ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

 From the National  Center for Science Education.



A Wellcome resource on evolution
The January 2007 issue of Big Picture -- a publication of the 
Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom that seeks to provide 
high-school students with "up-to-date information on research 
findings in biomedicine, and the social and ethical implications of 
this research" -- is devoted to evolution. The first page of the 
lively and colorful sixteen-page issue (PDF) explains the plan: "Why 
does Darwinian evolution raise controversy when, say, quantum 
mechanics scarcely registers on the public consciousness? This issue 
of Big Picture looks at the theory of evolution, the evidence that 
supports it, unanswered questions and the history of public reaction."
Included are discussions of the history of the development of 
evolutionary theory, the tree of life, evolution in action (including 
pathogen evolution), current unanswered questions (including the 
origin of life and the relevance of evolutionary explanations to 
human behavior), and the social and religious impact of evolution in 
Darwin's day and in our own. Creationism is discussed in the latter 
section, with a discussion of the varying religious reactions to 
evolution, a brief treatment of creationism (singling out the 1925 
Scopes trial and the 2005 trial in Kitzmiller v. Dover as the 
landmark events), and a discussion of the nature of science. The 
Wellcome Trust is an independent charity funding research to improve 
human and animal health.

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/assets/wtd026042.pdf

Martin
-- 
Martin Weiss, Ph.D
Vice President, Science
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111 th Street
Corona, New York 11368
718 699 0005 x 356

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]