsweek.

I can hear the meeting now:

"Hello, my name is Kent, and I am a Creotard."

"Hello, Kent...."

Accreditation agencies are certified by the US Department of Education.

<phew>

Good. That solves the question of who accredits the accreditors. :-)

Still, that there is such a thing as an accrediting organization with a bad reputation is horrifying.

page 99: "Some people say that the moon started as a part of the Pacific Ocean and was pulled out of that area. That was taught for many years and is still believe by some."

How many plate tectonics deniers can there be left who aren't YECs in the first place?

Not to worry, I don't think he really "went" to high school.

I have enough.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Case in point: Dan Brown.

Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic opening sentence.

is there a programme that can turn this document (so-called) into Lolcatz language?

No. You'll have to do it by hand.

"O hai! My naemz is..."

It's rather frustrating that I can remember so much Hitchhiker's Guide trivia, but not enough cases and statutes for my forthcoming exams...

That's normal. I remember almost everything that's interesting and very few of what's not interesting.

Me too! Me too! <jumping up and down>

@334: it begins with "Ya, ng'ng'ah, Yog-Sothoth". Some members of the first examining committee survived, but we're having trouble convening another panel for the resit, partly because only some members _of_ the members of the first committee actually survived.

is there a programme that can turn this document (so-called) into Lolcatz language? No. You'll have to do it by hand.

There's a "speak lolcat" translator here .

IM, WITHOUT APOLIGY, BIBLE-BELIEVIN CHRISTIAN. I HAS BEEN SAVD 4 TWENTY-2 YEERS BY TEH BLOOD OV JEBUS CHRIST, CEILIN CAT’S SON. I BLEEV DAT CEILIN CAT’S WERD IZ INFALLIBLE AN FLAWLES IN EVRY DETAIL. IF TEH BIBLE SEZ DAT SOMETHIN WUZ CREATD CERTAIN WAI, DEN DAT IZ JUS TEH WAI IT HAPPEND. NAO, AS SCIENCE TEACHR, I WANTS 2 KEEP AN OPEN MIND AN UNDERSTAND Y, HOW, AN WHEN CEILIN CAT CREATD TEH EARTH, IF DOSE THINGS CAN BE KNOWN. THAR R SUM THINGS WE CANT UNDERSTAND, AN SUM THINGS I BLEEV DAT WE CAN.

TEH IDEA DAT EVOLUSHUNISTS TRY 2 GIT ACROS TODAI IZ DAT THAR IZ CONTINUAL UPWARD PROGRESHUN. THEY CLAIM DAT EVRYTHIN IZ GETTIN BETTR, IMPROOVIN, ALL BY ITSELF AS IF THAR IZ AN INNR-DRIV TOWARD MOAR PERFECSHUN AN ORDR. DIS AR TEH TOTALLY OPPOSIET OV TEH FURST AN SECOND LAW OV THERMODYNAMICS. IT GOEZ AGAINST ALL SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE DAT HAS BEEN ACCUMULATD. YET, DIS LIE IZ WUT LOTZ DA DOODZ BLEEV TODAI. WE DON’T C IT HAPPENIN ANYWHERE IN R UNIVERS TODAI. WE DON’T C ANY EVIDENCE OV DIS IN DA FOSIL RECORD.

Oh yeah, now I get it. So this is a scientific thesis, huh? A typical one, no doubt. Well, I call Hovindgate on this one. Yeah, Hovindgate, in which it is clearly seen that science is just based on belief, and its credentials given away to a god-fearing man, inspired by prayer, on the basis of hearfelt beliefs, and with God as his references. Well, I bet PZ's doctoral thesis is just the same. "Hello, My name is PZ Myers, and I'm an atheist.." Caught with your pants down, again, eh scientists? On a more serious note, does this end with "and then I woke up..."? I don't know much about scientific theses but I bet that lots of them do end like that. 'Cos that way, they can't be wrong.

I never knew that evolution had eastern and western branches. LOL

Carlie @55: "Huh. I tried to find Skip Evans' fabulous takedown on it, "The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read", but now I can't find it. I can only find references to it. Anyone know where it went?"

