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Great job, Jeffrey.    The deadlines I imposed was pretty arbitrary, so  
none of us should sweat it in the short haul.  In the long haul we need  
to be clear to our public.   It's still worth doing a second round, if  
anyone has the energy and the writing skills, to take the best of the  
material presented so far and make an even better version.    Posting  
such a statement- level headed, TRUTHFUL, and informative is such an  
easy way for all science centers to deal with misconceptions of science  
and evolution without losing visitors that I suggest to everyone that  
this is a path of least resistance.  Make a good looking copy, put it  
on a kiosk, (no budget? Put it on a music stand!) and leave it in one  
of your halls even by itself.

What should the title be?  Evolution is Science?  Science and Evolution?

The title is important.

Clifford


On Apr 9, 2005, at 7:58 PM, Kodi Jeffery wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *********************************************************************** 
> ******
>
> I know I'm past the "official due date" for science centers'  
> statements regarding evolution, but I decided it was worth offering my  
> suggestion, regardless. It's longer than I'd like (373 words), but I'm  
> having trouble finding a place to shorten it -- unless it was to cut  
> one or both of the last two (very short) paragraphs. I think that  
> opinions might differ as to whether to keep them, so I'm offering the  
> whole thing, here. I'd love to hear suggestions on ways to better it  
> and hope people find it useful. (I admit to wondering whether visitors  
> might be willing to read a longer piece of text if it were regarding a  
> topic of concern to them -- and I think we'd all agree that evolution  
> is a topic of concern to many of our visitors).
>
> Kodi Jeffery, Ph.D
> Informal Science Educator
> Currently seeking employment
>
> Science is about testing ideas. In fact, if there's no way to test an  
> idea's validity, that idea can't be considered science. Some ideas can  
> be tested directly, such as whether a certain medicine can destroy  
> cancer cells. Others can't be controlled the same way, but as long as  
> there are ways to apply discriminating testing, the ideas can still be  
> scientific. Copernicus' idea of a sun-centered solar system was heresy  
> among people who considered Earth the center of the universe. But  
> despite being unable to control the planets for tests, scientists  
> could still make predictions based on this idea. They could predict  
> eclipses and explain phases of the moon and intricate planetary  
> motions. And the more people could explain and predict, the stronger  
> this idea became. Eventually, it became a theory, in the proper sense  
> of the word: the very highest "achievement" of any idea in science.
>
> A valid theory explains huge amounts of data; it is then used to make  
> further predictions and design new tests. The more we study and learn,  
> the better we can refine and validate the theory. Evolutionary theory  
> has been used to synthesize data from geology to microbiology. It has  
> synthesized huge amounts of widely disparate data, and scientists use  
> it to make seemingly endless predictions and plans. For example,  
> evolution helps us understand why antibiotics stop working after a  
> period of time and helps us plan new strategies for future  
> medications. If this theory had failed in a prediction or explanation,  
> even once, scientists would have had to revise or even discard the  
> theory. But the idea has held strong, despite decades of rigorous  
> testing, so much so that it has become the unifying theory of biology.  
> Without it, nothing makes sense.
>
> Contrary to popular conceptions, science takes no stand on religion.  
> People once believed a sun-centered solar system conflicted with their  
> religious beliefs, but they eventually realized that science was  
> merely explaining the natural processes that make our world work.
>
> As a science center, we respect the most basic tenets of science,  
> namely that we must keep an open mind while we test our world, then  
> let those tests teach us what they will. Evolutionary theory continues  
> to teach us new things every day.
>
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