Alliance For Science

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will jointly release a new publication, Science, Evolution, and Creationism, at 11:00 AM EST on Friday, January 4, 2008. Members of the Clergy Letter Project who live in the Washington, DC area are cordially invited to the one hour public briefing for the release of this booklet, which will take place in the Lecture Room of the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2100 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Seating is limited. Click for Directions to the NAS building.

Note: The following review is based on a screening copy of Kansas Vs. Darwin, a documentary DVD about the evolution education hearings held in May of 2005 by a sub-committee of the Kansas State Board of Education. This review is provided for informational purposes, and should not be construed as a product endorsement.

I thought the documentary was very good. There is no narration; the story is told through interviews with the advocates on both sides of the controversy. There is music, which is well-integrated into the film. Although apparently a production of a small independent producer ("Unconditional Films"), it is done very professionally.

Throughout 2008 and into 2009 you will hear quite a bit about the topic of "Evolution and Racial Equality." The coincidence of Darwin's and Lincoln's 200th birthdays on Feb. 12, 2009 gives us in the Alliance for Science and other organizations an opportunity to focus on this important topic.

With this in mind, we are all invited to the Washington Theological Consortium symposium on "Evolution and Racial Equality" on SAT Nov. 10, from 9:30am - 2:00pm. Preregistration is required since a free lunch is provided. The attached flyer includes the registration form, which can be completed and emailed to: WTC@washtheocon.org.

The McGill Journal of Education has published a special issue dealing exclusively with the teaching and learning of biological (and geological & cosmological) evolution. This special issue features articles by Eugenie Scott, Robert Pennock, Randy Moore, Brian Alters, Craig Nelson, and several other internationally recognized experts on evolution education. The McGill Journal of Education (MJE) is a long-standing, internationally respected, fully peer-reviewed publication. This special issue was a project of the Evolution Education Research Centre (EERC) at McGill University (in co-operation with Harvard University). The EERC’s director is Brian Alters, most recently known for his participation as an expert witness in the Dover, PA Intelligent Design trial.

On Sunday, Oct 21st, the Alliance for Science held a casual “potluck” dinner at the Falls Church, Virginia Community Center. The gathering featured a talk by Dr. Michael Zimmerman, Dean of the College of Arts and Scientists at Butler University in Indiana, and founder of the Clergy Letter Project. Dr. Zimmerman spoke for about an hour to a small but enthusiastic audience.

He started by briefly recapping the major periods in the evolution-creationism struggle in America, starting with the “Scopes era” in the ‘20s, the “scientific creationism era” of the ‘70s and ‘80s, followed by the current “intelligent design era”. He noted that the current threat to education and science policy is more dangerous than ever before. The scientific creationists tried to explain the creation model in scientific terms. What they put forward was bad science, but they were still attempting to do science. However, modern intelligent design advocates are attempting to redefine science itself (so as to allow supernatural causes), and this violates the essential character of science.

The Alliance is sponsoring a talk by Dr. Connie Bertka, Program Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER). The presentation will dicuss efforts on the part of the AAAS DoSER Program to proactively engage religious communities around the issue of teaching evolution. Dr. Bertka holds a Ph.D in Geology and a Master of Theological Studies degree. See the event flyer for more detail

The March 31st submission deadline has arrived for the Alliance's 2007 National High School Essay Contest. We are truly grateful for the hard work put in by our contestants, and for the support given by participating teachers. There was a flurry of submissions in the last few days, with one essay arriving nine minutes before the deadline!

The essays will soon be sent to our judging committee, who will be rating the essays "blind", i.e. not knowing the name or any other information about the submitting students. We have alloted the month of April for our judges to do their work, and plan to announce the winners in early May.

Nikhil Rao, founder of Conservatives Against Intelligent Design, will give a talk at the Arlington Central Library on Tuesday, April 24th. The presentation will address:

• How evolution itself isn't a radical idea, it's just continually associated with radical or at least contentious ideas.
  
• How we can make evolution palatable ot religious conservatives by clarifying the difference between metaphysical and scientific knowledge.
  
• How biology education needs to be reformed so that people can approach the issue of evolution in an informed manner.

On February 26th, Dr. Mary McCutcheon of the Alliance for Science gave a talk on "Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design" at the Arlington Central Library. The event was a huge success, with the 180-seat auditorium filled to capacity. Mary gave a lively presentation well illustrated with slides and with a bit of humor to liven up what can be a very dry subject. Take a look at Mary's chart comparing the strict scientific method, young earth creationism, and intelligent design for a good example of Mary's witty and insightful presentation. Another humorous touch was her use of Mark Isaak's poem What Inerrists Believe.

The Alliance for Science is please to announce that it has recently joined the Coalition On the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS). COPUS is a grassroots effort linking universities, scientific societies, science advocacy groups, science media, science educators, businesses, and industry in a consortium having as its goal a greater public understanding of the nature of science and its value to society. This is an essential step in re-establishing the nation's leadership role in the national and global scientific enterprise. It is critical to ensuring the long-term social well-being of the American people.