I’ve been saying that there were problems in William Dembski’s “explanatory filter” for a long, long time. Dembski has finally admitted that was the case.

At the February 1997 NTSE conference, when I brought up the “traveling salesman problem” solved by genetic algorithm as an example that countered Dembski’s EF, he responded that his logic was sound and his premises were true, therefore his conclusion followed. Dembski in that instant dismissed empirical data as having any bearing on his work. It only took the better part of twelve years for Dembski to repudiate the soundness of his logic presented then.

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

The Cincinnati Zoo distances itself from a widely criticized promotion
involving Answers in Genesis's Creation Museum.  Plus Kevin Padian, who
serves as president of NCSE's board of directors, is continuing to speak
and write in enthusiastic defense of the teaching of evolution.  And a new
batch of selected content from NCSE's journal is now available on-line.

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

Video and audio of Barbara Forrest's recent talk in Texas is now
available.  Plus NCSE Supporter Philip Kitcher wins a Lannan Literary Award
for his Living with Darwin.  And a new batch of selected content from
NCSE's journal is now available on-line.

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch:)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

No shortage of news from Texas, where the state board of education heard
testimony about the proposed revisions to the state science standards from
over ninety citizens, just two days after a survey of the state's biology
professors revealed overwhelming rejection of the arguments advanced by the
antievolutionists seeking to undermine the treatment of evolution in those
standards.  And Judgment Day -- the documentary about the Kitzmiller v.
Dover case -- receives new kudos from the AAAS.

(By NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch:)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

The Texas board of education is scheduled to consider the new draft of the
state science standards shortly. The president of NCSE's board of
directors is featured in a video promoting the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology. And the third edition of NCSE's Voices for Evolution is now
available.

by Wesley R. Elsberry

1999/11/01

It is difficult to find the originators of certain concepts which
pass quickly into general use. The analogy of monkeys typing
at random on typewriters and eventually reproducing copies of
literary works is one such concept.

In tracking down who might have originated the concept, we will
find people who definitely use or reference it, as well as variants
of how it is expressed. We will also explore limitations upon
who might have originated the concept or when the concept might
reasonably have been first told to a general audience.

(By NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch:)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

In Florida, the new state science standards may have to be reconsidered,
while the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, will be hosting a
multidisciplinary student conference on "Darwin's Legacy:  Evolution's
Impact on Science and Culture."

(By NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch:)

Dear friends of NCSE,

The author of The Devil in Dover is interviewed by the San Francisco
Chronicle, while a recent talk by NCSE's Eugenie C. Scott on science
education is now available on-line.  And a recent survey among Eastern
Orthodox laity in the United States provides interesting data on their
attitudes toward creationism and evolution.

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

Both the AAAS and the advisory committee of the 21st Century Science
Coalition are expressing their concern over Texas's state science
standards.  NCSE Supporter Francisco Ayala is profiled in the pages of
Scientific American. And NCSE's new website is up and running.

[by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch]

Dear Friends of NCSE,

Antievolutionists have been appointed to a committee to review the draft
set of Texas state science standards.  More welcome is the news that Randy
Moore received the 2008 Evolution Education Award from the NABT and Eugenie
C. Scott received the Field Museum's Award of Merit.