Stephen C. Meyer
Encyclopedia
Stephen C. Meyer is an American
scholar, philosopher and advocate for intelligent design
. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture
(CSC) of the Discovery Institute
(DI), which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement
. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at Whitworth College. Meyer is currently director at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and Senior Fellow at the DI.
. Shortly after, Meyer won a scholarship from the Rotary Club
of Dallas to study at Cambridge University
in the United Kingdom
. Meyer earned his Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science in 1991 at the University of Cambridge. His dissertation was entitled "Of clues and causes: A methodological interpretation of origin of life studies." After graduating, Meyer taught philosophy at Whitworth, then at the Christian Palm Beach Atlantic University
. Meyer later ceased teaching to devote his time to the intelligent design movement
.
as one of a small group of prominent young intelligent design creationists who have "dedicated their lives to the creationist cause" (the others being William Dembski, Paul Nelson
, and Jonathan Wells). Meyer's involvement in intelligent design (ID) can be traced to his participation in the 'Ad Hoc Origins Committee' defending Phillip E. Johnson
's Darwin on Trial
in 1992 or 1993 (in response to Stephen Jay Gould
's "devastating" review of it in the July 1992 issue of Scientific American
), while with the Philosophy department at Whitworth College. He was later a participant in the first formal meeting devoted to ID, hosted at Southern Methodist University
in 1992.
In December 1993 Bruce Chapman
, president and founder of the Discovery Institute, noticed an essay in the Wall Street Journal by Meyer about a dispute when biology lecturer Dean H. Kenyon
taught intelligent design in introductory classes. Kenyon had co-authored Of Pandas and People
, and in 1993 Meyer had contributed to the teacher's notes for the second edition of Pandas. Meyer was an old friend of Discovery Institute co-founder George Gilder
, and over dinner about a year later they formed the idea of a think tank opposed to materialism
. In the summer of 1995 Chapman and Meyer met a representative of Howard Ahmanson, Jr.
. Meyer, who had previously tutored Ahmanson's son in science, recalls being asked "What could you do if you had some financial backing?" He was a co-author of the "Wedge strategy
", which put forth the Discovery Institute's manifesto for the intelligent design movement
.
In 1999, Meyer with David DeWolf and Mark DeForrest laid out a legal strategy for introducing intelligent design into public schools in their book Intelligent Design in Public School Science Curriculum. Meyer has co-edited Darwinism, Design, and Public Education (Michigan State University Press, 2000) with John Angus Campbell
and co-edited Science and Evidence of Design in the Universe (Ignatius Press
, 2000) with Michael J. Behe and William A. Dembski
. In 2009, his book Signature in the Cell was released and in December of that year.
Meyer has been described as "the person who brought ID (intelligent design) to DI (Discovery Institute)" by historian Edward Larson
, who was a fellow at the Discovery Institute prior to it becoming the center of the intelligent design movement. In 2004, the DI helped introduce ID to the Dover Area School District
, which resulted in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
where ID was ruled to be religion. Discussing ID in relation to Dover, on May 6, 2005 Meyer debated Eugenie Scott
, on The Big Story
with John Gibson
. During the debate, Meyer argued that intelligent design is critical of more than just evolutionary mechanisms like natural selection that lead to diversification, but of common descent itself.
He has appeared on television and in public forums advocating intelligent design. Notably he wrote and appeared in the Discovery Institute's 2002 film Unlocking the Mystery of Life
and was interviewed in the 2008 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
movie. Has also been an active debater such as in April 2006 with Peter Ward
, a paleontologist from the University of Washington
held an open online discussion on the topic of intelligent design in the Talk of the Times forum in Seattle, WA.
