NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/08/01
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-08-01 14:32.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Sad news of the death of Walter Gehring. And movement in South Carolina's impasse over evolution in its new state science standards.
WALTER GEHRING DIES The eminent biologist Walter Gehring died on May 29, 2014, at the age of 75, according to the Biozentrum at the University of Basel. His scientific work concentrated on the fruit fly Drosophila and the genetic control of its development. He and his colleagues are credited with discovering homeobox genes -- which regulate the expression of DNA in development -- and identifying the master control genes for the development and evolution of the eyes. Two future Nobel laureates, Christianne Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus, worked in his laboratory. His 1993 Terry Lectures at Yale University were published as Master Control Genes in Development and Evolution: The Homeobox Story (Yale University Press, 1998). Interviewed by the University of Barcelona, from which he received an honorary degree in 2010, Gehring was asked, "Relative to the resurgence of old theories such as intelligent design and creationism. Does the scientist have the responsibility to try to avoid this resurgence?" He replied, "Yes, I think we are always trapped. We are thinking in human terms, we are humans, so we think in human terms. We think that nature was constructed by a human engineer or a human being or a perfect God similar to a human being," and proceeded to describe in detail a case where he assumed, wrongly, that a biological pattern was generated in a way that a human engineer would have produced it. In the same interview, he approvingly cited Theodosius Dobzhansky's dictum that nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution. Asked about the compatibility of evolution and religious belief, he expressed agnosticism: "I personally don't [believe] in a personal God that is like a human being. I told you evolution shows that it's not a human engineer sitting in the sky on a cloud who designs life, but life has generated by itself and this doesn't mean that there is a divine superior kind of being behind nature. We couldn't possibly grasp that. I'm trying to find out how nature works, and if there is something else behind nature it is difficult to say." Gehring was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on March 30, 1939. He received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Zurich in 1965, and then went to Yale University, first as a post-doctoral researcher and then as a faculty member. In 1972, he returned to Switzerland, where he was Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Biozentrum at the University of Basel until his retirement. He was a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London. Among his honors were the Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1987), the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (1997), the Kyoto Prize for Basic Science (2000), and the Balzan Prize for Developmental Biology (2002). For the Biozentrum's obituary for Gehring, visit: http://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news-events/news/news-details/article/obituary-for-walter-gehring-1939-2014/ For the University of Barcelona's interview with Gehring, visit: http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2010/entrevistes/Walter-Gehring.html END TO THE IMPASSE IN SIGHT? A panel approved a proposed revision to the section on evolution in South Carolina's new state science standards, according to The State (July 29, 2014). If the revision is approved by the state board of education and the Education Oversight Committee, it will end the impasse over South Carolina's state science standards that began with the EOC's refusal in December 2013 to accept a standard covering evolution. According to the panel's agenda, the proposed revision adds a new standard and a related performance indicator as follows: *** H.B.5D. Conceptual Understanding: Science is the systematic gathering of information through both direct and indirect observation, and the testing of this information by experimentation with the aim of developing concepts and formulation of laws and theories. Scientific conclusions are tested by experiment and observation, and evolution, as with any aspect of science, is continually open to and subject to experimental and observational testing. Performance Indicator: Student who demonstrate this understanding can: H.B.5D.1 Explain how scientists develop theories and laws by using deductive and inductive reasoning in situations where direct observation and testing are possible and also by inference through experimental and observational testing of historical scientific claims. Students should understand assumptions scientists make in situations where direct evidence is limited and understand that all theories may change as new scientific information is obtained. *** The language of the revision largely derives from the National Science Teachers Association's position statement on evolution. Rob Dillon, president of South Carolinians for Science Education and a professor of biology at the College of Charleston, told The State that the language of the proposed revision is itself unobjectionable. But he expressed concern about the potential effect of singling out evolution for special treatment, saying, "I would hope that a science teacher at the high-school level would see that language and understand that it is general principles about the scientific method." The panel, with members from the state board of education and the EOC, was convened after the last clash between the two bodies. As NCSE previously reported, in June 2014, the board rejected the EOC's proposal -- backed by the Discovery Institute -- to revise the standards to require students to "[c]onstruct scientific arguments that seem to support and scientific arguments that seem to discredit Darwinian natural selection." For the article in The State, visit: http://www.thestate.com/2014/07/29/3590110/update-to-teaching-evolution-clears.html For the panel's agenda (PDF), visit: http://www.eoc.sc.gov/Meeting%20Minutes/Meeting%20Packets/2014/Special%20panel%20to%20review%20the%20high%20school%20biology%20standard%20HB5.pdf For the NSTA's position statement on evolution, visit: http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/evolution.aspx And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in South Carolina, visit: http://ncse.com/news/south-carolina WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Steven Newton explaining NCSE's "two-model" Grand Canyon raft trip: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/07/return-fellowship-two-models-0015760 * Glenn Branch pondering H. L. Mencken's obituary for William Jennings Bryan: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/07/stop-press-mencken-s-obituary-bryan-0015771 * Mark McCaffrey reporting on European action on climate education: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/07/climate-kic-start-0015772 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, 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. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x303 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: 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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