"Teaching evolution has a bright future in the U.S."

The seven scientists asked to testify for the defense in the Scopes trial.

The seven scientists asked to testify for the defense in the Scopes trial. Smithsonian Institution on Flickr.

Writing for Scientific American (January 24, 2025) — just a day before the 100th anniversary of the birth of the evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky — NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch argued that today, a century after the Scopes trial, teaching evolution has a bright future in the United States.

Acknowledging "the occasional outbreak of explicit attacks and a background level of implicit hostility across the country," Branch nevertheless observed that "creationist attacks on evolution education are on the wane, adding, "Acceptance of evolution became a majority position among the American public more than a decade ago, according to multiple independent polls, and there are signs of a shift even among religious communities that have been traditionally hostile to evolution."

"In short, a century after Scopes's eight-day trial ended," Branch concluded, alluding to Dobzhansky's famous dictum, "there's now reason to hope that someday every student in the U.S.'s public schools will be in a position to appreciate that nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."

Glenn Branch
Short Bio

Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE.

branch@ncse.ngo