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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Dear Friends of NCSE,
A special mid-week evolution education update. Featured today: a new
article on scientific literacy and the creationism/evolution controversy.
"SCIENTIFIC ILLITERACY AND THE PARTISAN TAKEOVER OF BIOLOGY"
To read "Scientific Illiteracy and the Partisan Takeover of Biology," visit:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040167
A new article in PLoS Biology (April 18, 2006) discusses the state of
scientific literacy in the United States, with especial attention to the
survey research of Jon D. Miller, who directs the Center for Biomedical
Communications at Northwestern University Medical School.
"To measure public acceptance of the concept of evolution," the article
explains, "Miller has been asking adults if 'human beings, as we know them,
developed from earlier species of animals' since 1985. He and his
colleagues purposefully avoid using the now politically charged word
'evolution' in order to determine whether people accept the basics of
evolutionary theory. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of Americans
who reject this concept has declined (from 48% to 39%), as has the
proportion who accept it (45% to 40%). Confusion, on the other hand, has
increased considerably, with those expressing uncertainty increasing from
7% in 1985 to 21% in 2005."
In international surveys, the article reports, "[n]o other country has so
many people who are absolutely committed to rejecting the concept of
evolution," quoting Miller as saying, "We are truly out on a limb by
ourselves."
The "partisan takeover" of the title refers to the embrace of
antievolutionism by what the article describes as "the right-wing
fundamentalist faction of the Republican Party," noting, "In the 1990s, the
state Republican platforms in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Missouri, and Texas all included demands for teaching creation
science." NCSE is currently aware of eight state Republican parties that
have antievolutionism embedded in their official platforms or policies:
those of Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and
Texas. Five of them -- those of Alaska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and
Texas -- call for teaching forms of creationism in addition to evolution;
the remaining three call only for referring the decision whether to teach
such "alternatives" to local school districts.
A sidebar to the article, entitled "Evolution under Attack," discusses the
role of NCSE and its executive director Eugenie C. Scott in defending the
teaching of evolution. Scott explained the current spate of antievolution
activity as due in part to the rise of state science standards: "for the
first time in many states, school districts are faced with the prospect of
needing to teach evolution. ... If you don't want evolution to be taught,
you need to attack the standards." Commenting on the decision in
Kitzmiller v. Dover, Scott told PLoS Biology, "Intelligent design may be
dead as a legal strategy but that does not mean it is dead as a popular
social movement," urging scientists and educators to continue to resist to
the onslaught of the antievolution movement. "It's got legs," she
quipped. "It will evolve."
To read "Scientific Illiteracy and the Partisan Takeover of Biology," visit:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040167
--
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
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