Week 3 Day 4 History of Biology Case Studies

These articles, despite the time frames they are generally concerned with, resonate well today, because as a science teacher in the northeastern part of Oklahoma I encounter almost daily resistance to the idea of evolution. Some of it is due to parents, students and even fellow professionals being misinformed or underinformed, but of course much of it is due to strong personal and community-based religious beliefs. As an educator it is my duty to instruct my students as to the current state of scientific thought, but as this course and these essays in particular demonstrate, one always has to incorporate how historical, cultural, and societal institutions have helped to shape and influence the current state of thinking. I am not particularly religious myself, but partially out of professional self-preservation instincts and partially out of respect for others' viewpoints I try to maintain an open mind and remind my students that science (in particular evolution) and religion are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and acknowledging that we can figure out how natural processes occur without completely denying religion and spirituality. I have a difficult time with the "hard-liners", then and now, who invoked spontaneous generation and the origin of life on earth to deny evolution or equated Darwinism with atheism. Even today the standard response from many of my students concerning any mention of Darwin or evolution is that there is no way we were once monkeys, or descended from monkeys, and that's about as far as their knowledge or line of reasoning can be extended. I have had students and parents tell me that the bible actually states Darwin was wrong and there is no such thing as evolution.

Jensen's article describes a well known exchange that took place at a scientific meeting in 1860, between the Bishop of Oxford and a young scientist and friend of Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, concerning Darwin and his work. This was the incident that apparently ignited and inflamed the rift between science and religion that has not been completely resolved to this day. The essay describes events leading up to the "debate", the conversation itself, and what transpired afterward. Apparently what set things off was the Bishop asking Huxley if he would prefer a simian for a grandfather or grandmother. Huxley calmly replied he would rather have a monkey for a grandfather than someone like Wilberforce, and Huxley preoceeded to defend Darwin's theory as the best explanation that had been generated to that point in time for the origin of species. It seems others, and Joseph Hooker in particular, also defended Darwin's theory, and the audience was more or less on their side. Of course both sides felt they had emerged victorious in the impromptu "debate". Jensen points out that the Darwin supporters were not only in opposition to the religious figures, but also many of the older and more established scientists, and this episode prompted a heightened sense of persecution among the Darwinites. He also mentions how modern television has continued the drama, when actually there was a certain degree of wit and playfulness involved. He concludes that the general relationship between religion and science was affected by the exchange, and the chasm was widened.

The essay on the Scopes trial reinforced for me a danger I have always warned my students of, and that is learning one's history, science, and other subjects from popular culture sources. Maybe it's better to have seen the play or movie Inherit the Wind than to have never been exposed to the Scopes trial and its sigificance at all, but again I am reminded to consult original works and/or informed, legitimate secondary works by scholars whenever possible. The focus of Larson's essay was what really happened before, during, and after the famous "monkey trial", and a lot of my own misconceptions or lack of knowledge have been rectified. One of the most interesting points was that Scopes was never actually jailed, and in fact the entire episode originated as a maufactured ploy by the town of Dayton to gain publicity, and the fledgling ACLU to try to void Tennesse's new antievolution law. I was also not aware that William Jennings Bryan passed away just days after the trial concluded. Both essays discussed Bryan indeatil, and I was incredulous that he actually had no problem with evolution itself, but he felt the majority of Americans did and therefore fought against it. Larson concludes that the trial was effectively a draw, winning no converts to either side, but further rallying many of those already in either camp.

The final reading was Numbers' essay on creationism. I wished it had been current enough to give me more information on the current idea of intelligent design, but it did extend into the 1980s and therefore discussed its origins and early attempts by creationists to "scientize" their ideas. I was so enthused by this reading I went back and perused the previous essay in God and Nature dealing with the evangelical reaction to Darwin's theory of natural selection. I learned some interesting points about Kant and the mechanistic philosophy that helped me sort out some of the concepts from earlier in this course. I was also surprised to see Popper (who I admit I don't know much about), Bacon, Bateson, Kuhn, and others cited by the creationists to support their theologies! I was stunned by the lengths Price and others went in trying to mold biblical ideas into a scientific framework, how powerful the churches were and are in shaping public opinion, Bryan's fanatacism, and the backlash against universities, students, professors, and education in general. All this in a country that owes much of its economy and standing in the world to our scientific and technological prowess.

Bibliographic Note:

Vernon J. Jensen, "Return to the Wilberforce-Huxley Debate". British Journal for the History of Science 21 (1988): 161-179.

Edward J. Larson, "The Scopes Trial in History and Legend," in When Science and Christianity Meet, ed. David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, pp. 245-264. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2003).

Ronald L. Numbers, "The Creationists," in God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science, ed. David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, pp. 391-423. (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986).

Further Reading Note:

These essays cite numerous works I would like to review in the future, especially in light of the modern debate facing science teachers and society in general concerning evolution, intelligent design, and creationism in the classroom.