National Center for Science Education

The National Center for Science Education ( NCSE ) (English for National Center for Science Education) is a US-based non-profit organization based in Oakland in the US state of California , with the American Association for the Advancement of Science is connected .

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has the stated aim of educating the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of the controversies surrounding the teaching of evolution and climate change . The NCSE aims to provide information and resources to be used in schools to educate children, parents and other citizens. The NCSE claims to have 4,500 members, scholars, teachers, clergy and citizens from a wide variety of religious and political backgrounds.

The center opposes teaching the sciences from a religious point of view in classes in public schools in the United States. The organization is considered the leading anti-creationist organization in the United States.

history

In 1980, Stanley L. Weinberg , a retired high school teacher in Iowa, began organizing a statewide correspondence to organize the defense of evolutionary education in the United States. He was guided by the committees of correspondence in pre-revolutionary America. Its purpose was to inform interested parties about the creationist endeavors and to keep them up to date. Numerous networks emerged from this beginning. The NCSE was founded in 1983. In 1987 scientist Eugenie Scott became Executive Director of the center. The elected leaders reflect the scientific roots of the organization, the NCSE stated.

In the 1990s, the NSCE warned against attempts by creationists to campaign against the doctrine of evolution, which aimed to turn facts into theory.

Supporters of the organization include Bruce Alberts , the former President of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA , Donald Johanson , the discoverer of " Lucy ", and the evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala . Also, the paleontologist and writer Stephen Jay Gould was a longtime supporter.

Activities and programs

The NCSE acts as a central information and resource contact point, and it helps to coordinate the activities of the people in the fight against creationists . It maintains up-to-date lists of current events and information on creationist endeavors.

Michael Shermer describes the centre's website as one of the best sources on creationism / evolution. The NCSE rejects the pseudoscience Intelligent Design and other "alternatives" to evolution . ID is just a misleading term for creationism.

The NCSE is religiously neutral, so it cooperates nationally and locally with religious organizations as well as scientific organizations and educational institutions such as the National Academy of Sciences , the National Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association . Ronald L. Numbers and the atheist author and scientist Richard Dawkins praised the NSCE's ability to be religiously neutral.

The NCSE offers a variety of lectures, including those by biologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and theologians, on topics related to evolution, science, and education. It offers educational trips and conferences. It publishes the Reports of the National Center for Science Education every two months . These contain book reviews and news.

It also publishes books and a compilation of scholarly analyzes of the creationist books.

In 2003 the organization started Project Steve. A list of scientists by the name of Steve (or something similar to Stephen) who supported the theory of evolution was made. This was intended to outbid the list of creationist "scientists" who questioned Darwin's theory of evolution, which they did.

In 2005 the NCSE supported the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District , a landmark ruling banning the teaching of Intelligent Design in public schools.

In April 2008, the organization switched off the Expelled Exposed , a website that the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein criticized. The website received press attention and a high percentage of traffic.

In 2012 the organization announced that it wanted to focus more strongly on the topic of climate change in the future.

Media presence

Scott debated twice on Uncommon Knowledge in 2001 , representing the NCSE, with intelligent design creationist William A. Dembski. In 2004 Scott appeared on Penn and Teller's show Bullshit! on. The show dealt with the topic of creationism.

Scott offered scholarly views on the creationists and the intelligent design movement. She stated:

“It would be unfair to tell students that there is a serious dispute going on among scientists whether evolution took place. There isn't. A lot of the time the creationists ... they'll search through scientific journals and try to pull out something they think demonstrates evolution doesn't work and there is a kind of interesting rationale behind it. Their theology is such that if one thing is wrong with the Bible you have to throw it all out so that's why Genesis has to be interpreted literally. They look at science the same way. If one little piece of the evolutionary puzzle doesn't fit the whole thing has to go. That's not the way science is done. "

“It would be unfair to tell school and university students that there is a serious discussion among scientists as to whether or not evolution happened. It doesn't exist. Most of the time, the creationists look into science magazines and try to find something they think is demonstrating that evolution isn't working, and that there is some kind of interesting rationale behind it. Their theology is that if one thing is inconsistent with the Bible, everything must be discarded, and therefore Genesis must be interpreted literally. They look at science the same way. If a small piece of the evolutionary puzzle does not fit, it must be discarded entirely. That's not how science works. "

- Eugenie Scott

In November 2007, Scott was interviewed for the television documentary Nova Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial . In the documentation, the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District .

