At 11:26 AM 8/15/99 -0700, Deborah Wisti-Peterson wrote:

>The skewed view of science that won over the Kansas school board is
>epitomized by the warning used in Alabama classrooms: "This textbook
>discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a
>scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants,
>animals and humans. No one was present when life first appeared on Earth.
>Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as
>theory, not fact."

Heck, I can't resist this paragraph, either.

The warning used in Alabama classrooms confuses abiogenesis, i.e.
the origin of life from non-life via organic chemistry with the
theory of evolution, which only addresses what happened to life
once it began.
....

>The problem is that the dynamic view of science doesn't come across
>strongly enough in the classroom.

I agree with this and many other statements the author makes, I just
wish he was a bit more careful in his presentation.




- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, Pacific Northwest
Rare Bird Alert Service and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net.