Letter from Steven A. Edinger
26 August 2002

Dear Governor Taft, Members of the Education Committees of the Ohio Legislature, Members of the Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio Board of Education and Ohio Department of Education,

I am writing to you as the President of Ohio Citizens for Science and as a member of the Ohio Academy of Science. Ohio Citizens for Science is a collection of scientists, science educators, concerned parents and concerned citizens who are working to help improve the quality of science education in Ohio and to foster communication and understanding between Ohio's scientists and nonscientists.

When we think of evolution, most of us (including me!) think of old bones and fossils showing us the history of what has happened. The question is easily asked, "What does evolution have to do with the human condition today and how can studying evolution improve it?" The grant posting below is one example of how understanding evolution improves the quality life for humans.

Understanding the principles of evolution and applying those principles to disease organisms and agents opens new possibilities for treating and preventing diseases. Simply put, if we know how these organisms play the evolutionary game then we should be able to beat them at their own game. A mature, well developed theory, like the theory of evolution, is able to make predictions that scientists and researchers can test and apply. A well developed theory gives a framework to understand how the natural world works, and understanding how it works tells us what actions will and will not work. There are no "alternatives to evolution", including Intelligent Design Creationism, that make testable predictions about the mechanisms of diseases that can be used to produce successful treatments. If there were, then the NIH (National Institute for Health) would be offering grants to study them.

Unless the school day is lengthened, adding alternatives to evolution, including Intelligent Design Creationism or the "teach the controversy" approach most recently advocated, means taking something out of the school day. Is it fair to the Ohio's children to remove valuable curricular material to make room for unaccepted and unproven material? There is not a controversy among the vast majority of scientists about the fact evolution occurs and has occurred. The controversy, as it has been played out in Ohio and elsewhere, is how a group of people (the Discovery Institute and Science Excellence for All Ohioians) have used the political process to try and force their ideas into the science curriculum over the objections of the vast majority of scientists and science educators. Studying THAT controversy is an excellent topic for a high school government class or other social studies classes, but it is unfair to Ohio's children to remove scientific topics from their science curriculum to make room for unscientific ones, like the "teach the controversy" proposal.

I would be delighted to speak with any of you (especially Governor Taft's Science Advisor) at length on this topic.

Best wishes,

Steve Edinger, M.S.
President, Ohio Citizens for Science
Physiology Lab Instructor

Office Phone (740) 593-9484