Geological Website of the Month
"I’ve Looked at Life from Both Sides Now"
The Discovery Institute (www.discovery.org)
and
Understanding Evolution (www.evolution.berkeley.edu)
Michael F. Forlenza, P.G.
HGS Editor
With apologies to Joni Mitchell, this month’s Geologic Website of the Month features a look at both sides of the evolution issue by reviewing the Internet sites for the Discovery Institute and the Understanding Evolution. Two centuries after Charles Darwin's birth on February 12, 1809, people still argue passionately about his theory of evolution. A Harris poll conducted in November 2008 found that slightly more Americans believe in Darwin's theory of evolution (47 percent) than in creationism (40 percent).
There is hardly a more contentious issue in the grade school science curriculum than the teaching of evolution. This contentious issue has hit the front pages of the Texas and national newspapers again in recent months due to the hearings before the Texas State Board of Education regarding the public school science curriculum for the next ten years. In a close vote on January 23, 2009, the Texas State Board of Education approved a revision of the state's science standards without the controversial "strengths and weaknesses" language. The vote was only preliminary; a final vote on the standards is expected at the board's March 26-27, 2009 meeting.
This month’s column features the websites of two prominent voices in the debate representing opposing sides of the issue of teaching evolution.
The Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute website homepage is clean and well-organized with refined tones of gray and blue and high-quality graphics. The lower half of the homepage features three columns of clickable lists of events, articles, and news. The homepage has one small rotating advertisement for books that links to Amazon.com. The homepage lists the seven projects areas of the Discovery Institute along the left side and three columns of events, fellows’ articles, and news in the lower half.
The Discovery Institute, a public policy think tank founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, is funded by philanthropic foundation grants, corporate and individual contributions and the dues of Institute members. The Discovery Institute has become a leading voice for the teaching of intelligent design in American schools. According to the website, the "Discovery Institute's mission is to make a positive vision of the future practical. The Institute discovers and promotes ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market and individual liberty. Our mission is promoted through books, reports, legislative testimony, articles, public conferences and debates, plus media coverage and the Institute's own publications and Internet website."
The Science & Culture link on the homepage of the Discovery Institute opens the sub-homepage for the Center for Science and Culture. This page, with the same clean and high-quality look as the homepage, presents content pertaining to intelligent design and evolution. Topics areas listed on the left side of the page are: Dissent from Darwinism, Blog: Evolution.org, CSC Discovery Society, Essential Readings, Academic Freedom, Intelligent Design, and Frequently Asked Questions. In the lower part of the page are three columns providing extensive links to books, articles, papers, and news items featuring original content and related materials.
According to the website, the Center for Science and Culture is a program which:
- supports research by scientists and other scholars challenging various aspects of neo-Darwinian theory;
- supports research by scientists and other scholars developing the scientific theory known as intelligent design;
- supports research by scientists and scholars in the social sciences and humanities exploring the impact of scientific materialism on culture.
- encourages schools to improve science education by teaching students more fully about the theory of evolution, including the theory's scientific weaknesses as well is its strengths.
The Center for Science and Culture has more than 40 Fellows, including biologists, biochemists, chemists, physicists, philosophers and historians of science, and public policy and legal experts. The Center's Director is Dr. Stephen Meyer, who holds a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from Cambridge University. Dr. Meyer worked as a geophysicist with the Atlantic Richfield Company after earning his undergraduate degrees in physics and geology. Dr. Meyer participated in the hearings before the Texas State Board of Education in January 2009. The Center's Associate Director is Dr. John G. West, who holds a Ph.D. in government from Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. in communications from the University of Washington.
The Dissent from Darwin link and the Intelligent Design link open new websites with a different format that is not quite as polished as the Discovery Institute’s site. The Dissent from Darwin website presents a position statement and list of signatories. The position statement reads: "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."
The webpage provides a link for persons interested in signing the statement. Signers must hold a Ph.D. in a scientific field or hold an M.D. and serve as a professor of medicine. The list of signatories includes 32 professors and 23 Ph.D. holders who have associations with Rice University, Texas A&M, or the University of Texas.
The Discovery Institute and the Center for Science and Culture websites provide a portal to a wide ranging network of content and affiliated websites. The polished appearance of the webpages present the impression of a well-organized and well-funded enterprise. But the websites have a rather flat, one-tiered, structure with the homepage presenting links to numerous text-heavy articles with few graphics or illustrations.
Understanding Evolution
The homepage for Understanding Evolution is rather plain consisting primarily text in pleasant tones of blue and green. The homepage is divided into sections with navigational items at