Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience, & What Makes Us Human, by Matt Ridley (HarperCollins, 336 pp., $25.95) This is a very strange book, and I am not quite sure what the author is attempting to achieve. At the very least it appears that he wants to shore up genetic determinism as the key factor in understanding human nature and individual Read More ›
Are students learning the whole truth about Darwin’s theory of evolution? According to a growing number of scientists, the surprising answer is no. They claim that many of the most famous “Icons of Evolution” — including Darwin’s “Tree of Life”, finches from the Galapagos Islands, and embryos that look remarkably similar — are based on outdated research and sloppy logic. Read More ›
Contact: Mark Edwards — 206.292.0401 x107 — medwards@discovery.org SEATTLE–After months of debate, the Ohio State Board of Education has adopted science standards that require Ohio students to know why “scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.” The Board unanimously approved the science standards this morning. Calling this provision in Ohio’s science standards “historic,” Dr. Stephen C. Read More ›
Sunday, February 17 at 9:00 PBS viewers will be treated to an historical account of the famous Scopes Trial called Monkey Trial. According to the advance billing, “Monkey Trial explores the dramatic moment when a new fault line opened in society as scientific discoveries began to challenge the literal truth of the Bible. Often humorous and at times frightening, the Read More ›
After Congress adopted a landmark statement in December calling for students to be exposed to a diversity of views when topics “such as biological evolution” are taught, a pro-Darwin group is absurdly trying to claim victory through creative reinterpretation of the legislative record. In the Conference Report attached to the education reform bill passed in December, Congress declared that “where Read More ›
An important part of the current controversy over the theoretical status of evolutionary theory concerns its moral implications. Does evolutionary theory undermine traditional morality, or does it support it? Does it suggest that infanticide is natural (as Steven Pinker asserts) or is it a bulwark against liberal relativism (as Francis Fukuyama argues)? Does it rest on a universe devoid of Read More ›
(For orignal online text click here) Poor Charles Darwin. He was a kind, gentle soul–decent to a fault, some have said–yet he keeps getting cast as the Antichrist. The latest equation of Darwinism with godlessness comes in Ohio, where some members of the state school board want to downgrade the theory of natural selection in the biology curriculum guidelines. If Read More ›