Were you thinking of this piece by Karen Bartelt (a real Ph.D.)?:

The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read

Is this the whole thing? It's missing chapters 5-10. I really wanted to read "The truth about cavemen"!

While reading the comments, I just had to listen to "You're a Fucktard, aren't you, Kent?" on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ge3bDSqKno

glenister_m asked "So how long did this thesis take? Less than a month? week? day? afternoon?"

Hovind says that it took him 9 years to get his PhD. He also says that the fact that Patriot U is unaccredited is no big deal because Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are unaccredited. Seriously.

By the way, WikiLeaks needs money or equipment support to keep going. Please visit that link again and pitch in with a contribution or some server space. Remember, every penny helps!

Page 22- Here's a nugget of anachronistic genius

"The Eastern branch (of Evolution) was also developing during this same time. People had traveled from the Tower of Babel to the Eastern countries of India, PAKISTAN, and China."

I didn't know Pakistan existed around the period of the Tower of Babel. I've been enlightened!

"Yep, just found one: "Child labor, sweat houses, etc." I think somebody meant sweat shops?"

I have to assume he was referring to saunas. It would be against Hovind's nature to hate a location where men strip down, face each other, and congregate without shame. That could explain his disdain for such establishments.

I just read bits a pieces of this and it sounds like any other paranoid religious psychobabble.

I grew up a pretty radical fundamentalist Christian Church, and I know psychobabble when I hear it.

Great for laughs, however :)

Pensacola, Florida, currently housed in the Federal Correctional Institution , Edgefield (South Carolina)

Good for him. 98% of inmates are Christians, so he can get a good peer review of his "dissertation", with more then enough time to defend it (10 years, IIRC).

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ztwy8fwegz

The Dissertation Kent Hovind Doesn't Want You to Read

A Review of Kent Hovind's Thesis by Karen Bartelt, Ph.D.

What is a thesis or dissertation anyway? A thesis is a body of ORIGINAL research, and is one of the requirements for an advanced degree (M.A., M.S., Ph.D.). Whether this encompasses laboratory or field study (typical of the natural sciences), surveying and statistical analysis (typical of the social sciences) or a critical analysis of some facet of an earlier body of work (typical of the humanities), the key is that it must contain original and new data or theories that ADD to the body of existing knowledge, otherwise, it's just a glorified high school theme or term paper. There are no prescribed lengths for these documents, although individual universities may require a certain minimum number of pages. In a recent biography of Carl Sagan, it was mentioned that his Ph.D. thesis was 85 pages long (Davidson, 107). Generally, it is the content rather than the length that is important in a thesis. Once written and approved by the committee, a thesis is considered a completed document AND DOES NOT CHANGE in length or content. A person is certainly free to pursue the dissertation topic at greater length, and publish more on a particular issue or set of experimental data, but the thesis itself does not get amended. Why a review? Why not just post the thesis? Mr. Skip Evans, who has a website critiquing Kent Hovind, initially requested a copy of the dissertation from Kent Hovind with the idea of doing just that. Hovind replied that his copy had been lost in a move. Evans then requested, and with the permission of the author received, a copy of Hovind's dissertation from Patriot University in March 1999. Since that time, Evans repeatedly asked for permission to post the dissertation at his website. His communications were ignored until this recent email from Kent Hovind: Anyone wishing to get a transcript of our current material to post on a web site or distribute to others is free to do so as long as no changes are made and credit is given including my name, address, and web site. Permission is given only for the most recent version to be posted. (1-16-00, Skip Evans email).

The last sentence is significant, and will be addressed later. What is unusual about this? A dissertation from an accredited college or university is available to anyone who wants to view it. There is usually a copy in the university library, and most universities require a thesis to be microfilmed and sent to a depository. A thesis is not as easy to view as an encyclopedia, but there are mechanisms by which these documents may be seen....BY ANYONE! What Hovind says about his education, thesis, and critiques. [Material accessed 1/10/00 from " Where did you get your degree? "

