Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science

A good look at the evolution/creation controversy by an evolutionary biologist. He examines the root of belief, the importance of studying the history of science, and the way science is done and is taught. These are all valid and important views. There are some weaknesses that are common in these books, which are usually written by people with university professorships and therefore somewhat limited in their understanding of the creationism side. To give this author credit, he has done a lot of work on researching the history and philosophical underpinnings of creationism. But one thing he does not have going for him is actually coming from that world, living and growing up in that world, being taught the things they are taught, and therefore he misses some common things that are crucial to maintaining the creationism side of things. He lays a lot of the blame on teachers of science, much of it legitimate, but fails to grasp the importance of the societal messages, and the disparate amount of time that students are exposed to anti-science sentiments compared to actual science instruction or engagement. No matter how we change science teaching, there will still be a huge discrepancy. In short, he is addressing it from the wrong direction, the top-down direction that suggests teachers can fix the problem. For this reason, his book, while sound and well researched, still has some fatal weaknesses that he accuses other writers of having. A good look at the controversy, the individual issues, and the overall state of science education, but not particularly better than other books on the topic. As with anything else, it should be approached with the sort of critical thinking eye that he recommends we use for everything. ( )

Some outstanding examples of how to counter the baseless claims of creationists. ( )

Massimo Pigliucci moved to the United States from Rome and was shocked to find a debate over whether creationism should be taught in science classrooms. Here he outlines the major arguments typically presented by creationists in their quest to have creationism given equal time in science classroom and explains the fallacies in their arguments. Piglliucci does a good job of explaining the science in lay terms. He makes the argument that religion should not be taught as science while remaining respectful of the religion itself. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the debate over creation-science. ( )