In March, 2002, Meyer announced a "teach the controversy" strategy, which alleges that the theory of evolution is controversial within scientific circles, following a presentation to the Ohio State Board of Education. The presentation included submission of an annotated bibliography of 44 peer-reviewed scientific articles that were said to raise significant challenges to key tenets of what was referred to as "Darwinian evolution". In response to this claim the National Center for Science Education, an organisation that works in collaboration with National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association that support the teaching of evolution in public schools, contacted the authors of the papers listed and twenty-six scientists, representing thirty-four of the papers, responded. None of the authors considered that their research provided evidence against evolution.
On March 11, 2002 during a panel discussion on evolution Meyer publicly told the Ohio Board of Education that the "Santorum Amendment
" was part of the Education Bill, and therefore that the State of Ohio was required to teach alternative theories to evolution as part of its biology curriculum. Meyer and others rebutted that the language, while not in the bill itself is in the Conference Report to the bill and pointed out what they believe are misrepresentations by Miller. Miller replied that Conference Reports do not carry the weight of law and that in implying that they do, Meyer factually mistated the nature and gravitas of the Santorum Amendment.
, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington
. On 7 September, the publisher of the journal, the Council of the Biological Society of Washington, released a statement retracting the article as not having met its scientific standards and not peer reviewed. The same statement vowed that proper review procedures would be followed in the future and endorsed a resolution published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which observes that there is no credible scientific evidence supporting ID.
The journal's reasons for disavowing the article were denied by Richard Sternberg
, the managing editor at the time. As evidence they cite that Sternberg is a fellow of International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
(ISCID), a group dedicated to promoting intelligent design, and presented a lecture on intelligent design at the Research And Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference.
Meyer alleges that those who oppose "Darwinism" are persecuted by the scientific community
and prevented from publishing their views. Such assertions have been refuted, disputed or dismissed by a wide range of scholarly, science education and legislative sources. In a 2006 article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation
, a group of writers that included historian of science Ronald L. Numbers (author of The Creationists
), philosopher of biology Elliott Sober
, Wisconsin State Assembly
woman Terese Berceau
and four members of the department of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, dismissed such claims as a "hoax". In their website refuting claims of persecution contained in the film Expelled (which featured Meyer), the National Center for Science Education
states that, in contrast to the many new good scientific ideas that win out when they are proven to be sound, "Intelligent design advocates ... have no research and no evidence, and have repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to formulate testable hypotheses; yet they complain about an imagined exclusion, even after having flunked the basics." In analysing an Academic Freedom bill
, that was based upon a Discovery Institute
model statute, the Florida Senate
found that:
submitted the book as his contribution to the "2009 Books of the Year" supplement for The Times
, writing "Signature in the Cell...is a detailed account of the problem of how life came into existence from lifeless matter – something that had to happen before the process of biological evolution could begin ... Meyer is a Christian, but atheists, and theists who believe God never intervenes in the natural world, will be instructed by his careful presentation of this fiendishly difficult problem.". Stephen Fletcher, chemist at Loughborough University
, responded in The Times Literary Supplement
that Nagel was "promot[ing] the book to the rest of us using statements that are factually incorrect." Fletcher explained "Natural selection
is in fact a chemical process as well as a biological process, and it was operating for about half a billion years before the earliest cellular life forms appear in the fossil record." In another publication, Fletcher wrote that "I am afraid that reality has overtaken Meyer’s book and its flawed reasoning" in pointing out scientific problems with Meyer's work by citing how RNA
"survived and evolved into our own human protein-making factory, and continues to make our fingers and toes."
Darrel Falk
, co-president of the BioLogos Foundation
and a biology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University
, reviewed the book and used it as an example of why he does not support the intelligent design movement
. Falk wrote that the book contains many incorrect claims such as "Meyer correctly concluded that no RNA molecule had ever been evolved in a test tube which could do more than join two building blocks together." Falk was critical of Meyer's declaration of scientists, such as Michael Lynch
, being wrong without Meyer conducting any experiments to falsify the established work in the field. Falk wrote, "the book is supposed to be a science book and the ID movement is purported to be primarily a scientific movement—not primarily a philosophical, religious, or even popular movement." Falk concluded, "If the object of the book is to show that the Intelligent Design movement is a scientific movement, it has not succeeded. In fact, what it has succeeded in showing is that it is a popular movement grounded primarily in the hopes and dreams of those in philosophy, in religion, and especially those in the general public." On January 28, 2010 the BioLogos Foundation
published Meyer's response to Falk.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scholar, philosopher and advocate for 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...