Every once in a while someone will ask me the question, "Where did you get your degree?" While I am not the least bit ashamed of my education, I have learned by experience that they could be asking the question because they have come to the point where they cannot attack the message I bring against evolution so they wish to attack me personally instead. This is called an ad hominem argument. They mistakenly think that by belittling the man they have answered his points and won the debate. When the opponent in a debate begins using ad hominem attacks, it is an obvious signal that they are losing the debate on facts and must resort to other means to try to save face or divert attention. It is also interesting to watch how the evolutionists will spend much time and effort scrutinizing a subject like my degree or credentials yet won't spend 2 seconds scrutinizing how ridiculous the evolution theory is! They truly strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Matthew 23:24 Back to the degree question. I took advanced math and science classes at East Peoria High School graduating in 1971. I earned my first 60 (+ or -) credit hours majoring in math and science at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Illinois. I then transferred to Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan where I double majored in education and the Bible and graduated in 1974. (I took 18-20 hours each semester plus summer school to graduate in 3 years.) While I taught math and science in Christian schools for the next 15 years I took courses at several Bible colleges in my spare time. I finished my Masters (1988) and Doctorate (1991) degrees in education from Patriot University. At the time it was small Christian university in Colorado Springs that offered an extension program for people involved in full time ministries. I was taking courses from Patriot University (established 1980) while it was a ministry of Hilltop Baptist Church and offered a Ph.D. in education. I spent many years working on my degree and learned a lot - as anyone who has watched my debates with evolutionists or seminar series will testify. Long after I graduated, Patriot became independent of the church, moved their offices into a house and dropped the Ph.D. in their education program. Some ill informed scoffers have even circulated a picture of the house where they are now located. I don't understand their logic but evidently they think this somehow discredits me. Patriot allowed students to give offerings to the school instead of a regular tuition payment. Some scoffers have laughed at this idea yet they don't seem to realize how many thousands have gone through secular schools without using any of their own money via grants, scholarships or their parent's savings. Some have ridiculed the size of the school. If Harvard offers a Ph.D. degree program with only 3 or 4 students (this happens at many schools- sometimes with only 1 student), does the small number automatically mean they are not "earning their degree" or that they are attending a "diploma mill" school? Of course not! Nearly all schools offer classes by correspondence. My 250-page dissertation dealt with the subject of the effects of teaching evolution on the students in our public school system. My 20-year study of the creation evolutionism subject led me to start Creation Science Evangelism in 1991. I now speak over 700 times each year on the subject, have had 40+ debates and have been a guest on over 3500 radio and television talk shows. My itinerary is available from my office or on my web site, and any evolutionist interested in a public debate any place they chose is welcome to contact me to arrange a time while I am in their area. Since they think I don't have a degree, they can call me Kent, Mr. Hovind or even "hey you," if it will make them feel better. Since they don't think I am "properly educated" it should be easy for them to demonstrate how wrong I am and how much evidence there is for evolution. I should be a pushover, but I am willing to debate them anyway and run the risk of publicly embarrassing myself.

Obviously Hovind has been affected by criticisms of his education and thesis or he would not have written this rejoinder. What I intend to do in this review is discuss the accuracy of Hovind's remarks above, and then focus on the quality of the thesis itself. Because Hovind did not grant permission to post any part of his original thesis, there cannot be any direct quotations from this document. Two discrepancies were obvious upon inspection. (1)    The dissertation is NOT 250 pages in length. Patriot University sent Mr. Evans a dissertation that is 101 pages in length, including the dedication. The pages of Hovind's thesis are NOT numbered, so my references to page numbers start with the "Dedication" page being number one. There is no table of contents, but on pages five and six Hovind describes a thesis that has 16 chapters. The thesis that Mr. Evans received from Patriot University was a four-chapter thesis. Recently, Hovind attempted to explain the discrepancy in an email exchange with Evans:

My dissertation was originally about 100 pages. I continued adding material and it grew to 250 pages. Over the last 10 years I have constantly been adding material. It is now many hundreds of pages and will be put into book form as time permits. (1-16-00, Skip Evans email)

