APS Activities with Other Professional Societies

In 1981, the APS Council issued a statement that opposed ``equal time'' presentation in public school science classes of creationism and evolution. The statement clarified that ``Scientific inquiry and religious beliefs are two distinct elements of the human experience. Attempts to present them in the same context can only lead to misunderstandings of both.'' The APS Council revisited the issue in 1999 when a school board in Kansas attempted to eliminate the Big Bang, among other issues, from the science curriculum. Since that time, the APS has been more directly involved in confronting efforts that would dilute the teaching of science in public school science classes. This talk will review the APS activities and describe a developing multi-science society activity.