National Center for Science Education
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It defends the teaching of evolutionary biology and opposes the teaching of religious views in science classes in America's public schools. The center is located in Oakland, California. They are well known for coordinating Project Steve.
The NCSE was founded in 1981 and incorporated in 1983, by several "Committees of Correspondence" that had been established to fight the promotion of "creation science" by Christian fundamentalists. In 1987, author and lecturer Eugenie Scott (PhD in Physical Anthropology) became its executive director. The Board of Directors and official supporters, as explained by NCSE, "reflects our scientific roots." The organization's supporters include Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences; Donald Johanson, discoverer of the "Lucy" fossil; and evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala. Also the late Paleontologist and writer Stephen Jay Gould was a long-time supporter.
The NCSE acts as a central information and resource clearinghouse, and helps to coordinate the activities of people fighting creationists. The NCSE also opposes "intelligent design theory or alternatives to evolution" because they are "misleading euphemisms" of creationism.[1] The organization also has a legal advisory panel, and offers free information/literature to parents to share with school officals.
NCSE "is religiously neutral, though it cooperates nationally and locally with religious organizations, as well as scientific and educational organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Science Teachers Association."[2] The group has over 4000 members who are "scientists, teachers, clergy, and citizens with diverse religious affiliations."[3]
In 2004, National Center for Science Education was represented by Dr. Scott on Penn and Teller's Showtime televsion show Bullshit! on the episode "Creationism." Dr. Scott offered scientific views about the creationist and intelligent design movements. She noted, "it would be unfair to tell students that there is a serious dispute going on among scientists whether evolution took place." She further noted that "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." Scott then explained "that's not the way science is done."
External links
- National Center for Science Education
- Criticism of the group from the creationist group Answers in Genesis.
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