IT IS two years since a judge in Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design (ID) should not be taught in public school science classes in the state. The decision was enough to deter other US school boards from adopting ID, a form of creationism which asserts that life鈥檚 complexity can only be explained through divine forces. But it does not mean that science has won the day.
Last November, a state education official in Texas claimed that her support for a pro-evolution academic led to her dismissal. Mike Huckabee, the Republican presidential hopeful who won this month鈥檚 Iowa caucus, answered 鈥渘o鈥� when asked if he believed in evolution; indeed, his views seem to lie close to ID. Crucially, many Americans agree with him. In a Gallup poll published last June, around half of those surveyed did not believe in evolution.
So it is good to see the US National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine tackling this issue with a new book called Science, Evolution and Creationism (available from ). Such a move would not usually inspire great hope: when science organisations speak directly to the public their message, though thoughtfully constructed, is often widely ignored. Hopefully this book will buck that trend, for two important reasons.
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First, its tone is confrontational only when dealing with the issue of teaching ID in schools. On the broader question of 鈥渟cience versus religion鈥�, the authors are at pains to avoid conflict. This is simple pragmatism. The US is a religious country and, as Glenn Branch of the advocacy group National Center for Science Education points out, if the issue was 鈥淕od versus science鈥� many Americans would choose God. Instead, the book highlights the many religious leaders who do not interpret creation stories literally, and do not view evolution as counter to their faith.
Equally important is the emphasis on topics that everyone cares about. The authors focus on why understanding evolution is critical to agriculture, medicine and specifically to tackling viruses such as SARS and HIV. They also stress that if Americans do not have a basic scientific literacy, which must include evolution, the nation will not be able to compete in the global knowledge economy.
That is unlikley to be enough to convince Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister. But at least making the link will help to highlight the idiocy of a political position that calls for America to lead the world while denying one of the foundation stones of scientific progress.
Evolution 鈥� Learn more about the struggle to survive in our comprehensive special report.
Focus on America 鈥� Delve into the science and technology questions facing the USA in our special report.