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To ASA members:
The following message, which reached me from History of Science Society
channels, will interest many, I suspect.
I mainly agree with the suggestion toward the end, about clearly delineating
evolution from athestic interpretations of same, but have not yet decided
whether I will comment on it in HSS circles.
Ted Davis
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Reply-To: History of Science Society <hssexec@u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.3.95b.980128110446.128296D-100000@homer11.u.washington.edu>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 14:50:22 -0500
From: History of Science Society <hssexec@u.washington.edu>
To: helden@es.rice.edu
Cc: Bowdoin_Van_Riper@atlmug.org,richard.kremer@dartmouth.edu,
guerrini@humanitas.ucsb.edu, davidw@iastate.edu,
TDavis@mcis.messiah.edu, j.cain@ucl.ac.uk
Subject: an educational/legislative concern in WA
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Dear Al,
It was recently brought to our attention that a group of WA State Senators
have introduced a bill to the State Legisture requiring that
all science textbooks purchased with state funds must have the
following notice "placed prominently" in them:
"A MESSAGE FROM THE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE
This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial
theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for
the origin of living things, such as plants, animals, and
humans.
No one was present when life first appeared on earth.
Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be
considered as theory, not fact.
The word "evolution" may refer to many types of change.
Evolution describes changes that occur within a species.
(White moths, for example, may "evolve" into gray moths.) This
process is microevolution, which can be observed and described
as fact. Evolution may also refer to the change of one living
thing to another, such as reptiles into birds. This process,
called macroevolution, has never been observed and should be
considered a theory. Evolution also refers to the unproven
belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of
living things.
There are many unanswered questions about the origin of
life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including:
- Why did the major groups of animals suddenly appear in the
fossil record (known as the "Cambrian Explosion")?
- Why have no new major groups of living things appeared in
the fossil record for a long time?
- Why do major groups of plants and animals have no
transitional forms in the fossil record?
- How did you and all living things come to possess such a
complete and complex set of "Instructions" for building a
living body?
Study hard and keep an open mind. Someday, you may
contribute to the theories of how living things appeared on
earth."
***************************************
The local history of science and science education communities are
concerned about the chilling effect this legislation may have on
classroom discussions about natural selection and evolution. I wonder if
as HSS President you might wish to compose a general letter of concern to
the Senators in question, voicing the general concern of our membership
about legislative actions which may negatively impact educators' efforts
to stimulate meaningful discussion about some of the most important
scientific ideas of our time. (If a cautionary message is to appear in
every textbook purchased by public schools in Washington, one might at
least hope that it would be better crafted than the proposed text, which
-- it seems to me -- serves only to reify the transformative connotation
of a term which has in other ages described rather different phenomena.
Wouldn't a brief historical survey of the term's use better instruct
students about the contingency of evolution's association with "godless"
philosophies of change?)
The bill in question was presented to the Senate in mid-January and has
been referred to the Senate Committee on Education.
It may well be that letters from local constituents will have more
influence on the Senators' actions than would a letter from the head of a
national organization -- but because the HSS's Executive Office is
currently located in Washington, I wonder if a word from the President
wouldn't be appropriate...
Best wishes,
Constance Malpas
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History of Science Society Founded in 1924, Constituent of the American
Executive Office Council of Learned Societies
Keith R. Benson, Exec. Sec'y. Official Publications: ISIS, OSIRIS
University of Washington
Box 351330 URL: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~hssexec/
Seattle, WA 98195-1330 E-mail: hssexec@u.washington.edu
206-543-9366/ 685-9544 (FAX)
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