Darwinism, Design and Public Education
Encyclopedia
Darwinism, Design and Public Education is a 2003 anthology, consisting largely of rewritten versions of essays from a 1998 issue of Michigan State University Press
's journal, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, edited by intelligent design
activists John Angus Campbell
(who serves on the journal's editorial board) and Stephen C. Meyer
, neither of whom are scientists. The book is promoted as being a "peer-reviewed science book", however in reviewing it Barbara Forrest
notes that:
The book purports to address the question of "[s]hould public school science teachers be free to teach the controversies over biological origins" and promotes the Discovery Institute
's "teach the controversy
" political action plan, whilst claiming "not to advocate the theory of ID." This denial is later undercut by claiming that an understanding of ID is needed "to understand Darwin's argument, to say nothing of the contemporary controversy that it continues to generate".
Forrest rebuts these three assertions by pointing out that:
lists five chapters as "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design, although Mark Isaak of the talk.origins Archive notes that "Anthologies and conference proceedings do not have well-defined peer review standards" and that "reviewers are themselves ardent supporters of intelligent design. The purpose of peer review is to expose errors, weaknesses, and significant omissions in fact and argument. That purpose is not served if the reviewers are uncritical". The five papers are:
The first three are actually listed twice including once as "featured articles". Meyer's paper on the Cambrian explosion
also contains much of the same material which went into another of the claimed peer-reviewed papers which was at the center of the Sternberg peer review controversy
.
Michigan State University Press
Michigan State University Press, founded in 1947, is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. During the past six decades it has become a vital part of the institution's land-grant mission and is a catalyst for positive intellectual, social, and technological change through the...
's journal, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, edited by intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
activists John Angus Campbell
John Angus Campbell
John Angus Campbell is a retired American Professor of Rhetoric and is a Fellow of the Center for Science and Culture and of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design, a professional society dedicated to the promotion of intelligent...
(who serves on the journal's editorial board) and Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer
Stephen C. Meyer is an American scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute , which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at...
, neither of whom are scientists. The book is promoted as being a "peer-reviewed science book", however in reviewing it Barbara Forrest
Barbara Forrest
Barbara Carroll Forrest is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. She is a critic of intelligent design and the Discovery Institute.- Biography :...
notes that:
The book purports to address the question of "[s]hould public school science teachers be free to teach the controversies over biological origins" and promotes the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
's "teach the controversy
Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is the name of a Discovery Institute campaign to promote intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit evolution in United States public high school science courses...
" political action plan, whilst claiming "not to advocate the theory of ID." This denial is later undercut by claiming that an understanding of ID is needed "to understand Darwin's argument, to say nothing of the contemporary controversy that it continues to generate".
Representation of intelligent design
In his introduction, Campbell states:Forrest rebuts these three assertions by pointing out that:
Peer review
The Discovery InstituteDiscovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
lists five chapters as "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design, although Mark Isaak of the talk.origins Archive notes that "Anthologies and conference proceedings do not have well-defined peer review standards" and that "reviewers are themselves ardent supporters of intelligent design. The purpose of peer review is to expose errors, weaknesses, and significant omissions in fact and argument. That purpose is not served if the reviewers are uncritical". The five papers are:
- DNA and the origin of life, Information, specification and explanation Stephen C. MeyerStephen C. MeyerStephen C. Meyer is an American scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute , which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at...
- Design in the details: The origin of biomolecular machines, Michael BeheMichael BeheMichael J. Behe is an American biochemist, author, and intelligent design advocate. He currently serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture...
- Reinstating design within science, William Dembski
- Homology in biology: Problem for naturalistic science and prospect for intelligent design Paul Nelson (creationist)Paul Nelson (creationist)Paul A. Nelson is an American philosopher of science, young earth creationist and intelligent design advocate.- Biography :Nelson is the grandson of the creationist author and Lutheran minister Byron Christopher Nelson and edited a book of his grandfather's writings...
and Jonathan Wells - The Cambrian explosion: biology’s big bang, Stephen C. MeyerStephen C. MeyerStephen C. Meyer is an American scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute , which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at...
, Marcus Ross, Paul NelsonPaul Nelson (creationist)Paul A. Nelson is an American philosopher of science, young earth creationist and intelligent design advocate.- Biography :Nelson is the grandson of the creationist author and Lutheran minister Byron Christopher Nelson and edited a book of his grandfather's writings...
, & Paul ChienPaul ChienPaul Kwan Chien is a Chinese-American biologist known for his research on the physiology and ecology of intertidal organisms and his support for intelligent design and creationism.-Biography:...
The first three are actually listed twice including once as "featured articles". Meyer's paper on the Cambrian explosion
Cambrian explosion
The Cambrian explosion or Cambrian radiation was the relatively rapid appearance, around , of most major phyla, as demonstrated in the fossil record, accompanied by major diversification of other organisms, including animals, phytoplankton, and calcimicrobes...
also contains much of the same material which went into another of the claimed peer-reviewed papers which was at the center of the Sternberg peer review controversy
Sternberg peer review controversy
The Sternberg peer review controversy concerns the conflict arising from the publication of an article supporting the controversial concept of intelligent design in a scientific journal, and the subsequent questions of whether proper editorial procedures had been followed and whether it was...
.