In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

77 f i v e · Pangloss, Paley, and the Privileged Planet Parrying the Wedge Strategy in Earth Science Education mark terry When our ’85 Vanagon broke down not far from our house during the summer of 2006, I didn’t expect it to lead to a discussion about intelligent design (ID). Believing the problem to be the fuel pump and hoping for a quick fix, I called for a tow to the only nearby VW shop open on Saturdays. Not five minutes after picking me up, the tow-truck driver brought up the topic of intelligent design. He had discovered I was a science teacher, and expressed the hope that I was not having to deal with it in my classroom. We had a great conversation and parted friends. He had his own backyard ID problem, and I ended up sympathizing with him. An avid amateur astronomer, he was trying to deal cordially with his new neighbor, who had set about trying to convince him that there is scientific evidence that ID permeates the universe. As it turned out, my fuel pump theory wasn’t supported by the evidence, a rare part was ordered, and I might as well have delayed the tow until the next week—but I’m glad I didn’t miss that conversation. Intelligent design was in the air that summer, thanks to a dynamite combination of the marketing smarts and experience of the Discovery Institute, the fundamentalist leanings of about a third of the American public, and an even more broadly shared scientific illiteracy. Astoundingly, ID continues to loom over discussions by public school science teachers, school board members, electoral candidates, and neighbors despite having virtually no presence in scientific research journals. Much has already been written about how ID is antithetical to good science education (Forrest and Gross 2004; Terry and Linneman 2003). Across the country most 78 · m a r k t e r r y science teachers, university professors, and researchers largely find its popularity bewildering and annoying, and wish it would all go away (Pennock 2001; Terry 2004). They might as well pine for the demise of fast food. The boundless energy of the ID campaign inspires awe. Money has flowed to it steadily since the mid-1990s, and the very fundraising document that stimulated this can help us understand why. The Wedge Document is a carefully crafted case statement designed to rally big donors around a well-focused cause. First intended for internal eyes only, then later broadcast on the Web without authorization, the Wedge Document was ultimately claimed by the Discovery Institute as its own (Downey 2006). It calls for challenging public school teaching of evolution and instead infusing the curriculum with ID as a means to a larger end: opening statewide curricular definitions of science to include the supernatural. In turn, this new definition of science is intended to help cement Christian religious principles, as understood by the authors of the Wedge Document, at the center of American civic, legal, scientific, and religious life (Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture). Directing this Wedge strategy, as it is named in the document, is the Center for Science and Culture (CSC, originally named the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture) of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington. The institute is otherwise known around the Pacific Northwest as a civic affairs think tank with Christian conservative leanings that makes occasional contributions to discussions of public transit, regional government, and other issues (Killen 2003; Scigliano 2006). The Discovery Institute’s CSC has managed to unfurl the huge canvas of a socalled Big Tent for creationists of all stripes, the Christian Right, and other political conservatives (Nelson 2002; Pennock 2000). From this tent emanates a much broader nationwide attack on the teaching of evolution than at any time in the past. Focus on the Family, the conservative Christian organization led by radio personality and writer James Dobson, produces the institute’s “science” videos with slick technical production. InterVarsity, Regnery, and other Christian presses publish the bulk of its books (though lately the institute has begun publishing on its own), and Reasons to Believe, a creationist organization that claims astronomy proves the existence of God, hawks the institute’s wares at science teacher conventions. Feeling the public relations force of this attack, public school science teachers, administrators, and school board members are surrounded by a confusion of illde fined terms and by accusations...

Share