Science Textbooks

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the definition of science is to acquire knowledge through the scientific method, which is "the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses" (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary).

As a social scientist fully indoctrinated with the importance of the scientific method, ethics, and peer-review, I have had to learn the difference between a scientific theory and the colloquial "theory" when a layperson tries to predict what mom will cook for dinner, for example.

Therefore, I fully urge the group choosing science textbooks to choose science, not the intelligent design option, which is not science.

Some may be thinking, "It is only fair to present both sides." However, there is actually no other side in science in this case. Thousands of different hypothesis tests using many different independent methods (the fossil record, comparative anatomy, DNA-biochemistry, embryology, biogeography, etc.) all come up with evolution as the answer. Intelligent design, which I concede has a very nice name, cannot be tested and cannot be science.

To choose the non-science textbook would not only be a waste of money, it would be a waste of young, scientific minds. In a world where global competition based on science and technology will determine our very welfare, please choose science.

P.S.: If it is any consolation, the ID-er’s definition of evolution is wrong: Evolution is not life from a bunch of “random” changes. On the contrary, there is nothing “random” about the environment pressuring species to change so they may better survive. There is certainly also room to believe that God made the universe and its rules. (Einstein alluded to as much.) I am one scientist who believes one of God’s rules is evolution.