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From April 2005 Scientific American. I hope everyone agrees that this
is fair use.
Eric Siegel
Executive VP
Programs and Planning
NY Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
www.nyscience.org
Copyright Scientific American April 2005
SA Perspectives There’s no easy way to admit this. For years, helpful
letter writers told us to stick to science. They pointed out that
science and politics don’t mix. They said we should be more balanced
in our presentation of such issues as creationism, missile defense and
global warming. We resisted their advice and pretended not to be stung
by the accusations that the magazine should be renamed Unscientifi c
American, or Scientifi c Unamerican, or even Unscientifi c Unamerican.
But spring is in the air, and all of nature is turning over a new
leaf, so there’s no better time to say: you were right, and we were
wrong. In retrospect, this magazine’s coverage of socalled evolution
has been hideously one-sided. For decades, we published articles in
every issue that endorsed the ideas of Charles Darwin and his cronies.
True, the theory of common descent through natural selection has been
called the unifying concept for all of biology and one of the
greatest scientifi c ideas of all time, but that was no excuse to be
fanatics about it. Where were the answering articles presenting the
powerful case for scientifi c creationism? Why were we so unwilling to
suggest that dinosaurs lived 6,000 years ago or that a cataclysmic fl
ood carved the Grand Canyon? Blame the scientists. They dazzled us
with their fancy fossils, their radiocarbon dating and their tens of
thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles. As editors, we had no
business being persuaded by mountains of evidence. Moreover, we
shamefully mistreated the Intelligent Design (ID) theorists by lumping
them in with creationists. Creationists believe that God designed all
life, and that’s a somewhat religious idea. But ID theorists think
that at unspecifi ed times some unnamed superpowerful entity designed
life, or maybe just some species, or maybe just some of the stuff in
cells. That’s what makes ID a superior scientifi c theory: it doesn’t
get bogged down in details. Good journalism values balance above all
else. We owe it to our readers to present everybody’s ideas equally
and not to ignore or discredit theories simply because they lack
scientifi cally credible arguments or facts. Nor should we succumb to
the easy mistake of thinking that scientists understand their fi elds
better than, say, U.S. senators or best-selling novelists do. Indeed,
if politicians or special-interest groups say things that seem untrue
or misleading, our duty as journalists is to quote them without
comment or contradiction. To do otherwise would be elitist and
therefore wrong. In that spirit, we will end the practice of
expressing our own views in this space: an editorial page is no place
for opinions. Get ready for a new Scientifi c American. No more
discussions of how science should inform policy. If the government
commits blindly to building an anti-ICBM defense system that can’t
work as promised, that will waste tens of billions of taxpayers’
dollars and imperil national security, you won’t hear about it from
us. If studies suggest that the administration’s antipollution measures
would actually increase the dangerous particulates that people breathe
during the next two decades, that’s not our concern. No more
discussions of how policies affect science either—so what if the
budget for the National Science Foundation is slashed? This magazine
will be dedicated purely to science, fair and balanced science, and
not just the science that scientists say is science. And it will start
on April Fools’ Day. Okay, We Give Up
A T T CO LLI NS
On Mar 28, 2005, at 2:21 PM, David Smith wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> ***********************************************************************
> ******
>
> Oh ye of scientific(?) mind...
>
> Kindly evaluate whether the probability is higher that
>
> a) Scientific American has actually decided that creationism is science
>
> or
>
> b) The issue date (April) means that the editors were pulling on a limb
> likely descended from the rear flippers of certain bony fish
>
> I'll double check tonight (the issue is sitting on my dining room
> table,
> but I've got my money on b).
>
> Dave
>
> David L Smith
> Director of Professional Development
> Da Vinci DiscoveryCenter of Science and Technology
> http://www.discovery-center.org
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wayne Watson
> Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 1:17 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Scientific American Throws in the Towel
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> ***********************************************************************
> *
> *****
>
> Sadly, Scientific Magazine has thrown in the towel. What a pity. See
> <http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=000E555C
> -4387-1
> 237-81CB83414B7FFE9F&colID=2>.
> Pardon me for jumping the gun on this.
> --
> Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City,
> CA)
> (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
> Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
>
> "I know that defies the law of gravity, but, you see, I
> never
> studied the law of gravity." -- Bugs Bunny
>
> Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
> Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at
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