Science Is Constantly Evolving

Discover the latest in climate change and evolution education news.

Ernst Mayr dies
NCSE joins the worldwide scientific community in mourning the death of Ernst Mayr, a towering figure in twentieth-century biology, on February 3, 2005, in Bedford, Massachusetts, at the age of 100. In more than twenty books and hundred of scientific papers, Mayr made fundamental empirical and…
"Alternative Theories" Legislation ��� Again
On February 8, 2005, a pair of bills — House Bill 352 and Senate Bill 240 — was introduced in the Alabama legislature, under the rubric of "The Academic Freedom Act." Virtually identical, these bills purport to protect the right of teachers "to present scientific critiques of prevailing scientific…
"Alternatives to evolution" language dropped
According to the Associated Press [Link broken], a South Carolina education subcommittee removed the provision from S 114 that would have established a South Carolina Science Standards Committee to "study standards regarding the teaching of the origin of species; determine whether there is…
Teachers Torn Over Religion, Evolution
Writing in the February 2, 2005, issue of Education Week, Sean Cavanagh discusses "Teachers Torn Over Religion, Evolution" (registration required). Beginning with the teachers in Dover, Pennsylvania, who recently refused to read the antievolution disclaimer mandated by the school board…
Forrest in Church and State
Barbara Forrest was interviewed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State about her book (coauthored with Paul R. Gross) Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design (Oxford University Press, 2004). An excerpt from the interview will appear in the February…
Evolution Takes a Back Seat in U.S. Classes
An important article by Cornelia Dean in the Science section of the February 1, 2005, issue of The New York Times details a common, but rarely recognized, form of evolution censorship in the United States: self-censorship. In her article, "Evolution Takes a Back Seat in U.S. Classes,"…
Newsweek feature story on evolution, "intelligent design," Steves
The February 7, 2005, issue of Newsweek contains a feature story about recent attempts across the country to insert "intelligent design" into public school science classrooms. "Doubting Darwin," by Newsweek Senior Editor Jerry Adler, begins with the controversy in Dover,…
New antievolution legislation
House Bill 179, introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives on January 27, 2005, would require "Whenever any theory of the origin of human beings or other living things is included in a course of study offered by a local unit of administration, factual scientific evidence supporting or…
Op-ed columns on the Cobb County disclaimer
A trio of op-ed columns greeted the January 13, 2005, ruling in Selman et al. v. Cobb County School District et al., in which U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper deemed that the evolution disclaimer required in the Cobb County School District violated the Establishment Clause of the…

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The National Center for Science Education is the only national organization that specializes in defending the teaching of controversial issues (such as evolution and climate change) in public schools. Because of our special expertise and experience, NCSE is often cotacted by members of the press who are writing about the evolution/creationism controversy, or about the teaching of global warming and other climate science issues that have come under political attack. Our staff can provide reliable information about creationism, evolution, climate change, and the state of science education in the United States.

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