. He helped found the Center for Science and Culture
Center for Science and Culture
The Center for Science and Culture , formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture , is part of the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank in the United States...
(CSC) of 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...
(DI), which is the main organisation behind the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
. Before joining the DI, Meyer was a professor at Whitworth College. Meyer is currently director at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and Senior Fellow at the DI.
Biography
Meyer graduated with a degree in physics and earth science in 1981 from Whitworth College and worked as a geophysicist for the Atlantic Richfield CompanyARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
. Shortly after, Meyer won a scholarship from the Rotary Club
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
of Dallas to study at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Meyer earned his Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science in 1991 at the University of Cambridge. His dissertation was entitled "Of clues and causes: A methodological interpretation of origin of life studies." After graduating, Meyer taught philosophy at Whitworth, then at the Christian Palm Beach Atlantic University
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Palm Beach Atlantic University is a comprehensive nondenominational faith-based university with a core emphasis on character formation by integrating a Christian worldview with the liberal arts and selected professional studies...
. Meyer later ceased teaching to devote his time to the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
.
Intelligent design
Meyer is described by philosopher of science Robert T. PennockRobert T. Pennock
Robert T. Pennock is a philosopher working on the Avida digital organism project at Michigan State University where he has been full professor since 2000. Pennock was a witness in the Kitzmiller v...
as one of a small group of prominent young intelligent design creationists who have "dedicated their lives to the creationist cause" (the others being William Dembski, Paul Nelson
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). Meyer's involvement in intelligent design (ID) can be traced to his participation in the 'Ad Hoc Origins Committee' defending Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson
Phillip E. Johnson is a retired UC Berkeley law professor and author. He became a born-again Christian while a tenured professor and is considered the father of the intelligent design movement...
's Darwin on Trial
Darwin on Trial
Darwin on Trial is a 1991 book about the theory of evolution and the creation-evolution debate. It was written by Harvard graduate and University of California, Berkeley law professor emeritus Phillip E. Johnson...
in 1992 or 1993 (in response to Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
's "devastating" review of it in the July 1992 issue of Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
), while with the Philosophy department at Whitworth College. He was later a participant in the first formal meeting devoted to ID, hosted at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in 1992.
In December 1993 Bruce Chapman
Bruce Chapman
Bruce K. Chapman is the director and founder of the Discovery Institute, an American conservative think tank often associated with the religious right. He was previously a journalist, a Republican Party politician and a diplomat.- Political career :After graduating from Harvard University in 1962,...
, president and founder of the Discovery Institute, noticed an essay in the Wall Street Journal by Meyer about a dispute when biology lecturer Dean H. Kenyon
Dean H. Kenyon
Dean H. Kenyon is Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University and an intelligent design proponent. He is also the author of Of Pandas and People, a controversial book on intelligent design.- Career :...
taught intelligent design in introductory classes. Kenyon had co-authored Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People
Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins is a controversial 1989 school-level textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon and published by the Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics...
, and in 1993 Meyer had contributed to the teacher's notes for the second edition of Pandas. Meyer was an old friend of Discovery Institute co-founder George Gilder
George Gilder
George F. Gilder is an American writer, techno-utopian intellectual, Republican Party activist, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute...
, and over dinner about a year later they formed the idea of a think tank opposed to materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
. In the summer of 1995 Chapman and Meyer met a representative of Howard Ahmanson, Jr.
Howard Ahmanson, Jr.
Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson, Jr. is an heir of the Home Savings bank fortune built by his father Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson, Sr.. Ahmanson Jr. is a multi-millionaire philanthropist and financier of many Christian conservative cultural, religious and political causes.- Biography :Ahmanson is the son...
