Lawrence S. LernerLawrence S. Lerner lauded the second edition of Eugenie C. Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction (Greenwood Press/University of California Press, 2009), writing, "Evolution vs. Creationism is a superb introductory guide through the tangle, whether the reader wishes simply to get a clear basic picture of what is going on and what one might expect in the future, or plans to dig further into the subject."
"Scott writes with crystal clarity and punctilious fairness," Lerner adds in his review, published in the American Physical Society's Forum on Physics & Society newsletter (January 2010; 39 [1]). "She never gets bogged down in excessive detail and yet never sacrifices accuracy to brevity. She is the long-time Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, the national clearinghouse for teaching good science (and especially evolution). Hence she has, and skillfully conveys, a bird's-eye view of the world of creationism."
Also reviewed is the updated edition of But Is It Science? (Prometheus, 2009), edited by Robert T. Pennock and Michael Ruse. "[T]hey have assembled essays that provide a fine historical, scientific, religious, and legal background," Lerner writes. Especially praised is Nick Matzke's contribution, which "shows in painstaking detail that for all its claims, ["intelligent design" creationism] is nothing more than a rephrasing of creationism with some changes of emphasis."
Lerner is Professor Emeritus in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at California State University, Long Beach. He is a nationally recognized expert on state science standards, having reviewed them regularly for the Fordham Foundation. A frequent contributor to Reports of the NCSE, most recently with "Whither 'Intelligent Design Creationism?" (RNCSE 29:4), Lerner received NCSE's Friend of Darwin award in 2003.