A physicist's outreach for evolution


Writing in the July 2006 issue of Physics Today, Murray Peshkin describes his experiences in speaking to small groups -- "service clubs such as Rotary, high-school and college students of science and science journalism, a school-based community event, a League of Women Voters chapter, a Unitarian church, and a microscopy club" -- about science, religion, and evolution education. "The response to my talks has been almost uniformly positive," he reports. "It would be useful for other physicists to do as I have been doing."

Peshkin explains, "I am not trying to convert the convinced anti-evolutionist. I am trying to inform people about the issues and their importance. That goal is important for scientists because the integrity of science teaching in our public schools is under serious attack. So far, the courts have mostly come to the rescue, but in the end public opinion will carry the day. Reasonable people need to know what science is about, especially what an established scientific theory is and how scientists know when it's right."