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News & Views item - June 2006 |
67 National Science Academies Urge Parents and Teachers to Present the Facts About the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth. (June 24, 2006)
Sixty-seven of the 92 national science academies which currently make up the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP) on June 21 signed a statement urging parents and teachers to provide children with the facts about the origins and evolution of life on Earth. The Executive Board of ICSU (International Council for Science) has also endorsed the statement.
While the statement mentions neither Creationism nor Intelligent Design per se, it leaves no doubt to what it refers. "within science courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence, data, and testable theories about the origins and evolution of life on Earth are being concealed, denied, or confused with theories not testable by science."
Below, in full, is the published statement and the list of signatories.
IAP STATEMENT ON THE
TEACHING OF EVOLUTION
We, the undersigned Academies of
Sciences, have learned that in various parts of the world, within science
courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence,
data, and testable theories about the origins and evolution of life on Earth are
being concealed, denied, or confused with theories not testable by science. We
urge decision makers, teachers, and parents to educate all children about the
methods and discoveries of science and to foster an understanding of the science
of nature. Knowledge of the natural world in which they live empowers people to
meet human needs and protect the planet.
We agree that the following evidence-based facts about the origins and evolution of the Earth and of life on this planet have been established by numerous observations and independently derived experimental results from a multitude of scientific disciplines. Even if there are still many open questions about the precise details of evolutionary change, scientific evidence has never contradicted these results:
In a universe that has evolved towards its present configuration for some 11 to 15 billion years, our Earth formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
Since its formation, the Earth – its geology and its environments – has changed under the effect of numerous physical and chemical forces and continues to do so.
Life appeared on Earth at least 2.5 billion years ago. The evolution, soon after, of photosynthetic organisms enabled, from at least 2 billion years ago, the slow transformation of the atmosphere to one containing substantial quantities of oxygen. In addition to the release of the oxygen that we breathe, the process of photosynthesis is the ultimate source of fixed energy and food upon which human life on the planet depends.
Since its first appearance on Earth, life has taken many forms, all of which continue to evolve, in ways which palaeontology and the modern biological and biochemical sciences are describing and independently confirming with increasing precision. Commonalities in the structure of the genetic code of all organisms living today, including humans, clearly indicate their common primordial origin.
We also subscribe to the following
statement regarding the nature of science in relation to the teaching of
evolution and, more generally, of any field of scientific knowledge :
Scientific knowledge derives from a
mode of inquiry into the nature of the universe that has been successful and of
great consequence. Science focuses on (i) observing the natural world and (ii)
formulating testable and refutable hypotheses to derive deeper explanations for
observable phenomena. When evidence is sufficiently compelling, scientific
theories are developed that account for and explain that evidence, and predict
the likely structure or process of still unobserved phenomena.
Human understanding of value and
purpose are outside of natural science’s scope. However, a number of components
-- scientific, social, philosophical, religious, cultural and political --
contribute to it. These different fields owe each other mutual consideration,
while being fully aware of their own areas of action and their limitations.
While acknowledging current limitations, science is open ended, and subject to correction and expansion as new theoretical and empirical understanding emerges.
1. Albanian Academy of Sciences 2. National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina 3. Australian Academy of Science 4. Austrian Academy of Sciences 5. Bangladesh Academy of Sciences 6. The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium 7. Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina 8. Brazilian Academy of Sciences 9. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 10. RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada 11. Academia Chilena de Ciencias 12. Chinese Academy of Sciences 13. Academia Sinica, China, Taiwan 14. Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences 15. Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences 16. Cuban Academy of Sciences 17. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 18. Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 19. Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt 20. Académie des Sciences, France 21. Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities 22. The Academy of Athens, Greece 23. Hungarian Academy of Sciences 24. Indian National Science Academy 25. Indonesian Academy of Sciences 26. Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran 27. Royal Irish Academy 28. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities 29. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy 30. Science Council of Japan 31. Kenya National Academy of Sciences 32. National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic 33. Latvian Academy of Sciences 34. Lithuanian Academy of Sciences |
35. Macedonian Academy of
Sciences and Arts 39. The Royal Netherlands
Academy of Arts and Sciences |
The complete list of members is available at http://www.interacademies.net/CMS/2950/4016.aspx