September 29, 2004

"The Crusade Against Evolution" in Wired

The cover story in the October 2004 issue of Wired magazine is Evan Ratliff's "The Crusade Against Evolution," with the tag line: "In the beginning there was Darwin. And then there was intelligent design. How the next generation of 'creation science' is invading America's classrooms."

Ratliff concentrates on the attempt of advocates of "intelligent design" to influence science education in Ohio, beginning with the March 2002 debate before the Ohio Board of Education and ending with the controversy (as of July 2004) over the flawed "critical analysis of evolution" lesson plan adopted in the state. In between, he provides a concise history and analysis of the "intelligent design" movement, concluding, "The intelligent design movement is using scientific rhetoric to bypass scientific scrutiny." NCSE executive director Eugenie C. Scott and Ohio Citizens for Science leaders Patricia Princehouse and Steve Rissing are all quoted.

Accompanying the article is a brief defense of "intelligent design" by George Gilder, a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute.

("The Crusade Against Evolution" in Wired)