Abstract
Abstract In his review of Bill Nye’s Undeniable, Nicholas Wade proposes a “treaty” to defuse controversies over the teaching of evolution: describing evolution as a theory ambiguously—as a well-established scientific theory to supporters of evolution education, but as “just a theory” to opponents of evolution education. On inspection, Wade’s proposal misidentifies the focus of the creationist objection to evolution, distorts the nature of science, and involves a blatant equivocation. Rather than equivocating on the term theory à la Wade, teachers ought to focus on ensuring that students understand not only the important theories in the field of evolutionary biology but also what a theory in science is and isn’t.
Highlights
In his review of Bill Nye’s Undeniable, Nicholas Wade proposes a “treaty” to defuse controversies over the teaching of evolution: describing evolution as a theory ambiguously—as a well-established scientific theory to supporters of evolution education, but as “just a theory” to opponents of evolution education
In the course of his review for The Wall Street Journal of Undeniable—a popular book on evolution by Bill Nye, the beloved “Science Guy” of educational television in the 1990s who is reinventing himself as a crusader for science education—Wade proposes a “treaty” between science and fundamentalism, which he thinks will resolve the nearly century-long conflict between those who want evolution to be taught forthrightly and those who seek for the topic to be banned, balanced, or belittled
In the case of teaching evolution in schools, scientists would concede that evolution is a theory, which it is
Summary
In his review of Bill Nye’s Undeniable, Nicholas Wade proposes a “treaty” to defuse controversies over the teaching of evolution: describing evolution as a theory ambiguously—as a well-established scientific theory to supporters of evolution education, but as “just a theory” to opponents of evolution education. Is there a simple and easy way to defuse controversies over the teaching of evolution?
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