The first was the assassination of the Romanovs. I have yet to find an objective investigation of the events, and I was wondering if you could please clarify what exactly took place or if you could recommend any literature on the subject.

The second event mentioned was a supposed election that took place after the Bolsheviks came to power in which Lenin lost. Supposedly, he ignored the results of the election and declared himself president. Needless to say, I have never heard of this mystery election.

Perhaps you could explain to what my friend was referring, or if this is just another made-up story to discredit the socialist revolution.

G.M. by e-mail
 
 
Book on Albizu Campos
The organizers of the event at Hunter College, New York, at which I spoke, which you covered [see "New York forum discusses Puerto Rico struggle," June 5 issue], circulated a flyer that stated incorrectly that I was the co-author with compañera Ruth Reynolds of ¡Yo acuso! Tortura y asesinato de don Pedro Albizu Campos [I Accuse! The Torture and Murder of Pedro Albizu Campos].

If this were true, it would be an honor for me, but this is not the case.

The person who introduced me that evening omitted the error, and indicated that I am the sole author of the work referred to; and I assumed, erroneously, that the organizers' error would not spread.

I am concerned that this may have created the impression that I chose not to include the dear, deceased compañera as a co-author in order to steal the credit since she is no longer with us.

Pedro Aponte Vázquez
San Juan, Puerto Rico
 
Editor's reply--We regret the error. The book by Aponte, on the U.S. government's mistreatment of Puerto Rican independence fighter Pedro Albizu Campos in its prisons, which destroyed his health and led to his death in 1965, has come out in an expanded Spanish-language edition (San Juan: Publicaciones René, 1998).
 
 
Engels on evolution
In his article on the scientific and political debates over teaching evolution (August 28 issue), Brian Williams correctly characterizes the two camps in the scientific debate as those supporting a materialist, orthodox-Darwinian viewpoint on evolution versus those who seek to inject a teleological "purpose" into the evolutionary process. But he errs in lumping all those who think that the evolution of advanced life was "likely from the start" in the teleological camp.

Frederick Engels in his introduction to The Dialectics of Nature explains that the evolution of organic beings with a brain capable of conscious thought was--at some point in space and time--not just "likely," but an "iron necessity," as certain as is the eventual extinction of all terrestrial life. And there is nothing whatsoever teleological in Engels's view.

Unlike Engels, Stephen Jay Gould argues in his book Full House that there is nothing lawful or necessary about the evolution of higher, more complex organisms from lower ones. This fallacy of Gould's provides the teleological 'supporters' of evolution with the opening they crave.

While Gould's books are a rich source for working people seeking a materialist and scientific understanding of the world, the scientific insights offered by the revolutionary fighter Engels a hundred years earlier remain unsurpassed. I recommend The Dialectics of Nature to anyone following this debate, in particular the introduction, "The Part Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man," and the small sections on "Chance and Necessity" and "Causality."

James Robb
Auckland, New Zealand

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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