This is a ridiculous statement. A dissertation does not continue to grow and (gasp) evolve beyond the completion of the degree. The thesis topic may be pursued, but the additional material is not added to the bound, completed, microfilmed, archived thesis! (2)    The dissertation DOES NOT deal with the subject of "The Effects of Teaching Evolution on the Students in our Public School System". NONE of the four chapters of the Patriot University document addresses this subject, and - IT IS NOT EVEN ONE OF THE SUBJECTS MENTIONED IN THE TWELVE "MISSING" CHAPTERS!!! I agree that this would be a legitimate subject for an advanced degree in education, and that there might be methods to pursue it. However, there is no empirical evidence that Hovind did anything of the kind. Hovind appears sensitive to criticism of Patriot University and implies that despite its small size and the fact that it is a correspondence school his education is legitimate and so is his degree. What I will show in the rest of this review is that the quality of this thesis, which was apparently accepted by Patriot University, falls WAY below what would be accepted at ANY regular university OR legitimate distance-learning facility. Neither the content nor the writing quality is Ph.D.-calibre by any stretch of the imagination. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

    The first sentence is a greeting, equivalent to "Hello, my name is Barney, the Big Purple Dinosaur". This may well reflect the "popular writing style" accepted by PU. At this point in time (no later than early 1991) Hovind already claims to be preaching about creation 400 times a year and has a weekly radio program (where he claims to have gotten some of the ideas for the thesis chapters). Though he states that as a science teacher he wants to keep an open mind, he also says that if the Bible says that something was created in a particular way, then that's just what happened. He admits that there is nothing new in the thesis, and it is just an explanation of the things that he has learned. Chapter descriptions are included: Chapter 1 is the history of evolution; chapter 2 is evolution as a religion; chapter 3 allegedly deals with the effects of evolution, and chapter 4, allegedly with the age of the Earth. The twelve missing chapters (reminiscent of the 12 lost tribes of Israel) are described also: the big bang (5), the geologic column (6), radiocarbon dating (7), cave men (8), archaeopteryx (9), creation of life in the lab (10), scientists who were/are creationists (11), the Genesis 1/2 conflict (12), dinosaurs in the Bible (13), whether dinosaurs are extinct (14), human and dinosaur footprints at Glen Rose (15), and an alternative theory to evolution (16). There are no chapters entitled "The Effects of Teaching Evolution on the Students in our Public School System". CHAPTER 1 (38 pages)    The first chapter demonstrates Hovind's abysmal grasp of the nature and scope of science and his inability to write at the postgraduate level. Hovind begins with a non-standard definition of evolution - that with time, things left to themselves can improve - and a ramble about thermodynamics. For the first time evolution is described as a religion (hang on to your hats). He then proceeds to a long pair of inaccurate definitions of microevolution and macroevolution. He finishes this section with a second misstatement about evolution by pinning the idea of "evolution = progress" on the evolutionists.     Hovind then begins the actual purported history of evolution, starting with Satan, whom he believes fell from heaven about 100 years after the creation of Adam and Eve. It is alleged that the snake brought the theory of evolution to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. No Bible verses are cited to substantiate this assertion. Then there are nearly three pages of Biblical quotations dealing with pride and how God hates it. Pride and evolution are conjoined in Hovind's mind because evolution allegedly teaches that man is its ultimate product. Evolution proceeded through Cain, Hovind goes on, and continued to be propagated after the Flood (2400 BC), like a virus. Pride caused Ham to laugh at the naked Noah, so Ham's son, Canaan, was cursed! The virus traveled from Cush through Nimrod to the Tower of Babel (which Hovind says was built in 1900 BC). After the fall of Babel, the people dispersed all over the world and the religion of evolution (bing) went with them.    Ancient Greek civilization, from Thales to Alexander, takes it on the chin next, with a regurgitation of the Henry Morris-type biographies that I saw when I visited the Institute for Creation Research . Since Hovind's only reference in this chapter is a passing mention of Henry Morris' The Long War Against God , I suspect that most of this material is rehashed from that book.     Having trashed Western civilization, Hovind gives thumbnail sketches of Eastern religions (Hinduism, Confucianism, Zoroasterism, Buddhism, and Taoism), but has very little to say about how they relate to the subject of this chapter until the big whammy - Hovind alleges that communist takeovers of these countries were very simple because their religions did not place much importance on God. (Kinda makes you wonder how they did so well as civilizations until communist takeovers within the last 50-100 years. Evolution surely was with them since 1900 BC; see Hovind's date for the Tower of Babel). According to Hovind, evolution also made an easy entry into these cultures, as it did not challenge the existing religions. It is interesting that there is no mention of evolution in Chinese or Indian literature, and that it took a couple of mid-nineteenth century Europeans to formulate the theory of evolution!     After a page of digression about how to reach people who have been brainwashed by evolution, Hovind takes on the early Christians. Clement tried to make God a pantheist God; the Alexandrians rewrote parts of the Bible; Origen taught Genesis as a myth; Augustine was a theistic evolutionist. Islam is squeezed in here also, and it is alleged that this religion accepts evolution. Tell that one to your favorite Islamic fundamentalist! No supporting evidence or references are given for any of these assertions.     Hovind then concentrates on the secular, early evolutionary thinkers, and it is here that the poor writing style is most evident. These short, choppy biographies include more commentary on lifestyle than on science. Since I am precluded from direct quotations, but want to make the reader aware of the style, here is the identical sentence structure of one of the biographies, substituting Charles Darwin as the subject of the biographical sketch: He was born in 1809 and died about 1880. He was very anti-Christian and tried to influence anyone he could not to believe in God. He was very full of godless ideas. He was a very avid agnostic, racist, and an evolutionist. He believed in a great infinite age of the universe. He was very influential in furthering the ideas of evolution, particularly in the country of England.

