NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2015/12/18
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2015-12-18 16:28.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A new study in Science of the evolution of antievolution, by a former NCSE staffer. And a preview of David E. Alexander's On the Wing.
MATZKE'S KITZMAS TREE In a new paper forthcoming in Science, Nick Matzke shows that even though creationism is getting stealthier in the wake of legal defeats such as Kitzmiller v. Dover, techniques from modern evolutionary biology reveal how creationist legislation is evolving. Using data collected by NCSE and state-of-the-art phylogenetic analysis, Matzke constructed a phylogenetic tree of seventy-five distinct antievolution bills and policies, reconstructing their genealogical relationships with a high degree of confidence. "The Evolution of Antievolution Policies After Kitzmiller v. Dover" identifies the common ancestor of the bills as a series of bills proposed in Alabama in 2004 and 2005. It also discerns two main lineages, the "academic freedom act" lineage and the "science education act" lineage, which resulted when "academic freedom acts" began to target not only evolution but also global warming and human cloning. The latter lineage thrived, with the passage of such bills in Louisiana in 2008 and Tennessee in 2012. Matzke stressed the importance of understanding the history of such policies. "If enacted, these bills would require or encourage teachers to misrepresent science -- to present creationist arguments against evolution and climate change denier arguments against global warming -- in the classroom. And they also prevent administrators from doing anything about it. We already know that one in eight public high school biology teachers present creationism as scientifically credible; the passage of these bills would worsen the situation." Now a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow at the Australian National University, Matzke began his research on these antievolution policies while a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. Previously he worked at NCSE from 2004 to 2007, where he was the staffer who worked most closely with the legal team for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the 2005 case that established the unconstitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" creationism in the public schools. For Matzke's paper in Science (PDF; subscription required), visit: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/12/16/science.aad4057.full.pdf And for NCSE's collection of information about Kitzmiller v. Dover, visit: http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/intelligent-design-trial-kitzmiller-v-dover A GLIMPSE OF ON THE WING NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of David E. Alexander's On the Wing: Insects, Pterosaurs, Birds, Bats and the Evolution of Animal Flight (Oxford University Press, 2015). The preview consists of chapter 1, "Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard," in which Alexander explains, "Only four animal groups have evolved the ability to fly under power, and each of these groups evolved powered flight only once." The publisher writes, "With an accessible writing style grounded in rigorous research, Alexander breaks new ground in a field that has previously been confined to specialists. While birds have received the majority of attention from flight researchers, Alexander pays equal attention to all four groups of flyers -- something that no other book on the subject has done before now." For the preview of On the Wing (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/book-excerpt For information about the book from its publisher, visit: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/on-the-wing-9780199996773?cc=us&lang=en& 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: * Josh Rosenau putting Nick Matzke's paper in perspective: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/it-s-kitzmas-time-again-charlie-darwin-0016813 * Glenn Branch pursuing the mysterious Dr. Traas: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/tracking-dr-traas-part-1-0016717 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/tracking-dr-traas-part-2-0016718 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/tracking-dr-traas-part-3-0016719 * Steven Newton discussing Randy Olson on the art of storytelling in science: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/therefore-randy-olson-art-science-storytelling-part-1-0016804 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/therefore-randy-olson-art-science-storytelling-part-2-0016807 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/12/therefore-randy-olson-art-science-storytelling-part-3-0016808 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. -- With best wishes for the holiday season, 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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