You are hereFrom the World-Wide Flood to the World Wide Web: Creationism in the Digital AgeTitle: From the World-Wide Flood to the World Wide Web: Creationism in the Digital Age Issue: 4 INTRODUCTIONRecent research has shown strong support for science among the public in the US (National Science Board 2006). At the same time, this research shows that this same public is generally not well-informed about scientific issues (National Science Board 2006). In fact, the NSB report concludes that “the public’s lack of knowledge about basic scientific facts and the scientific process can have far reaching implications” (National Science Board 2006). This problem is not limited to adults, as tests of scientific literacy rate US students below the level of their counterparts in many other countries (National Science Board 2006). In particular, understanding of evolutionary biology is especially poor among Americans (Miller and others 2006), and it seems to be an issue from grade school (Michigan House Civics Commission 2006) to college (Holden 2006a). While this issue exists in other countries, the United States is the arguably the developed nation where the problem is most severe (Lazcano 2005; Miller and others 2006). Clearly, public perception of evolutionary biology is out of line with the actual state of science, and efforts to correct this should be a high priority. Year: 2008 Date: July–August Page(s): 17–18, 23–27 This version might differ slightly from the print publication. Review: The Science of GodYear: 1998 Title: The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom Issue: 2 This book is essentially an elaboration and update of Schroeder's earlier book Genesis and the Big Bang published in 1990. Schroeder is an Israeli physicist who has also extensively studied biblical interpretation. He uses the arguments of the Anthropic principle (the Big Bang and the fine-tuning of the universal constants) as evidence for God; but he also insists that the Bible and science agree. Genesis is not to be taken literally nor dismissed as poetry but must be interpreted correctly following the lead of talmudic scholars such as Nahmanides and Maimonides. Date: March–April New York: Broadway Books, 1998. 240 pages. Page(s): 33 Media Type: topics: This version might differ slightly from the print publication. Review: Forbidden Archaeology's ImpactYear: 1999 Issue: 3 Title: Forbidden Archeology's Impact: How a Controversial New Book Shocked the Scientific Community and Became an Underground Classic What if somebody published a 592-page book to answer all the critics of his previous book? That's what Michael Cremo does in Forbidden Archaeology's Impact. In 1993, Cremo and Richard Thompson published Forbidden Archaeology (FA), a voluminous exposé of "anomalous archaeological artifacts" that suggested modern people possibly lived on earth almost as long as the world existed, some 4.3 billion years ago. Date: May–June Badger, CA: Torchlight Publishing, 1998. 592 pages. Page(s): 14–17 Media Type: This version might differ slightly from the print publication. Review: Science of Today and the Problems of GenesisYear: 2000 Title: Science of Today and the Problems of Genesis: A Study of the "Six Days" of Creation, The Origin of Man and the Deluge and Antiquity of Man Based on Science and Sacred Scripture; A Vindication of the Papal Encyclicals and Rulings of the Church on These Questions. New Edition.
Issue: 6 If there is any book that was really pivotal in laying "creation science" before the public, it is surely Duane Gish's Evolution: The Fossils Say No!, first published in 1972. Among other tidbits in this book, there is a 13-page exposé in which Gish purports to demolish the claims for the very existence of "Peking Man", arguing that the conclusions supporting this human fossil are based on not merely bad science, but fraud. Date: November–December Page(s): 17–18, 23–24 Rockford (IL): Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. 1993. 386 pages. ReferencesBlack D, Teilhard de Chardin P, Young CC, Pei WC. Fossil man in China. Geological Memoirs, Geological Survey of China, 1933; Series A, nr 11.Boule M. Le Sinanthrope. L'Anthropologie, 1937; 47: 1–22. Brace CL. Creationists and the Pithecanthropines. Creation/Evolution 1987; nr 19: 16–23. Jia L, Huang W. The Story of Peking Man. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1990. Johnson JWG. The Crumbling Theory of Evolution. Brisbane: Queensland Binding Service. 1982. van Oosterzee P. Dragon Bones: The Story of Peking Man. St. Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 1999. Ritchie A. The creation science controversy — a response to deception. Australian Biologist, 1991; 4 (1): 116–21. Scharle T. Book review: Did Darwin Get it Right? Catholics and the Theory of Evolution. RNCSE 1999 Nov/Dec; 19 (6): 42–3. Shapiro HL. Peking Man. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1974. Weidenreich F. On the earliest representatives of modern mankind recovered on the soil of East Asia. Peking Natural History Bulletin 1939; 13: 161–74. Weidenreich F. The skull of Sinanthropus pekinensis. Palaeontologia Sinica 1943, new series D, nr 10. This version might differ slightly from the print publication. topics: Media Type: Over the Hump — Taking the AIG Camel Challenge!Title: Over the Hump — Taking the AIG Camel Challenge! Issue: 6
Year: 1998 Date: November–December Page(s): 15–17 topics: This version might differ slightly from the print publication. Media Type: Old Earth Creationism
Old Earth Creationism (OEC), is a variety of creationism which has existed for hundreds of years; it encompasses a wide range of beliefs. Like Young Earth Creationists, Old Earth Creationists hold that various aspects of living things were created by special supernatural intervention. Unlike Young Earth Creationists, however, Old Earth Creationists accept the scientific evidence for the age of the earth and the universe. Selling PandasTitle: Selling Pandas Issue: 1 For about a year, the Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) has been trying to get the creationist book Of Pandas and People into the public schools as a supplementary text. Scott Brande described how FTE, Haughton Publishing Company (the nominal publisher), and various religious activists tried to get it approved in Alabama (NCSE Reports 9(6):5, 10(1);8). Eugenie Scott has reviewed Pandas (NCSE Reports 10(1):16). Year: 1991 Date: January–February Page(s): 10–11 This version might differ slightly from the print publication. The Foundation for Thought and EthicsReaders of NCSE Reports know that a new creationist book, Of Pandas and People, is making the rounds. Scott Brande has described the efforts of Haughton Publishing Co. to get Pandas adopted in Alabama as a supplementary text (NCSE Reports 9(6):5 and 10(1):8). Pandas presents the "intelligent design" version of the origin of species in an attractive wrapper without any explicit sign of religious creationism (see review, NCSE Reports 10(1):16). Review: Of Pandas and PeopleOf Pandas and People (hereafter Pandas) exemplifies the new creationism, which conceals its theological underpinnings better than the old Institute for Creation Research variety. Here, the Creator is cloaked in the euphemism "intelligent design." Like traditional creationist works, this book is laden with misstatements, misunderstandings, or incomplete descriptions of evolution, and the errors and omissions always favor "intelligent design." This review will describe only a few of its errors. New Creationist Book On the WayThe Texas-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) has been looking for two years or so (to our knowledge) for a publisher for a supplemental textbook for public school science classes. FTE’s goal is "to help restore freedom of choice to young people in the classroom, especially as it relates to matters of religion and conscience." Creationist-watchers will recognize this as a term of art for getting sectarian religious views into the classroom. Their supplementary book, originally entitled Biology and Origins, looks like it is going to finally get published. Pages
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