The new Kansas state board of education’s science standards state that “Science is a systematic method of continuing investigation that uses observations, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena.” More adequate explanations? What does that mean? “Logical argument” is […]
Academic freedom is at the very core of all that I do. I have a great liberty in science, the liberty of thought. But the popular image of a physicist, that of Einstein in his old age, is quite misleading. Most of the physicists that I know do not spend […]
Now that we’re off daylight savings time, I leave work only to be greeting by a world cloaked, a thin veil of bright sky clinging to the ridgeline of the Santa Cruz mountains. Tonight, however, was just a little bit different. While we’ve been enjoying some cool, cloudly days this […]
The “New York Times has a nice piece summarizing the ousting of 8/9 of the Dover Schoolboard yesterday”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/national/09dover.html?ex=1289192400&en=0afa2b7119328aa5&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss. Sounds like some of the new members really intend to do away with this very dangerous decision by their predecessors to inject non-science into the science classroom.
“Looks like the school board that injected non-science into the science classrom (and got sued for it) got voted out”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051109/ap_on_re_us/evolution_showdown;_ylt=AkRm9TAX5JLbX0M0NYjbefus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-. I just learned that these elections were happening earlier today. Whether voters ousted them for their ideological zealotry, or their waste of money in encouraging this lawsuit, it seems that […]
What exactly are students in Kansas’ public schools to be taught about science? That was the question on my mind as I drove home tonight. I finished my dinner and sat down at my laptop, eager to pull up the science standards from Kansas to see if science was everywhere […]
I just went to the Kansas State Board of Ed website and found a link to the “August 9 draft of the standards”:http://www.ksde.org/outcomes/scstdworkingdoc892005.pdf, which are presumeably close to the final version. I’m going to check them out tonight.
It’s a good day, and a miserable day, all at once. This day is like a simultaneous quantum superposition that, once collapsed, remained in a state of indefinite distinction. I awoke this morning a little after 6 so that Jodi and I could hit the polls before she boarded her […]
Ah, political science. Ahem. Well, perhaps I’m just adding more science to politics than I usually see. I’ve wanted to sit down with state education rankings and compare the minimum teacher tenure requirement with the state ranking. Tonight I sat down the Google, OpenOffice, and the ballot initiative documents. I […]
Dover is a wrap. The “New York Times reports on the closing arguments”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/05/science/sciencespecial2/05design.html?ex=1288846800&en=c428931f2daa6714&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss, and tries to paint the trial as one where two entities – the school board and the intelligent design movement – are on trial, one where there are scientists who believe ID is a new paradigm shift […]
For many years, there has been a raging argument between engineers, scientists and the general public. This debate doesn’t center over whether humans and monkeys share a common ancestor. The brouhaha has nothing to do with whether God kicked the universe off in a big bang, or even whether God […]
“Kitzmiller vs. The Dover Schoolboard is scheduled to reach closing arguments this Friday, November 4”:http://www2.ncseweb.org/wp/. It’s remarkable to me that this first landmark trial in the new century over the zealous attempt to inject non-science into the science classroom has taken just a few months. Part of me wishes that […]