NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/04/08
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-04-08 14:10.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Idaho's governor vetoes the Bible-as-reference bill. Sad news of the death of Harold Morowitz. A reminder that seats are still available on NCSE's next excursion to the Grand Canyon. And a denunciation of Alabama's evolution disclaimer.
BIBLE-AS-REFERENCE BILL VETOED IN IDAHO Idaho's governor C. L. "Butch" Otter (R) vetoed Senate Bill 1342 on April 5, 2016. The bill, passed by both chambers of the Idaho legislature, would have permitted the use of religious texts, including the Bible, "in Idaho public schools for reference to further the study" of various topics. In his veto message, Otter expressed respect and appreciation for the Bible, but insisted that Senate Bill 1342 violated the Idaho Constitution. As NCSE previously reported, a previous version of the bill, Senate Bill 1321, which specifically included the topics of astronomy, biology, and geology, was criticized in the Senate State Affairs Committee as potentially opening the classroom door to creationism, which would be unconstitutional. The senator who proposed the bill, Sheryl Nuxoll (R-District 7), agreed to the removal of those topics, and the bill proceeded under the new designation of Senate Bill 1342. Despite the removal of the specific references to scientific topics, there was still concern that Senate Bill 1342 would encourage the teaching of creationism. In a March 14, 2016, blog post, for example, the ACLU's Heather L. Weaver warned, "As amended, the bill *still* allows for teachers to use the Bible in 'any topics of study' where a teacher personally believes it is 'useful or relevant,' including science classes" (emphasis in original). For the text of Idaho's Senate Bills 1342 and 1321 (PDF), visit: https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2016/S1342.pdf https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2016/S1321.pdf For Governor Otter's veto message (PDF), visit: http://media.spokesman.com/documents/2016/04/veto.pdf For the ACLU's Heather L. Weaver's blog post, visit: https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/ida-no-gem-state-lawmakers-consider-bill-allow-bible-science-classes And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Idaho, visit: http://ncse.com/news/idaho HAROLD MOROWITZ DIES The eminent biophysicist Harold Morowitz died on March 22, 2016, at the age of 88. Morowitz, accordingto the obituary in The New York Times (April 1, 2016), "was best known for applying thermodynamic theory to biology, exploring how 'the energy that flows through a system acts to organize that system.'" A prolific author, his output included hundreds of papers in biophysics, biochemistry, and molecular biology, as well as scientific books such as Energy Flow in Biology (1968), from which the Times extracted the above passage, and popular books with whimsical titles such as Mayonnaise and the Origins of Life (1985) and The Thermodynamics of Pizza (1991). A final book of his (coauthored with Eric Smith), The Origin and Nature of Life on Earth, is due to be published later in 2016. Morowitz was among the scientific expert witnesses for the plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas's Balanced Treatment for Creation Science and Evolution Science Act of 1981 in McLean v. Arkansas. Asked to testify about his specialty, biophysics and biochemistry, particularly with respect to the origin of life and the laws of themodynamics, he described creation science's approach to the origin of life as unscientific, citing its misleading probabilistic arguments and misuses of the second law of thermodynamics. (Morowitz discussed his experiences at the McLean v. Arkansas 20 Years Later panel organized by NCSE at the AAAS meeting in 2001; the video is available at NCSE's YouTube channel.) A third of a century later, in 2005, as the trial in Kitzmiller v. Dover neared, he (with Robert Hazen and James Trefil) took a stand against "intelligent design" creationism in the Chronicle of Higher Education, writing, "The vast majority of scientists who study the origin of life accept the idea of nonmiraculous origins without any reservations. Only creationists support the theory of intelligent design." Morowitz was born on December 4, 1927, in Poughkeepsie, New York. A child prodigy, he enrolled at the age of 16 at Yale University, where he proceeded to earn his B.S. in physics and philosophy in 1947, his M.S. in physics in 1950, and his Ph.D. in biophysics in 1951. He then taught in the department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale from 1955 to 1987. He spent the rest of his career at George Mason University, where he was the Clarence Robinson Professor of Biology and Natural Philosophy and the founding director of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study. He was also associated with the Sante Fe Institute, where he served as the Science Board Chair and as the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Complexity, and with NASA, for which he was a consultant on the Apollo 11 and Viking projects. For the