PRESTOPUNDIT

I HAVE NO SYMPATHY for the attack on science represented by the anti-Darwinists. Natural selection is the best explanation for the fact of evolution. It's also an incredibly well supported explanation for this fact. As a philosopher of science who's taught the topic in the classroom, I have little patience for the philosophical balderdash of the the William Jennings Bryan Republicans who are working to further weaken the scientific education of kids in government schools. Quotable:

Propelled by a polished strategy crafted by activists on America's political right, a battle is intensifying across the nation over how students are taught about the origins of life. Policymakers in 19 states are weighing proposals that question the science of evolution. The proposals typically stop short of overturning evolution or introducing biblical accounts. Instead, they are calculated pleas to teach what advocates consider gaps in long-accepted Darwinian theory, with many relying on the idea of intelligent design, which posits the central role of a creator .. Polls show that a large majority of Americans believe God alone created man or had a guiding hand. Advocates invoke the First Amendment and say the current campaigns are partly about respect for those beliefs. "It's an academic freedom proposal. What we would like to foment is a civil discussion about science. That falls right down the middle of the fairway of American pluralism," said the Discovery Institute's Stephen C. Meyer, who believes evolution alone cannot explain life's unfurling. "We are interested in seeing that spread state by state across the country."

There is deep scientific and philosophical illiteracy on this topic -- none of it justified in a country will such easy access to good books in this area. I might suggest any of the following:

Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science by National Academy of Sciences Staff

Can a Darwinian be a Christian? : The Relationship between Science and Religion by Michael Ruse

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion by Edward Larson

But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy edited by Michael Ruse

Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism by Philip Kitcher

Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences by National Academy Of Sciences

The Triumph of Evolution: And the Failure of Creationism by Niles Eldredge

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner

Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism by Robert Pennock

And Michael Ruse has a new one coming out that will be a must read for anyone interested in the controversy over Darwin's explanation for the fact of evolution:

The Evolution-Creation Struggle by Michael Ruse

Some other books on the general topic:

One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought by Ernst Mayr

(in my humble opinion the best little book ever written on Charles Darwin and the theory of natural selection)

Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel Dennett

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins

Posted by Greg Ransom