. Meyer, who had previously tutored Ahmanson's son in science, recalls being asked "What could you do if you had some financial backing?" He was a co-author of the "Wedge strategy
Wedge strategy
The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the Discovery Institute, the hub of the intelligent design movement. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the Wedge Document, which describes a broad social, political, and academic agenda whose...
", which put forth the Discovery Institute's manifesto for the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
.
In 1999, Meyer with David DeWolf and Mark DeForrest laid out a legal strategy for introducing intelligent design into public schools in their book Intelligent Design in Public School Science Curriculum. Meyer has co-edited Darwinism, Design, and Public Education (Michigan State University Press, 2000) with 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...
and co-edited Science and Evidence of Design in the Universe (Ignatius Press
Ignatius Press
Ignatius Press, named for Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, is a Catholic publishing house based in San Francisco, California, USA. It was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio SJ, a Jesuit priest and former pupil of Pope Benedict XVI...
, 2000) with Michael J. Behe and William A. Dembski
William A. Dembski
William Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
. In 2009, his book Signature in the Cell was released and in December of that year.
Meyer has been described as "the person who brought ID (intelligent design) to DI (Discovery Institute)" by historian Edward Larson
Edward Larson
Edward John Larson is a North American historian and legal scholar. He is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, he was formerly Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law and Richard B. Russell Professor of American History at the University...
, who was a fellow at the Discovery Institute prior to it becoming the center of the intelligent design movement. In 2004, the DI helped introduce ID to the Dover Area School District
Dover Area School District
The Dover Area School District is a public school district located in Pennsylvania, United States. It consists of Dover Township, Washington Township and the Borough of Dover in York County. The district operates Dover Area High School, Dover Intermediate School, Dover Elementary School, Leib...
, which resulted in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
where ID was ruled to be religion. Discussing ID in relation to Dover, on May 6, 2005 Meyer debated Eugenie Scott
Eugenie Scott
Eugenie Carol Scott is an American physical anthropologist who has been the executive director of the National Center for Science Education since 1987...
, on The Big Story
The Big Story
The Big Story, which debuted in 2000, was an American news/talk television program on the Fox News Channel, hosted by John Gibson and Heather Nauert weekdays. It was taken off in March 2008, replaced with America's Election Headquarters, an hour of news related to the 2008 United States...
with John Gibson
John Gibson (media host)
John David Gibson is an American radio talk show host. As of September 2008, he hosts the syndicated radio program The John Gibson Show on Fox News Radio. Gibson was formerly the co-host of the weekday edition of The Big Story on the Fox News television channel.-Early career:Gibson earned a BA...
. During the debate, Meyer argued that intelligent design is critical of more than just evolutionary mechanisms like natural selection that lead to diversification, but of common descent itself.
He has appeared on television and in public forums advocating intelligent design. Notably he wrote and appeared in the Discovery Institute's 2002 film Unlocking the Mystery of Life
Unlocking the Mystery of Life
Unlocking the Mystery of Life is a 2002 intelligent design documentary film promoted and produced by the Illustra Media, a branch of the Discovery Institute, and Focus on the Family. The film's script was written by Stephen C...
and was interviewed in the 2008 Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film, directed by Nathan Frankowski and hosted by Ben Stein. The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses academics who believe they see evidence of intelligent design in nature and who criticize evidence supporting...
movie. Has also been an active debater such as in April 2006 with Peter Ward
Peter Ward (paleontologist)
Peter Douglas Ward is a paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, and has written popular science works for a general audience. He is also an adviser to the Microbes Mind Forum....
, a paleontologist from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
held an open online discussion on the topic of intelligent design in the Talk of the Times forum in Seattle, WA.
