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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Charles Stout wrote:

======
Growing up in the Midwest, I met  many farmers and some ag researchers who
knew genetics, selection, hybridization, the lineage of cattle and horses
and peaches and blueberries;  they understood pathogen vectors and knew to
anticipate potential effects of chemical exposure among field researchers
and farm workers -- but they  still did'nt accept human evolution. It didn't
directly affect their lives or their practice.
======

Now THIS seems to play into one of the reasons we need to emphasize the
scientific process, not just the fact(oid)s when teaching science. When I do
the always popular glowing pickle demo, I tell audiences that two variables
which make the pickle a good conductor are salt and water... ergo one reason
to be super careful about safety with electricity is that the human body has
these same two variables in it, ergo, we also are conductors. It's not just
to keep some shmo from trying this very dangerous experiment at home, I try
to point out: if a process applies to something with X variables, it may
well apply equally well to something with the same variables. The people
Charles talks about apparently didn't think that the process they saw in
other living things applied to humans, even though we're pretty similar.

A few other things...

I also give props to Stephen Jay Gould's "Rocks of Ages", on how religion
and science are indeed different, but needn't be at each others' throats. I
was ticked off that a coworker was going to the ASTC conference in Tampa
some years back and I wasn't, because Gould was the keynote speaker. I told
her she was not allowed to return unless she got him to sign my copy of RoA.
(She did return.)

Many people have heard Einstein's quote about God not playing dice with the
cosmos... I wonder how many know that he was saying quantum mechanics
couldn't be true (and that he was wrong!) or that Einstein was a firm
atheist?

This story of the IMAX controversy was in The Hartford Courant today as
well. The headline referred to creationists as "Evolution Deniers" (I like
it!) but a critical reading of the text made it clear that there was no
specific hubbub raised by any such deniers, just a fearful anticipation of
same.

I, and others, have harshed on those who decided not to show the IMAX
Volcanoes flick, feeling they caved in when they shouldn't - and that's a
good point, IMHO. But I will say this: I don't know from personal
experience, but I can damn well infer that the climate created by some folks
in certain parts of the country is indeed a scary one. I hope I'm not
opening a can of worms here (*dons flameproof suit*) but Tom DeLay
jubilantly called the very tragic case of Terry Schiavo "a gift from God".
When a politician can think that the Almighty has done him a favor by
delivering the suffering of a woman and her family for political gain... I
can see why there might be just cause for fear of religious wackos.
KnowhadImean?

Jonah Cohen
Outreach & Public Programs Manager
Science Center of Connecticut

"If you hear only one song this year, there's something terribly wrong with
you."
    -They Might Be Giants

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