The Creationism Debate Continues
Last issue of Microbe Magazine contained an article denouncing the teaching of Creationism as entirely unscientific. I was concerned. As an aspiring scientist, I hope that sound research can stand on it's own, without the particular belief systems of the researcher interfering. This response letter appeared in this month's issue of Microbe and brought me great encouragement.
Evolution in the Classroom
Risking the ire of the National Academy of Sciences, attention needs to be called to the irony in
their current crusade against creationism in science classrooms.
Sir Francis Bacon, who is credited with formulating and establishing the scientific method, was
a creationist. So were Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Louis Pasteur, Carl Linnaus, Michael
Faraday, Blaise Pascal, Lord Kelvin, James Clerk Maxwell, Jean Louis Agassiz, Rudolph Carl
Virchow, Johannes Kepler, and numerous other intellectual giants on whose shoulders stand
the modern scientific enterprise. Clearly, Creationism did not hinder the scientific work of
these greats, rather it encouraged them to seek keener insights into the secrets of the physical
realm.
Permitting students to peek outside th box of evolution is hardly a dilution of science. Rather it
is granting them the freedom of imagination and thought similar to what students of previous
generations were allowed to have.
George T. Javor
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Loma Linda, Calif.
(2008) Microbe 3: 215
Evolution in the Classroom
Risking the ire of the National Academy of Sciences, attention needs to be called to the irony in
their current crusade against creationism in science classrooms.
Sir Francis Bacon, who is credited with formulating and establishing the scientific method, was
a creationist. So were Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Louis Pasteur, Carl Linnaus, Michael
Faraday, Blaise Pascal, Lord Kelvin, James Clerk Maxwell, Jean Louis Agassiz, Rudolph Carl
Virchow, Johannes Kepler, and numerous other intellectual giants on whose shoulders stand
the modern scientific enterprise. Clearly, Creationism did not hinder the scientific work of
these greats, rather it encouraged them to seek keener insights into the secrets of the physical
realm.
Permitting students to peek outside th box of evolution is hardly a dilution of science. Rather it
is granting them the freedom of imagination and thought similar to what students of previous
generations were allowed to have.
George T. Javor
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Loma Linda, Calif.
(2008) Microbe 3: 215
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