In March, 2002, Meyer announced a "teach the controversy" strategy, which alleges that the theory of evolution is controversial within scientific circles, following a presentation to the Ohio State Board of Education. The presentation included submission of an annotated bibliography of 44 peer-reviewed scientific articles that were said to raise significant challenges to key tenets of what was referred to as "Darwinian evolution". In response to this claim the National Center for Science Education, an organisation that works in collaboration with National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association that support the teaching of evolution in public schools, contacted the authors of the papers listed and twenty-six scientists, representing thirty-four of the papers, responded. None of the authors considered that their research provided evidence against evolution.
On March 11, 2002 during a panel discussion on evolution Meyer publicly told the Ohio Board of Education that the "Santorum Amendment
Santorum Amendment
The Santorum Amendment was an amendment to the 2001 education funding bill which became known as the No Child Left Behind Act, proposed by former Republican United States Senator Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania, which promotes the teaching of intelligent design while questioning the academic...
" was part of the Education Bill, and therefore that the State of Ohio was required to teach alternative theories to evolution as part of its biology curriculum. Meyer and others rebutted that the language, while not in the bill itself is in the Conference Report to the bill and pointed out what they believe are misrepresentations by Miller. Miller replied that Conference Reports do not carry the weight of law and that in implying that they do, Meyer factually mistated the nature and gravitas of the Santorum Amendment.
Peer review controversy
On 4 August 2004, an article by Meyer appeared in the peer-reviewed scientific journalScientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington
Biological Society of Washington
The Biological Society of Washington is a world wide acting scientific organisation established on 3 December 1880 in Washington, D.C.. The original purpose was "to encourage the study of the Biological Sciences and to hold meetings at which papers shall be read and discussed." The current primary...
. On 7 September, the publisher of the journal, the Council of the Biological Society of Washington, released a statement retracting the article as not having met its scientific standards and not peer reviewed. The same statement vowed that proper review procedures would be followed in the future and endorsed a resolution published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which observes that there is no credible scientific evidence supporting ID.
The journal's reasons for disavowing the article were denied by Richard Sternberg
Richard Sternberg
Richard M. Sternberg is an American scientist. Sternberg believes intelligent design should be part of the discussion about evolution and the origin of life on Earth. Although he is not a proponent of intelligent design, Dr. Sternberg has been critical of the mainstream in evolutionary biology for...
, the managing editor at the time. As evidence they cite that Sternberg is a fellow of International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design was a non-profit professional society that promoted intelligent design...
(ISCID), a group dedicated to promoting intelligent design, and presented a lecture on intelligent design at the Research And Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference.
Meyer alleges that those who oppose "Darwinism" are persecuted by the scientific community
Scientific community
The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method...
and prevented from publishing their views. Such assertions have been refuted, disputed or dismissed by a wide range of scholarly, science education and legislative sources. In a 2006 article published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation
Journal of Clinical Investigation
The Journal of Clinical Investigation is a biomedical journal, with a 2010 impact factor of 14.152. The journal makes its research articles — including access to articles back to 1924 — freely available online....
, a group of writers that included historian of science Ronald L. Numbers (author of The Creationists
The Creationists
The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design is a history of the origins of anti-evolutionism, first published in 1992 by Ronald Numbers as The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism...
), philosopher of biology Elliott Sober
Elliott Sober
Elliott Sober is Hans Reichenbach Professor and William F. Vilas Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at University of Wisconsin–Madison. Sober is noted for his work in philosophy of biology and general philosophy of science. Sober taught for one year at Stanford University and has...
, Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....
woman Terese Berceau
Terese Berceau
Terese L. Berceau is a Democratic Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 76th Assembly District since 1998.Berceau was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin and graduated from Green Bay East High School. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she received a Bachelor...
and four members of the department of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, dismissed such claims as a "hoax". In their website refuting claims of persecution contained in the film Expelled (which featured Meyer), the National Center for Science Education
National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education is a non-profit organization based in Oakland, California affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is the United States' leading anti-creationist organization, and defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes...
states that, in contrast to the many new good scientific ideas that win out when they are proven to be sound, "Intelligent design advocates ... have no research and no evidence, and have repeatedly shown themselves unwilling to formulate testable hypotheses; yet they complain about an imagined exclusion, even after having flunked the basics." In analysing an Academic Freedom bill
Academic Freedom bills
Academic Freedom bills are a series of antievolution bills introduced in state legislatures in the United States between 2004 and 2009. They assert that teachers, students, and college professors face intimidation and retaliation when discussing scientific criticisms of evolution, and therefore...
