Burton Award Talk: Science Under Attack: Intelligent Design

Science is under attack in many places throughout our society, from the White House to the classroom. I will concentrate my remarks here on the emerging threat to science education associated with the effort to have Intelligent Design incorporated into high school science curricula. While this may appear to be primarily an attack on evolutionary biology, it is in fact motivated by an effort to undermine the teaching of science itself as a discipline based on the scientific method. Moreover, the key proponents of this methodology are not misguided scientists, they are highly refined political operatives who are motivated by a desire to incorporate religion directly in science classes.