Evolution Endorsed by Steves

Genrou writes "National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has started an interesting and unusual project. Project Steve gathered about 220 scientists - almost all holding PhDs in all areas of science, and inlcuding two Nobel prize winners, eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, and several well-known authors of popular science books - signed a statement on the importance of teaching evolution and against intelligent design. The unusual part is that all of them are named Steve. Eugenie C. Scott, the executive director of NCSE, explained: "Creationists are fond of amassing lists of PhDs who deny evolution to try to give the false impression that evolution is somehow on the verge of being rejected by the scientific community. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Hundreds of scientists endorsed the NCSE statement. And we asked only scientists named Steve -- who represent approximately 1% of scientists.""

Comments

Re:In other news

[foistboinder]

Hundreds of years ago, the vast majority of "scientists" believed that the Earth was flat! Like a pancake!

There are some problems with that statement:

1. The earth was know to be round since the time of the ancient Greeks, possibly earlier.
2. Hundreds of years ago there really weren't any of what we would call scientists or a scientific community

Re:Modern science

[kasparov]

From the FAQ:

Well, is this some kind of joke, then?

Yes and no. Creationists are fond of circulating statements denouncing evolution signed by as many scientists as they can muster, with the intention of conveying the impression that evolution is a theory in crisis. The point of Project Steve is to demonstrate, in a lighthearted manner, that, on the contrary, the status of evolution within the scientific community is secure. But the signatories realize that science is not conducted by voting.

It's a Stephen Jay Gould tribute

[WallyHartshorn]

Read the article. They chose "Steves" as a tribute to Stephen Jay Gould, who recently passed away.