, that was based upon a 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...
model statute, the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....
found that:
Signature in the Cell
On June 23, 2009, HarperOne released Meyer's Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. Philospher Thomas NagelThomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher, currently University Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, where he has taught since 1980. His main areas of philosophical interest are philosophy of mind, political philosophy and ethics...
submitted the book as his contribution to the "2009 Books of the Year" supplement for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, writing "Signature in the Cell...is a detailed account of the problem of how life came into existence from lifeless matter – something that had to happen before the process of biological evolution could begin ... Meyer is a Christian, but atheists, and theists who believe God never intervenes in the natural world, will be instructed by his careful presentation of this fiendishly difficult problem.". Stephen Fletcher, chemist at Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
, responded in The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
that Nagel was "promot[ing] the book to the rest of us using statements that are factually incorrect." Fletcher explained "Natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
is in fact a chemical process as well as a biological process, and it was operating for about half a billion years before the earliest cellular life forms appear in the fossil record." In another publication, Fletcher wrote that "I am afraid that reality has overtaken Meyer’s book and its flawed reasoning" in pointing out scientific problems with Meyer's work by citing how RNA
RNA
Ribonucleic acid , or RNA, is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life....
"survived and evolved into our own human protein-making factory, and continues to make our fingers and toes."
Darrel Falk
Darrel Falk
Darrel R. Falk is professor of biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in Point Loma, California.-Education:Falk attended Simon Fraser University, originally planning on becoming an M.D. eventually. In his second university semester, he signed up for Introduction to Biology, Genetics, and...
, co-president of the BioLogos Foundation
BioLogos Foundation
The BioLogos Foundation is a Christian advocacy group established by Francis Collins in 2007. BioLogos aims to address the core themes of science and religion, and emphasize a compatibility between science and Christian faith....
and a biology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University
Point Loma Nazarene University is a Christian liberal arts college. Its main campus is located on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene.-History:...
, reviewed the book and used it as an example of why he does not support the intelligent design movement
Intelligent design movement
The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of "intelligent design," which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are...
. Falk wrote that the book contains many incorrect claims such as "Meyer correctly concluded that no RNA molecule had ever been evolved in a test tube which could do more than join two building blocks together." Falk was critical of Meyer's declaration of scientists, such as Michael Lynch
Michael Lynch (geneticist)
Michael Lynch is Distinguished Professor of Evolution, Population Genetics and Genomics at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Besides many highly acclaimed papers, especially in population genetics, he has written a two volume textbook with Bruce Walsh, widely considered the "Bible" of...
, being wrong without Meyer conducting any experiments to falsify the established work in the field. Falk wrote, "the book is supposed to be a science book and the ID movement is purported to be primarily a scientific movement—not primarily a philosophical, religious, or even popular movement." Falk concluded, "If the object of the book is to show that the Intelligent Design movement is a scientific movement, it has not succeeded. In fact, what it has succeeded in showing is that it is a popular movement grounded primarily in the hopes and dreams of those in philosophy, in religion, and especially those in the general public." On January 28, 2010 the BioLogos Foundation
BioLogos Foundation
The BioLogos Foundation is a Christian advocacy group established by Francis Collins in 2007. BioLogos aims to address the core themes of science and religion, and emphasize a compatibility between science and Christian faith....
published Meyer's response to Falk.
External links
- Biography from the Discovery Institute
- Meyer in discussion on the film "Expelled" on Premier Christian Radio
- Meyer's website