Maintained by Seed's editors, web editors, and the other people who make Seed tick, Page 3.14 points you in the direction of some of ScienceBlogs' finest offerings, plus the tastiest tidbits of science news and opinion from around the web.
This deserves a read: University of Chicago professor Jerry Coyne has published an essay at Edge taking on Republican presidential hopeful Senator Sam Brownback's (R-KS) views on faith and evolution, as expressed in Brownback's May 31 New York Times op-ed.
The Senator, who raised his hand at a Republican presidential debate in May to indicate that he 'didn't believe in evolution,' wrote in the Times that there "cannot be any contradiction" between faith and science. Specifically, he claims to "reject arguments for evolution that dismiss the possibility of divine causality," even as he accepts "microevolution, [or] small changes over time within a species."
Coyne argues that rejecting the claims of science where they contradict the claims of faith, as Brownback does, is tantamount to "a rejection of the whole institution of science." A specialist in evolutionary biology and a seasoned veteran of the creationism wars, Coyne nevertheless describes himself as "mortified" by Brownback's display at the Republican debate. He argues:
Brownback's misunderstanding of science is more dangerous than his ignorance of evolution, and should be disconcerting to educators and parents hoping to see their children educated properly.
Read Coyne's entire essay, "Don't Know Much Biology," at Edge.
Comments
WOW. I rarely print stuff that I find on blogs, but this is a phenomenal piece of writing. The downward spiral of American science literacy is something that depresses and angers me, and it gets worse every time a politician opens his or her mouth. Reading Dr. Coyne's articulate response gives me a smidgen of hope, however, because it reminds me that intelligent people of science will always have the courage to speak up and call pseudoscience the sham that it is. Thank you, Dr. Coyne.
Posted by: bob | June 12, 2007 9:35 AM