Over seventy-five years after the Scopes trial, the controversy over the teaching of creationism in the public schools continues unabated. On the front lines of the controversy is the National Center for Science Education — NCSE — the only organization entirely devoted to defending the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Among the tools that NCSE provides for those wishing to defend the teaching of evolution is its publication Voices for Evolution, published first in 1989 and then in a revised edition in 1995. Voices for Evolution includes statements from educational, scientific, civil liberties, and religious organizations, all supporting evolution education. Together they amount to a powerful endorsement of the importance and value of evolution education.

In preparation for the third edition, due to be published in 2003, NCSE has added a host of new statements supporting evolution education on its web site. The new statements, which are now incorporated in the appropriate sections of the web version of Voices for Evolution, are from the following organizations:

• American Anthropological Association
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Astronomical Society
• American Geophysical Union
• Association for Women Geoscientists
• Association of College and University Biology Educators
• Australian Academy of Science
• Ecological Society of America
• General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Genetics Society of America
• Geological Society of America
• Geological Society of Australia
• History of Science Society
• Iowa Academy of Science
• Kentucky Academy of Science
• Kentucky Paleontological Society
• National Academy of Science
• National Conference on Teaching Evolution
• National Science Teachers Association
• North American Benthological Society
• North Carolina Academy of Science
• North Carolina Math and Science Education Network
• Ohio Academy of Science
• Ohio Mathematics and Science Coalition
• Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
• The Society of Systematic Biologists
• Virginia Academy of Science

Also included are the Pope’s 1996 Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences concerning the status of evolution and a joint statement, signed by the authors of twenty-three biology textbooks, affirming that “Evolution is a normal part of science, and should be treated the same way as all other scientific ideas.”

As Molleen Matsumura wrote in her foreword to the revised edition of Voices for Evolution, “The voices in this book, even though each one represents an important group of concerned people, are not the entire chorus. They are like the instrument that sounds the pitch so all the singers can work together. The other voices for evolution are teachers and parents, school administrators and concerned citizens and scientists — thousands of people across the country who work to defend evolution education in their own communities. This book is for everyone who wants to join the chorus.”

Printed copies of the second edition of Voices for Evolution are available from NCSE or from Amazon.com.