Evolution Book Sees No Science-Religion Gap
In 1984 and again in 1999, the National Academy of Sciences, the
nations most eminent scientific organization, produced books on
the evidence supporting the theory of evolution and arguing against
the introduction of creationism or other religious alternatives in
public school science classes.
On Thursday, it produced a third. But this volume is unusual,
people who worked on it say, because it is intended specifically
for the lay public and because it devotes much of its space to
explaining the differences between science and religion, and
asserting that acceptance of evolution does not require abandoning
belief in God.
We wanted to produce a report that would be valuable and
accessible to school board members and teachers and clergy, said
Barbara A. Schaal, a vice president of the academy, an evolutionary
biologist at Washington University and a member of the panel that
produced the book.
The panel, convened by the academy and the Institute of Medicine,
its medical arm, was headed by Francisco Ayala, a biologist at the
University of California, Irvine, and a former Dominican
priest.
The 70-page book, Science, Evolution and Creationism, says, among
other things, that attempts to pit science and religion against
each other create controversy where none needs to exist. And it
offers statements from several eminent biologists and members of
the clergy to support the view.
In the book, which will be available on the Web site of the
National Academies (www.nas.edu), the panel reports that evidence
for the theory of evolution is overwhelming and growing. It cites
findings from DNA research, fossil discoveries and the observations
scientists have made about emerging diseases, like SARS, or severe
acute respiratory syndrome.
The book also denounces the arguments for a form of creationism
called intelligent design, calling them devoid of evidence,
disproven or simply false.