First we will look at the subject of money. Lack of billions of dollars is the Achilles heel to [sic] Democrats. If there isn't a lot of money, the argument is absolutely over. Money is essential to the Democrats. Their entire argument is built on the premise that there is plenty of money.    

--- There is no original research presented. --- Large portions of the dissertation are repeated. Formatting errors are rampant. --- References are absent.   --- Spelling errors that are typical of high school (but not college) writing are present in this document. --- The writing style, "popular" or not, is typical of high school-level writing, not college, and certainly not postgraduate. The writing style, as well as Hovind's lectures, are reminiscent of drive-by shootings, where many disjointed topics are presented in rapid-fire order (so as to not allow the reader or listener to really think about any particular topic).

Kent Hovind says (in his statement above) that he doesn't care whether he is addressed as "Mr." or "hey you" by the scoffers. In fact, his Ph.D. is very precious to him or he would not be listed as "Dr. Kent Hovind" in the Pensacola, FL, phone book (it is very unusual for a person with a Ph.D., even a real one, to do this). One has only to look at his itinerary to substantiate my claim that being called "Doctor" is very important to him. It is certainly possible for a person to acquire expertise in a scientific field by studying that topic independently. However, such a person does not claim to have an advanced degree in the field.  There is NO EVIDENCE that Kent Hovind has more than a college sophomore level of course work in ANY science. There is NO EVIDENCE from his thesis that he is widely-read in the areas of evolution, astronomy, geology, paleontology or even the history of science beyond what is written in a few young-Earth creationist books. There is ABUNDANT EVIDENCE that the requirements for a Ph.D. degree from Patriot University fall far below those of typical secular or religious institutions. Ask yourself whether you would visit a medical doctor, an auto mechanic, a plumber, or an investment counsellor with similar dubious credentials. If so, then Hovind is your science guy! Or see him for what he is, the snake-oil salesman, peddling salvation and pseudo science in the late 20th century and even unto the 21st century. I join the ever-growing list of those who challenge Kent Hovind to clarify his background in the sciences and participate in an in-depth, web-based discussion of his assertions and ideas. This Ph.D. dissertation might be a good place to start. References 1. Davidson, K. Carl Sagan: a Life . New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1999. 2. Hovind, K. Available from http://web.archive.org/web/20010816220051/www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc13.jsp . Accessed 1-10-00. 3. Patriot University 1998 Course Catalog. Addendum: my qualifications to assess the dissertation Mr. Skip Evans acquired a copy of Kent Hovind's Ph.D. thesis from Patriot University in March of 1999 (the dissertation was released with the permission of the author). Mr. Evans requested input from several people who have written Ph.D. theses or who have advised people on their theses. My own Ph.D. (in organic chemistry) was completed in 1988.  

