NCSE Evolution Education Update for 2010/04/23
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2010-04-23 14:47.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear Friends of NCSE, New articles from Reports of the NCSE are available, while Kentucky's antievolution bill is dead.
CATCHING UP WITH RNCSE Selected content from volume 29, number 6, of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on NCSE's website. Featured are Virginia Yue's report of "A Creationism Row in Hong Kong" and Beth E. Leuck and Greg Q. Butcher's investigation of "The Effect of Viewing NOVA's Judgment Day." Plus Keith Thomson reviews Ralph Colp Jr.'s Darwin's Illness, Timothy H. Goldsmith reviews The Genius of Charles Darwin (hosted by Richard Dawkins), and Kevin Padian reviews The Paleobiological Revolution: Essays on the Growth of Modern Paleontology, edited by David Sepkoski and Michael Ruse. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to RNCSE today? Featured in the upcoming issue (volume 30, number 3) are timely articles on "Americans' Scientific Knowledge and Beliefs about Human Evolution in the Year of Darwin," by George F. Bishop, Randal K. Thomas, and Jason A. Wood, and "Teaching Evolution in Muslim States: Iran and Saudi Arabia Compared," by Elizabeth Burton. And there's history, too: Shelley Emling discusses the fossil hunter Mary Anning and Randy Moore discusses the flood geologist George McCready Price. Don't miss out -- subscribe (or renew) today! For the selected content from RNCSE 29:6, visit: http://ncse.com/rncse/29/6 For subscription information, visit: http://ncse.com/membership ANTIEVOLUTION BILL IN KENTUCKY DIES When the Kentucky legislature adjourned sine die on April 15, 2010, House Bill 397, the Kentucky Science Education and Intellectual Freedom Act, died in committee. Modeled on the Louisiana Science Education Act (Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:285.1), HB 397 would, if enacted, have allowed teachers to "use, as permitted by the local school board, other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner, including but not limited to the study of evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning." A minor novelty in the bill was the phrase "advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories," a variation on the familiar "strengths and weaknesses" and "evidence for and evidence against" rhetoric. Kentucky is apparently unique in having a statute (Kentucky Revised Statutes 158.177) on the books that authorizes teachers to teach "the theory of creation as presented in the Bible" and to "read such passages in the Bible as are deemed necessary for instruction on the theory of creation." For information about Kentucky's HB 397, visit: http://ncse.com/creationism/general/academic-freedom-legislation-kentucky-2010 For the text of KRS 158.177 (PDF), visit: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/158-00/177.PDF 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 education and threats to it. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x310 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://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/membership
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