obituary in The New York Times, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/science/harold-morowitz-biophysicist-who-tackled-enigmas-big-and-small-dies-at-88.html For Morowitz's testimony in McLean v. Arkansas, visit: http://www.antievolution.org/projects/mclean/new_site/pf_trans/mva_tt_p_morowitz.html For Morowitz's talk at the McLean v. Arkansas 20 Years Later panel, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSCe3iqowBs And for Morowitz, Hazen, and Trefil's essay (subscription required), visit: http://chronicle.com/article/Intelligent-Design-Has-No/31763 NCSE AND THE GRAND CANYON 2016 Explore the Grand Canyon with NCSE! Reservations are still available for NCSE's next excursion to the Grand Canyon -- as featured in the documentary No Dinosaurs in Heaven. From June 30 to July 8, 2016, NCSE will again explore the wonders of creation and evolution on a Grand Canyon river run conducted by NCSE's Steve Newton and Josh Rosenau. Because this is an NCSE trip, we offer more than just the typically grand float down the Canyon, the spectacular scenery, fascinating natural history, brilliant night skies, exciting rapids, delicious meals, and good company. It is, in fact, a unique "two-model" raft trip, on which we provide both the creationist view of the Grand Canyon (maybe not entirely seriously) and the evolutionist view -- and let you make up your own mind. To get a glimpse of the fun, watch the short videos filmed in 2011, posted on NCSE's YouTube channel, and explore photographs by 2015's rafters in the expedition's Flickr group. The cost of the excursion is $2790; a deposit of $500 will hold your spot. Seats are limited: call, write, or e-mail now. And, for the second time, NCSE will offer scholarships to two lucky teachers, giving them a unique opportunity to spend eight days exploring the geology and natural history of the Canyon. (Alyson Miller and Scott Hatfield wrote about their experiences on the trip on NCSE's blog.) Your donations to the scholarship fund help to make the scholarship program possible. For information about the excursion, visit: http://ncse.com/about/excursions/gcfaq For information about No Dinosaurs in Heaven, visit: http://www.nodinos.com/ For the videos and photographs, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7kG8dPfgM&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfTH9Gl2CM&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD4xmkEbgqk&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.flickr.com/groups/2898601@N22/pool/ For Miller's and Hatfield's blog posts about their experiences, visit: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/08/reflections-2015-ncse-grand-canyon-rafting-trip-0016559 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/10/what-teacher-learned-grand-canyon-0016684 And for information about donating to the scholarship fund, visit: https://ncse.secure.force.com/GCscholarship ALABAMA'S DISCLAIMER DENOUNCED Writing on AL.com (March 31, 2016), Amanda Glaze denounced the recent decision of the Alabama state board of education to retain the "scientifically inaccurate and pedagogically inappropriate" evolution disclaimer affixed to biology textbooks in the state's public schools. As NCSE previously reported, the decision to retain the disclaimer was taken at the board's March 10, 2016, meeting, even though the new Alabama state science standards describe evolution as "substantiated with much direct and indirect evidence." "The disclaimer describes evolution by natural selection as scientifically controversial and it suggests that doubt about the importance of natural selection in evolution is scientifically justified. These are simply mistakes," Glaze wrote. "Just as problematic," she added, "is the implicit message -- that evolution is something so horrible that it is necessary to warn students about it. As a science teacher ... in Alabama, I can definitely say that the disclaimer's effect is uniformly negative." A science educator and teacher educator born and raised in Alabama, Glaze is the author of numerous articles about the acceptance and rejection of evolution and the coeditor of a forthcoming book on evolution education in the American South. For Glaze's column on AL.com, visit: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/03/textbook_evolution_sticker_hur.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Alabama, visit: http://ncse.com/news/alabama 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: * Stephanie Keep describing scientific research into a legendary Explorers Club dinner: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/04/meal-worse-than-lobster-0016999 * Glenn Branch worrying about embryology in Wyoming middle school science: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/04/case-vanishing-embryos-0017004 * Josh Rosenau pondering a revealing remark about the Louisiana antievolution law: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/04/mask-slips-louisiana-0016991 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. 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, 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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