I proof read and critiqued my husband's entomology Ph.D., have read and critiqued two other organic chemistry Ph.D. theses and have read other theses in a variety of fields. For the last eight years I have been on the faculty of a small liberal arts college that emphasizes writing across the curriculum. Our curriculum includes designated "writing" courses where writing excellence is expected. Even though my subject area is chemistry, I teach two of these "W" courses, and am quite accustomed to assessing college-level writing. Furthermore, some of our students transfer from Hovind's first "alma mater", Illinois Central College, so I am aware of the level of writing expertise typical of a 20-year-old student from Central Illinois. I am also well-acquainted with Hovind's website and presentations.

NOTE:  My Ph.D. thesis contains the following statement:  "In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment for a doctoral degree at Montana State University, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under the rules of the Library.  I further agree that copying of this thesis is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with 'fair use' as described in the U.S. Copyright Law.  Requests for extensive copying should be referred to University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48106, to whom I have granted 'the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute copies of the dissertation in and from microfilm and the right to reproduce and distribute by abstract in any format.'"   There are tens of thousands of Ph.D. dissertations archived at University Microfilms.

Intensification of evaporation of uranium hexafluoride

• Chemical Engineering Science and Chemical Cybernetics
• Published: 14 August 2013
• Volume 47 , pages 499–504, ( 2013 )

Cite this article

• A. M. Belyntsev 1 ,
• G. S. Sergeev 2 ,
• O. B. Gromov 2 ,
• A. A. Bychkov 1 ,
• A. V. Ivanov 2 ,
• S. I. Kamordin 3 ,
• P. I. Mikheev 4 ,
• V. I. Nikonov 2 ,
• I. V. Petrov 1 ,
• V. A. Seredenko 2 ,
• S. P. Starovoitov 1 ,
• S. A. Fomin 1 ,
• V. G. Frolov 1 &
• V. F. Kholin 2  

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The theoretical mechanism of the sublimation of uranium hexafluoride are considered. The most contribution to the rate of evaporation of UF 6 is introduced by the conductive mode of heat exchange. Various modes of the intensification of the evaporation of uranium hexafluoride during the nitrogen supply in pulse mode to the product mass are investigated. The nitrogen supply results in the turbulization of gas flow within a vessel (Re = 2500–4000) and significantly increases the rate of evaporation of uranium hexafluoride with the substantial decrease in a weight of the nonevaporable residue of 5.6–1.0 kg. The complex application of the pulse nitrogen supply in combination with heating the bottom of the vessel is the most effective method for evaporating uranium hexafluoride. The rate of evaporation of UF6 increases by a factor of almost four in comparison with the design mode. The developed methods are applied in industry and provide the stable operation of Saturn reactors during the conversion of uranium hexafluoride into its dioxide.

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A. M. Belyntsev, A. A. Bychkov, I. V. Petrov, S. P. Starovoitov, S. A. Fomin & V. G. Frolov

Leading Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Moscow, Russia

G. S. Sergeev, O. B. Gromov, A. V. Ivanov, V. I. Nikonov, V. A. Seredenko & V. F. Kholin

Bochvar All-Russia Research Institute of Inorganic Materials, Moscow, Russia

S. I. Kamordin

Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow, Russia

P. I. Mikheev

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Original Russian Text © A.M. Belyntsev, G.S. Sergeev, O.B. Gromov, A.A. Bychkov, A.V. Ivanov, S.I. Kamordin, P.I. Mikheev, V.I. Nikonov, I.V. Petrov, V.A. Seredenko, S.P. Starovoitov, S.A. Fomin, V.G. Frolov, V.F. Kholin, 2011, published in Khimicheskaya Tekhnologiya, 2011, Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 675–681.

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Belyntsev, A.M., Sergeev, G.S., Gromov, O.B. et al. Intensification of evaporation of uranium hexafluoride. Theor Found Chem Eng 47 , 499–504 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040579513040040

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Received : 25 January 2011

Published : 14 August 2013

Issue Date : July 2013

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1134/S0040579513040040

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• uranium hexafluoride
• sublimation
• turbulization of gas flow
• rate of evaporation of UF 6
• conversion UF 6 within N 2
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