Five central scientific issues are critical to consideration of the treatment in school curricula of the origin and evolution of the universe and of life on earth. These issues are: (1) the nature of science; (2) scientific evidence on the origin of the universe and the earth; (3) the consistent and validated scientific evidence for biological…

Argues that human urban social complexity has been made possible by social evolution rather than biological evolution, and that this social evolution has had to counter individual selfish tendencies which biological evolution has continued to select as a result of the genetic competition among the cooperators. (Author/JM)

The Scopes trial of 1925 drew many reporters to Dayton, Tennessee, to report on what they expected would be the final blow to ignorant fundamentalism. They came with many preconceived notions about Dayton, the people of Dayton, William Jennings Bryan, and creationism. Close examination of pretrial, trial, and posttrial coverage in eight…

This study: (1) comprehensively reviews previous research on the treatment of evolution in high school biology textbooks; (2) describes the treatment of evolutionary theory, including mention of creationist explanations of the development of life forms, in the most recent editions of 15 high school biology textbooks from the major publishers; and…

Presented in this book is the case against creationist pseudo-science. One theme emphasized throughout the book, written for those with or without science backgrounds, is that although the creationist campaign is an assault on evolutionary theory, it constitutes an attack on all sciences. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to evolutionary…

Reactions to the "woman the gatherer" theory, introduced in the 1970's as an alternative to the "man the hunter" thesis in anthropology, have been to accept, ignore it, or combine it with the hunting theory. The "man the hunter" model stresses that primitive males hunted for meat and provided food and protection for their mates and children who…

Examines the legal and constitutional implications of the fundamentalist movement to win equal time for creation doctrine in science and biology textbooks. (JR)

Presents a list of articles published from January to December, 1974, on genetics, cells, nutrition, respiration, excretion, general physiology, conservation, ecology, reproduction, locomotion, disease, growth, response, behavior, and classification. (GS)

Experiments in teaching language or language-like behavior to chimpanzees and other primates may bear on the problem of the origin of language. Evidence appears to support the theory that man's first language was gestural. Recent pongid language experiments suggest: (1) a capacity for language is not solely human and therefore does not represent…

Suggests classroom projects for investigating the diversity of insects. (LS)

Presents a simulation model approach to the study of evolution. This model combines both practical and theoretical aspects of evolutionary biology course work. The author has used laboratory hardware for this simulation with 20 working groups of students. (HM)

Nine questions are presented for student discussions relating to genetics, evolution, and racial characteristics. A brief introductory discussion of these topics are presented, as well. (BB)

Describes a college-level multidisciplinary course dealing with the difference between the scientific and biblical accounts of the origin of earth and life. Student evaluation indicates the course was successful in achieving the objectives. (MA)

Discusses the efforts which have been accomplished in extragalactic astronomy (the study of bodies and systems beyond the Milky Way) since 1929. Some of the most perplexing problems of extragalactic astronomy such as the missing mass of the galaxies are also discussed. (HM)

Results found that schoolboy understanding had seven foci: evolution as a phenomenon, why evolution occurred, the process of change, adaptation, selection, chance, and inheritance. The concept of adaptation was found to be particularly well established, that of chance least so. Naturalistic and Lamarckian interpretations of evolution were…