The teaching of evolution in high school science classes continues to be a controversial subject. In Oklahoma and many other states the quality of science education is under serious and ongoing attack from creationist groups. Most recently this has taken the form of (multiple) attempts to add evolution disclaimers to science textbooks, either through the state textbook committee or via direct legislation. Unfortunately we can probably expect more efforts to get creationism (or so-called intelligent design theories) taught as science along side evolution, as has occurred in other states. Plain and simple, creationist ideas are not testable using scientific methods and are therefore not science. Mysticism, spiritualism, and religion in any form have no place in science curricula. The creationist agenda aims to have a specific, narrow religious dogma taught as science and should be vigorously opposed.

• Click here for a point-by-point analysis of the proposed Oklahoma textbook disclaimer written by University of Oklahoma biologist Dr. Frank J. Sonleitner.
• Click here for a detailed overview of the inaccuracies and dangers of the Oklahoma textbook disclaimer written by Brown University biologist Kenneth R. Miller.
• Click here to read statements by U.S. President and Georgia native Jimmy Carter regarding a January 2004 proposal to remove the word evolution from textbooks in Georgia's public schools.

Reasons to Support Teaching Evolution in Oklahoma Schools:

* There is no controversy whatsoever among scientists about whether evolution has occurred. Most major professional scientific societies, including the National Academy of Sciences USA and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, have issued official statements explicitly supporting the teaching of evolution.

* It is absolutely true that the explanation of how evolution occurs is a theory. But contrary to popular usage, a scientific theory is the pinnacle of explanatory power and the most well-supported of all scientific ideas. Other theories include: germ theory of disease, atomic theory of matter, genetic theory of inheritance, quantum theory, theory of gravity, and plate tectonic theory (continental drift). Should all of these be doubted simply because they are theories?

* Most fields of science, including chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy, and biology deal with phenomena that cannot be "seen" or that happened in the past. This has not limited scientific inquiry or understanding for a thousand years.

* Opponents of evolution are either unfamiliar with the scientific evidence or willfully ignore it. Ignorance should not form the basis of scientific instruction.

* Science is not a threat to faith or spirituality. All of the world's major religions, including most forms of Christianity, accept evolution. Science deals only with testable phenomena in the natural world and can say nothing about the existence or methods of God. Science makes no claims to address issues of morality and the meaning of life which rightly fall within the domains of theology and philosophy.

* So-called alternatives to evolution are not scientific. This is not an issue of fairness. None of these, including "intelligent-design", have any credible supporting evidence nor can they be tested via the methods of science. They are simply not science and should not be taught as such.

* The evolution disclaimer that has been proposed for textbooks in Oklahoma is itself an example of scientific illiteracy and deliberate deception. Of the 12 statements in the disclaimer, 3 are seriously misleading and 4 are outright false (see over). Do we really want to mislead our students about the evidence and methods of science?

* Evolutionary principles are increasingly important in human health (e.g., antibiotic resistance, emerging diseases, function of the human genome) and agriculture (e.g., crop and livestock improvement), among other things. Our students should have the opportunity to learn about these vital issues.

* If popularity or politics are allowed to dictate what constitutes valid science, all of science is compromised. The resulting decline in the quality of science education would seriously threaten the technological and economic development of the state of Oklahoma.

Our students should study hard and keep an open mind. Healthy skepticism is at the core of a good scientific education. But this does not mean that false or unscientific ideas should be taught in science classrooms or that we should pretend to know less than we do about the natural history of our planet.

Please help preserve the quality of science education in Oklahoma!

- Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education

here are some resources made available by the National Center for Science Education

The Accidental Species: Misunderstandings of Human Evolution (University of Chicago Press) by Henry Gee

Am I a Monkey? (Johns Hopkins University Press) by Francisco J. Ayala

Charles Darwin's On the Origin Of Species: A Graphic Adaptation (Rodale) by Michael Keller

Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change (Hill and Wang) by L. Hunter Lovins and Boyd Cohen

Cold Cash, Cool Climate (Analytics Press) by Jonathan Koomey

Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself (Current/Penguin) by Adam Rutherford

Darwin: A Graphic Biography (Smithsonian Books) by Eugene Byrne and Simon Gurr

The Darwin Archipelago (Yale University Press) by Steve Jones

The Darwinian Tourist (Oxford University Press) by Christopher Wills

Darwin's Lost World (Oxford University Press) by Martin Brasier

Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution (W.W. Norton) by Iain McCalman

Darwin's Universe: Evolution from A to Z (UC Press) by Richard Milner

The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex (University of Chicago Press) by John A. Long

Evidence of Evolution (Abrams Books) by Susan Middleton and Mary Ellen Hannibal

The Evidence for Evolution (University of Chicago Press) by Alan R. Rogers

Evolution, 2nd Edition (Sinauer Associates) by Douglas J. Futuyma

Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America's Classrooms (Cambridge University Press) by Berkman and Plutzer

Evolution vs. Creationism, 2nd edition (Greenwood) by Eugenie C. Scott

Evolution vs. Creationism (Chapter 2), 2nd edition (Greenwood) by Eugenie C. Scott

Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be (Kids Can Press) by Daniel Loxton

Evolution: Making Sense of Life (Roberts & Company) by Carl Zimmer

Evolution: The Story of Life (UC Press) by Douglas Palmer

Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth (Hill and Wang) by Jay Hosler. Illustrated by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon

The Evolutionary World: How adaptation explains everything from seashells to civilization (Thomas Dunne Books) by Geerat J. Vermeij

The Flooded Earth: Our Future In a World Without Ice Caps (Basic Books) by Peter D. Ward

The Fossil Hunter (Palgrave Macmillan) by Shelley Emling

Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company) by Mark Hertsgaard

How and Why Species Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin's Finches (Princeton University Press) by Peter R. Grant and B. Rosemary Grant

How We Do It: The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction (Basic Books) by Robert Martin

In the Light of Evolution: Essays from the Laboratory and Field (Roberts & Company Publishers) edited by Jonathan B. Losos

Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution (W.W. Norton) by Nick Lane

Life's Ratchet: How molecular machines extract order (Basic Books) by Peter M. Hoffmann

Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins (Palgrave Macmillan) by Ian Tattersall

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (Bloomsbury Press) by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

The Missing Link: An Inquiry Approach for Teaching All Students About Evolution (Heinemann) by Lee Meadows

My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Brian Switek

Nature's Compass: The Mystery of Animal Navigation (Princeton University Press) by James L. Gould and Carol Grant Gould

Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University Of Chicago Press) by Massimo Pigliucci

Once We All Had Gills (Indiana University Press) by Rudolf A. Raff

The Origin Then and Now: An Interpretive Guide to the Origin of Species (Princeton University Press) by David N. Reznick

Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live (W.W. Norton) by Marlene Zuk

Principles of Life (Sinauer Associates) by Hillis, Sadava, Heller, and Price

Reality Check: How Science Deniers Threaten Our Future (Indiana University Press) by Donald Prothero

Rising Sea Levels: An Introduction to Cause and Impact (McFarland) by Hunt Janin and Scott A. Mandia

The Rocks Don't Lie (W.W. Norton) by David R. Montgomery

The Rough Guide to Climate Change (Rough Guides Ltd.) by Robert Henson Richard Conniff

Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins (Yale University Press) by John Gurche

The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth (W. W. Norton) by Richard Conniff

Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating (Yale University Press) by Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig

Stones & Bones (Polebridge Press Norton) by Char Matejovsky and Robaire Ream

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion (Basic Books) by Edward J. Larson

The Tangled Bank (Roberts and Company) by Carl Zimmer

The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution, Second Edition (Roberts and Company) by Carl Zimmer

Waking the Giant (Oxford University Press) by Bill McGuire

Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place In Nature (Bellevue Literary Press) by Brian Switek

For more information see the web site of the National Center for Science Education. If you would like to receive information via e-mail about the evolution/creationism debate in Oklahoma, you can join the list server by going here.