NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/11/24
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-11-24 17:00.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Sad news of the death of paleoanthropologist Alan Walker. A new antiscience bill in Florida. A documentary about current threats to evolution education featuring Kenneth R. Miller. And a visit to Darwin's Backyard.
ALAN WALKER DIES The distinguished paleoanthropologist Alan Walker died on November 20, 2017, at the age of 79, according to a November 21, 2017, Facebook post from his wife Pat Shipman. A specialist in primate and human evolution, concentrating mainly on the Neogene record from East Africa, Walker was a member of Richard Leakey's team responsible for the discovery of Turkana (or Nariokotome) Boy in 1984 and the discoverer of the so-called Black Skull of Paranthropus aethiopicus in 1985. His publications included two popular books coauthored with Pat Shipman: The Wisdom of Bones: In Search of Human Origins (1996) and The Ape in the Tree: An Intellectual and Natural History of Proconsul (2005). As a leading paleoanthropologist, Walker is frequently quoted and misquoted by creationists seeking to portray any evidence of disagreement among paleoanthropologists as a confession of scientific bankruptcy. He is often quoted from a 1984 article in the Washington Post as saying, of Turkana Boy, "I'm not sure whether the average pathologist would notice any differences from a modern human," although creationists often fail to note that he was excluding the skull from his assessment and typically fail to discuss the later scientific literature examining the anatomical differences between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. While Walker seems not to have bothered to engage with such misrepresentations of his work in print, it is clear that he did not have any time for creationism. In The Wisdom of Bones, he and Shipman emphasized, "We are first and foremost mammals and have to operate under the same biological, physiological, and biochemical rules as any other mammal. There was no special creation for humans, and there are no special exemptions from the constraints of anatomy." He was also a member of NCSE. Walker was born in Leicester, England, on August 23, 1938. He earned his undergraduate degree in the natural sciences from Cambridge University in 1962 and his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Palaeontology from the University of London in 1967. During his career he taught in a variety of institutions in Britain, Africa, and the United States, ending his career at the Pennsylvania State University. His honors included a "genius" grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles R. Darwin Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Chicago. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. For Pat Shipman's obituary post, visit: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1488766644512552&set=a.104542172935013.10210.100001376930428 A NEW ANTISCIENCE BILL IN FLORIDA Florida's Senate Bill 966, prefiled on November 17, 2017, would, if enacted, require "c]ontroversial theories and concepts ... [to] be taught in a factual, objective, and balanced manner," while allowing local school districts to use either the state science standards or alternatives "equivalent to or more rigorous than" them. Although there is no indication in the bill about which "theories and concepts" are deemed to be "controversial," much less any guidance about adjudicating disputes about which are and which are not, it is suggestive that the bill's sole sponsor, Dennis Baxley (R-District 12), has a history of antievolution advocacy. In 2005, while serving in the Florida House of Representatives, Baxley introduced House Bill 837, concerning academic freedom in postsecondary education, reportedly citing a "tirade" against creationism he was subjected to as a student at Florida State University as the impetus for the bill. The bill ultimately died. Similarly, the Orlando Sentinel (November 20, 2017) reported, "Baxley, then [in 2008, when new science standards were adopted in Florida] executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, said at the time he wanted scientists to 'leave the door open a little bit' for the consideration of other evidence about how life on earth developed." Brandon Haught of Florida Citizens for Science commented, "There are plenty of other things in this new controversial theories bill about other academic subjects that could potentially raise alarms for those teachers and subject matter experts. But our focus is, of course, the clear attack on science education, specifically evolution and climate change." For the text of Florida's Senate Bill 966, visit: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/966/BillText/Filed/HTML For the Orlando Sentinel's story, visit: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/school-zone/os-florida-senate-evolution-science-standards-baxley-20171120-story.html For Brandon Haught's post at Florida Citizens for Science's blog, visit: http://www.flascience.org/wp/?p=2951 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Florida, visit: https://ncse.com/news/florida KENNETH R. MILLER ON CURRENT THREATS TO EVOLUTION EDUCATION Kenneth R. Miller, president of NCSE's board of directors and professor of biology at Brown University, features in a ten-minute documentary about current threats to evolution education, produced by Retro Report and hosted at The New York Times. Also appearing is activist Zack Kopplin, a recipient of NCSE's Friend of Darwin award. The documentary, as the Times (November 19, 2017) describes it, "shows the enduring strength of the forces that embrace the biblical account of Creation or reasonable facsimiles of it," following antievolutionist efforts from the Scopes trial through "creation science" and "intelligent design" to the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008. Miller expressed concern about Louisiana's law especially, observing, "the First Amendment protects you against imposition of religious ideas in the public schools -- it doesn't protect you against the introduction of stupid ideas," and worrying that students are learning that "the scientific method and the scientific community [are] not to be trusted." For the documentary, visit: https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000005559486/evolution-science-education.html And for The New York Times's description of the documentary, visit: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/us/retro-report-evolution-science.html A GLIMPSE OF DARWIN'S BACKYARD NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of James T. Costa's Darwin's Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory (W. W. Norton, 2017). The preview consists of the preface, in which Costa explains his goal to describe "how we can draw upon Darwin in exploring nature and better understanding evolution and how science works" and chapter 2, "Barnacles to Barbs," which discusses Darwin's own research on cirripedes and pigeons. The reviewer for Science writes, "[Costa] has done something very important with this new book: He has brought Darwin fully to life. ... Costa has written an intimate and big-hearted book. In its pages, readers will discover the real Darwin, a complicated man behind a revolutionary theory." Costa is a professor of biology at Western Carolina University and executive director of the Highlands Biological Station. For the preview (PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/excerpt--backyard.pdf And for information about the book from its publisher, visit: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-23989-8/ WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Brad Hoge expressing NCSE's thankfulness for science teachers and the work they do: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/11/thankful-teachers-0018657 For NCSE's blog, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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