Employees and supporters

Directors Barbara Forrest - Southeastern Louisiana University Martha J. Heil Michael McIlwrath - Uff. Legal Nuove Pignons Andrew J. Petto - University of Wisconsin , Milwaukee Lorne Trottier - Co- Founder of Matrox Benjamin D. Santer - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Executives President: Brian Alters , Chapman University Vice-President / Treasurer: Bernard Winograd Secretary: Robert M. West - Informal Learning Experiences, Inc. Members Executive Director: Ann Reid Deputy (Deputy) Director: Glenn Branch Director of Operations: Rae Holzman Director of Communications: Robert Luhn Programs and Policy Director: Joshua Rosenau Steven Newton Mark McCaffrey Minda Berbeco Director, Religious Community Outreach: Peter MJ Hess Education Project Director: Eric Meikle Archivist: Charles Hargrove supporter Bruce Alberts - University of California, San Francisco Francisco J. Ayala - University of California , Irvine Frederick Borsch - Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia Stephen G. Brush - University of Maryland Sean B. Carroll - University of Wisconsin , Madison Johnnetta B. Cole - Smithsonian Institution Joel Cracraft - American Museum of Natural History Brent Dalrymple - Oregon State University James E. Darnell, Jr. - Rockefeller University Richard E. Dickerson - University of California , Los Angeles Robert H. Dott, Jr.- University of Wisconsin, Madison James D. Ebert † - Chesapeake Institute of Johns Hopkins University Niles Eldredge - American Museum of Natural History Milton Fingerman - Tulane University Douglas J. Futuyma - University of Michigan Alfred G. Gilman - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Laurie Godfrey - University of Massachusetts

Stephen Jay Gould † - Harvard University James E. Hansen - Goddard Institute for Space Studies (resigned) Donald Hornig - Harvard University Norman H. Horowitz † - California Institute of Technology Francis Clark Howell † - University of California , Berkeley Duane E. Jeffery - Brigham Young University Donald Johanson - Institute for Human Origins Patricia Kelley - University of North Carolina , Wilmington Philip Kitcher - Columbia University Richard C. Lewontin - Harvard University Paul MacCready † - Aerovironment, Inc. Michael MacCracken - Climate Institute Lynn Margulis † - University of Massachusetts Malcolm McKenna † - American Museum of Natural History Bill McKibben - 350.org Keith B. Miller - Kansas State University Kenneth R. Miller - Brown University John A. Moore † - University of California , Riverside David Morrison - NASA Ames Dorothy Nelkin † - New York University Bill Nye - TV host of science programs William S. Pollitzer † - University of North Carolina Kevin Padian , University of California, Berkeley Robert L. Park - University of Maryland Joseph E. Rall † - National Institutes of Health James Randi - James Randi Educational Foundation Michael Ruse - Florida State University James W. Skehan, SJ - Weston Observatory ( Boston College ) Elliott Sober - University of Wisconsin, Madison Frank Sonleitner - University of Oklahoma Richard Stucky - Denver Museum of Nature & Science Neil deGrasse Tyson - American Museum of Natural History Marvalee Wake - University of California, Berkeley Mary Jane West-Eberhard - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Tim D. White - University of California, Berkeley Zack Kopplin - Rice University [† = deceased]

literature

• Ronald Numbers : The Creationists : From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, Expanded Edition ( English ). Harvard University Press, November 30, 2006, ISBN 0-674-02339-0 .

Web links

• Official website
• Expelled-exposed
• Creation / Evolution journal online 1980-1996

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AAAS Affiliates ( English ) American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
2. ^ "About NCSE" . January 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about NCSE" . January 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
4. ↑ The Panda's Black Box , Nathaniel C. Comfort, Daniel J. Kevles, 6
5. ↑ Numbers (2006) p. 353
6. ^ History of NCSE , National Center for Science Education
7. ↑ Tom McIver in the Journal Isis, cited in Eugenie C. Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction , National Center for Science Education
8. ↑ Numbers (2006) S2
9. ↑ About the National Center for Science Education (English) , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved October 1, 2012. 
10. ^ Evolution and Creationism , Christian C. Young, Mark A. Largent, 2007
11. ^ Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown , Michael Shermer , 2004
12. ↑ Facing Challenges to Evolution Education (English) , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008. 
13. ↑ Numbers (2006) page 354
14. ↑ The God Delusion , Richard Dawkins , pp. 66-67
15. ^ Staff , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008. 
16. ^ NCSE Events (English) , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008. 
17. ↑ Reports of the National Center for Science Education (English) , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008. 
18. ↑ NCSE Books (English) , National Center for Science Education. Retrieved November 4, 2008. 
19. ^ Project Steve , National Center for Science Education, last update October 25, 2008, accessed November 4, 2008 .
20. ↑ http://ncse.com/taking-action/project-steve
21. ^ Deception by Design , Lenny Flank, Lenny Flank, Jr., 2007
22. ↑ Expelled flunks the test (English) , National Center for Science Education. April 15, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007. 
23. ↑ Expelled exposed (English) , National Center for Science Education. April 18, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2007. 
24. ^ Sara Reardon: Education Advocates Enter the Climate Tempest , in: ScienceInsider , Jan. 17, 2012
25. ^ Darwin Under The Microscope: Questioning Darwinism (English) , Uncommon Knowledge . December 7, 2001. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 17, 2008.  
26. ↑ In Whose Image? Evolution and Spirituality (English) , Uncommon Knowledge . December 7, 2001. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 17, 2008.  
27. ↑ Creationism (English) , Bullshit! . Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2008. 
28. ↑ Judgment Day in the news (English) , National Center for Science Education. November 15, 2007. Retrieved May 17, 2008.