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Darwin-on-Trial

Darwin On Trial

Darwin on Trial was responsible for alerting many among the public and in the scientific community to the deficiencies of Darwinism. UC Berkeley Law Professor and Program Advisor for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, Phillip E. Johnson applies his skills as an analyzer of evidence to ask if Darwin’s theory holds up to scrutiny. Johnson begins by recognizing Read More ›

Conflating Matter and Mind

I’ve been asked to respond to criticisms of my paper “Converting Matter into Mind” (PSCS, Dec 90). My reaction to these criticisms is this: “Yes, I could have been more careful in some details and choice of terminology, but the substance of my position is unaffected.” The critics were guilty of two faults. First was a failure to read my Read More ›

Darwinism and the Argument to Design

The controversy between Christianity and Darwinism involves a number of complex issues. One of these is a conflict over design. According to the received view, the root of the conflict is that Darwinism undermines the argument that God’s existence can be proved from design in living things. It seems to me that there is a basic conflict between Christianity and Read More ›

inventing-the-flat-earth-noble

Inventing the Flat Earth

Neither Christopher Columbus nor his contemporaries thought the earth was flat. Yet this curious illusion persists today, firmly established with the help of the media, textbooks, teachers ― even noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earthis Russell’s attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages, examining what Columbus and his contemporaries actually Read More ›

Event Archives

Events which have not yet been migrated to our new system can be viewed here. Read More ›

Converting Matter into Mind

Introduction In the Foundations of Cognitive Science Herbert Simon and Craig Kaplan offer the following definition: Cognitive science is the study of intelligence and intelligent systems, with particular reference to intelligent behavior as computation. Since this definition hinges on the dual notions of intelligence and computation, it remains scientifically unobjectionable so long as one declines to prejudge the relation between Read More ›

microcosm-george-gilder

Microcosm

George Gilder’s Microcosm is the crystal ball of the next technological era. Leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs provide vivid accounts of the latest inventions, revealing how the new international balance of power really lies in information technology. Ranging from computer chips to the greatest minds of Silicon Valley, George Gilder explores every aspect of today’s unprecedented technological and entrepreneurial revolution. Microcosm contains Read More ›

Bush, Mulroney Should Embrace Thatcher

Just six months ago on the eve of her 10th anniversary in office British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seemed invincible. Today she looks politically vulnerable and there is something that Mr. Bush and Mr. Mulroney of Canada could — and should — do to help. Mrs. Thatcher’s political isolation has come about in part because of her dispute with European Read More ›

teaching controversy
Group of teenagers and male teacher at classroom talking and discussing together
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Teaching the Controversy

Public schools face a dilemma when they address the subject of biological origins. From the Scopes "Monkey Trial" (1925) to the Supreme Court's opinion in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), the teaching of biological origins has put the public schools in the awkward role of resolving a controversy that divides scientists, educators, and the courts. While the experts debate the issues, and the media sometimes inflame the controversy, school boards, administrators, and teachers must still answer the question, What should we teach our students about how living organisms arose on earth? Read More ›