The Bottom Line

Issue date: 9/6/06 Section: The Voltage Gate

Graph depicting the divergence of acceptance of evolutionary theory [Click to enlarge]

When I mentioned to friends that I intended to start a science column in The Bottom Line, I received several reactions:

Silence.

"Huh."

"Oh, that's cool. What, like Bill Nye?"

"Why bother? Do you really think people will be interested?"

The most important of these is, of course, "Why bother?" Scientists are perceived as the only ones who should care about advances in science. They seem to constitute a small cloister of badly dressed, out-of-touch intellectuals whose research only affects the common man when it crosses paths or completely conflicts with modern political, financial, medical or moral issues.

This commonly held perception of science - as a field of "special interest," irrelevant until proven useful or morally objectionable - is utterly false.

But, it is also why I write.

In a recent survey published by the National Science Board, only 17% of Americans surveyed were considered "scientifically literate." The remaining 83% were unable to relate even the basic principles of scientific inquiry, much less comprehend the science section of the New York Times.

An article in an August issue of Science ranked the United States second to last out of 33 developed countries in the acceptance of evolution. Turkey was the only country more delusional than the U.S.

These statistics do not indicate that Americans are inherently stupid; they show that science is not an important part of our everyday lives, and that basic science education is not "sticking" with the public.

The sciences are responsible for instituting sweeping changes in the perceptions of society, crafting the framework of the world economy and accelerating the retreat of mysticism. It flies in the face of tradition, challenging the status quo, continually morphing, patiently gathering information from asking simple little questions: What? How? Why?

It pushes societies to change. As Isaac Asimov, biochemist and prolific author, once said, "No one can really feel at home in the modern world and judge the nature of its problems - and the possible solutions to those problems - unless one has some intelligent notion of what science is up to."

One idea can change the way we view the world. Darwin waited almost 20 years to publish Origin of Species, his proposition that all animals, including human beings, have a common ancestor. Evolution defied tradition, both in the scientific community and in the church. To this day the fact of evolution causes upheaval in the religious community, but it has also helped the human species understand not only our natural origins, but also the eminent threats to our continued existence - bacterial and viral infection.

It is a matter of truth. The conclusions drawn from scientific inquiry are the closest human beings will ever come to objective truth about the world in which we live, and perhaps more importantly, about ourselves.

The Voltage Gate was born in April of this year as a weblog, and since then I have used it to clarify certain scientific principles and theories, provide links to important new research, and discuss controversies (like climate change) and hoaxes (like the recent Intelligent Design movement).

This semester we'll discuss where evolution stands today, the most misunderstood scientific terms, the truth about embryonic stem cell research, the myth of the mad scientist, climate change, the green movement and, if time permits, I'll highlight some of the progressive research happening right here in Frostburg.

I will be using the the blog to supplement these articles as well as to continue my exploration of science, skepticism and journalism. I post daily and always welcome questions and comments.

Science and natural history need to be brought to the forefront of common knowledge and acceptance. In the next year, my goal is to give FSU the "intelligent notion of what science is up to" that Asimov was talking about.

Next: Unintelligent Designers: What you need to know about Intelligent Design, the Discovery Institute and the Republican party.

Check out related links from my blog below.

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