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Kansas Krackpot Kreationism
I appologize; I tried HARD. But I couldn't resist this 'off-topic'
bait...its just TOO CLOSE to me.
Peter Atkins wrote;
>A lot of problems come from the general public misunderstanding what
>scientists mean by "a theory." It does not mean a guess, or a conjecture, or
>one possible explanation among many. It means the best possible explanation
>based on all the available evidence. Therefore we have the "theory of
>evolution" as well as the "theory of gravity."
I agree. But whether you call it "Theory of Gravity" or "The Law of
Universal Gravitation" doesn't make it more correct...or any less wrong!
Newton couldn't possibly know that his gravitational formula is NOT
universal.
This "Homer Simpsonization" of the term "Theory" starts every year in
American schools whenever the "Scientific Method" is discussed to sixth &
seventh graders. Their teacher nearly always defines "Hypothesis & Theory"
as the oxymoronic "Educated Guess!"
When that maddening phrase "Educated Guess" seeps into your child's
subconscious it takes major deprogramming to get it out! This is the ideal
mnemonic soil used by Krackpot Kreationist Koneheads in later years to sow
their seeds of evolution doubt with, "Oh, Evolution is JUST a
theory"...read "guess".
Science education in the US will continue to take body blows till this weak
link in middle school education is forcefully addressed. I teach 8th grade
science but have a BS in Biology. I have greater allegiance to the
"Science" than to the "Teacher" in "Science Teacher". And among my fellow
science teachers I feel very alone in my views.