NCSE Evolution Education Update for 2011/11/18
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2011-11-18 17:29.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear Friends of NCSE, A new way to support NCSE. A preview of Shawn Lawrence Otto's Fool Me Twice. And the latest batch of videos on NCSE's YouTube channel.
A NEW WAY TO SUPPORT NCSE There's a new way to help NCSE to defend the integrity of science education in the public schools. Organizations -- including professional societies of scientists and educators, business associations, charitable foundations, and law firms -- are now eligible to become Supporting Organizations of NCSE. "Joining NCSE is a potent way to support evolution education and defend the integrity of science," explained NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott in a November 16, 2011, press release announcing the debut of NCSE's Supporting Organizations program. "Annual contributions from Supporting Organizations provide a much-needed stable income stream to support NCSE's important work," she added. Response was enthusiastic, with the A. Robert Kaufman Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Paleontological Society, and the Society for the Study of Evolution all enrolling as Supporting Organizations. Alan I. Leshner, the CEO of AAAS and executive publisher of its journal Science, commented, "Every child needs a clear understanding of core scientific principles in order to thrive in the 21st century. AAAS is pleased to join with the NCSE in promoting the integrity of science and science education." Details of the Supporting Organization program are available on NCSE's website. For the press release, visit: http://ncse.com/evolution/standing-up-evolution For details of the Supporting Organization program, visit: http://ncse.com/supporting_organizations A PREVIEW OF FOOL ME TWICE NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of Shawn Lawrence Otto's Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America (Rodale, 2011). The preview consists of part of chapter 9, "Teaching Evolution: The Values Battle," in which Otto starts to lay the foundation for his discussion of the controversies over the place of evolution in the public schools. "Teaching creationism in school science classes," he writes elsewhere in the chapter, "is teaching a habit of mind that is toxic ... That is not going to take America where we need to go." The reviewer for Science wrote, "what distinguishes the book is his determination to simultaneously educate and move to action both lay readers and scientists," concluding, "The solutions Otto suggests require a great deal of dedication and optimism. Nonetheless, the problems he identifies are quite real. Fool Me Twice offers a compelling consideration of the United States' political estrangement from science. One would very much like to attend to Otto's equally compelling hopes." Otto is the cofounder and CEO of Science Debate 2008, the largest political initiative in the history of science. For the preview (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/book-excerpt For information on the book from its publisher, visit: http://www.rodaleinc.com/products/books/fool-me-twice-fighting-assault-science-america THE LATEST ON NCSE'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NCSE is pleased to announce the addition of a further batch of videos featuring Eugenie C. Scott to NCSE's YouTube channel. The highlights are "Evolution and global warming denialism: How the public is misled," a talk for the Glasgow Skeptics in 2011, and "Crusader against creationism," in which Scott was interviewed by the editor-in-chief of the Scientific American Book Club in 2011. And from the archives come "What Americans think of evolution," delivered at the University of Montana in 2000; a talk for a convocation at Southern Utah University in 1995; and "Just when you thought it was safe to teach evolution," delivered at the University of Louisville in 1991. Plus there's a clip featuring Scott from Randall Balmer's 1995 documentary In the Beginning: The Creationist Controversy. Tune in and enjoy! For NCSE's YouTube channel, visit: http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd 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 x305 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com 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
» 3396 reads
