Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools Book

More than eighty years after the Scopes trial, creationism is alive and well. Through local school boards, politicians, strategic court cases, and well-funded organizations, a strong movement has developed to encourage the teaching of "intelligent design" as a viable theory alongside evolution in science classes. Now, in Not in Our Classrooms, parents and teachers, as well as other concerned citizens, have a much-needed tool to argue against teaching intelligent design as science.

In clear and lively essays, a team of experts describe not only the history of the intelligent design movement and the lack of scientific support for its claims, but also the religious, legal, and pedagogical problems that proposals to teach this idea in the public schools bring in their wake. Not in Our Classrooms is essential reading for anyone concerned about the teaching of this religious theory as science in the classrooms of our public schools.

Eugenie C. Scott and Glenn Branch are the executive director and the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, California, that defends the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction was named an Outstanding Academic Title of 2005 by Choice.

Scientist, comedian, teacher, and author, Bill Nye became a household name with his innovative, fast-paced television series, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Since 1992 the Reverend Barry W. Lynn, a minister in the United Church of Christ, has served as executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

VOYA

Despite the recent court defeat in the Kitzmiller, et. al. vs. Dover Area School District case, efforts to have intelligent design taught in public schools as an alternative to or replacement for evolution continue. Backed by powerful conservative Christian religious institutions, teaching the biblical fundamentalist perspective on creation nationwide is still deemed a paramount goal. This concisely written handbook is an excellent resource for understanding and dealing with the challenges posed by the proponents of intelligent design. The six essays included cover the history and impact of the creationist perspective as it affects public education; a critical analysis of such elements of intelligent design as "irreducible complexity"; the fit of both intelligent design and evolution into theological frameworks; the Constitutional perspective on the instruction of intelligent design (Church-State relations, the First Amendment, academic freedom, and relevant court decisions); the teaching of evolution; and strategies and tactics for defending such instruction. Extensive source notes act as a de facto bibliography. As is the case with any such handbook, this resource more or less preaches to the choir, but for those in need of in-depth information and penetrating analysis of a timely topic, it is an excellent starting place, more focused on activism than Scott's previous Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction (Greenwood, 2004/VOYA February 2005).