of the
American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific Christian Affiliation
VOLUME 33 NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY/MARCH 1991
NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, 55 Market St., Ipswich,
MA 01938. Tel. 508-356-5656. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor:
Dr. Walter R. Hearn, 762 Arlington Ave.,
Berkeley, CA 94707. 0 1991 American Scientific Affiliation (except previously published material). All rights reserved.
[Editor:
Dr. Walter R. Hearn / Production: Rebecca Petersen]
CASUALTIES OF WAR?
NOTE: Although copy for this
issue was set before Operation
Desert Storm's missiles began firing,
printing was delayed over an
unpaid bill. ASA's publication
schedule and budget may be early
casualties of the Gulf war and
accompanying recession.
December giving did not peak
as it usually does. January dues
and renewals ran about 20% below
expectations. Many members have
been preoccupied, understandably.
Others may be in financial straits
themselves, possibly unemployed.
Some may have been caught up in
the wartime emergency. We pray
that both the hostilities and ASA's
financial setback will soon end.
Your support for ASA in its 50th
Anniversary year would be most
welcome. -Bob Herrmann
HICKERNELL
ELECTED; NEW ROLE
FOR LINCOLN?
Physicist Fred S. Hickernell of
Phoenix, has been elected by
the ASA membership to a five-year
term on the five-person ASA Executive Council. He replaces retiring
Council member Stanley Lindquist. Fred's fast Council meeting will
take place at WHEATON COLLEGE in JULY, in connection with
the 1991 ASA ANNUAL MEETING celebrating ASA's 50th year.
At its December meeting in
Ipswich the Council pondered a
question being asked elsewhere in
the world: Can there be too much
democracy? In its early years, like
most other organizations, ASA
placed a single name on its ballot.
Provision for writing in other names
existed, but few people did. In fact,
few members even bothered to
vote. So, why not give voters a
real choice? The nominating committee could put up two candidates as
equally matched as possible and the
membership could choose between
them. At the time that sounded like
a great idea.
In a sense, democracy has
worked. Given a choice, more members vote. But the candidates are always so well matched that out of,
say, 600 votes cast, a difference of
10 votes would be considered a
landslide. Usually the runner-up is
short only a couple of votes. We
thus lose by a hair the service of
a superbly qualified person, equally
willing to serve ASA.
This year, physical chemist Kenneth A. Lincoln, a spark plug of
the San Francisco Bay local section
for years, came in second. The
Council would like to see Ken
(and others who stand for election
in the future) play a significant national role. To maintain balance on
the Council (e.g., this year a physical scientist from a western state),
one year's nominating committee seldom renominates the person with
fewer votes the year before. But runner-ups could automatically be assigned some other official function.
We don't know how the deliberations actually went, but we know
we shouldn't waste the potential service of some of our most dedicated
members. If ASA continues to put
up two nominees, maybe voting
should decide which one is to
serve on the Council and which on
an ongoing "Strategy Committee" or
as "Special Advisor to the Council."
One would face ASA's immediate
problems; the second could engage
in creative thinking on ASA's behalf, free of "die burden of the
budget." Any better ideas?
(Incidentally, the new Council
member is Fred senior, not his son Fred J. Hickernell, math professor
at Hong Kong Baptist College.-Ed.)
HESS IS PRESIDENT;
COUNCIL DELIBERATES
Messiah College biology professor Gerald Hess is the 1991
president of the Executive Council
and hence of the American Scientific Affiliation. In the normal succession of officers, physiologist
Ken
Dormer
of the U. of Oklahoma
Medical Center moves up to vice
president and biologist Elizabeth Zipf
of BioSciences Information Service becomes secretary-treasurer. Calvin College physicist
Howard Van
Till
continues as immediate past
president until he leaves the Coun
cil at the end of 1991.
Election of these officers was
ratified at the December Council
meeting. Despite threats of war and
economic recession, Council members were optimistic about the outlook for ASA in its 50th year
ahead. They took up many issues
and acted on some important ones.
They looked favorably on a
proposed ASA resolution endorsing
"the teaching of evolution as
science" (see Oct/Nov 1990 Newsletter, p. 4) while searching for a
general mechanism to handle mernber-proposed resolutions that might
appear potentially divisive.
Three levels of government exist
in ASA: 1) members at large, electing a Fellow to the Executive Council each year and voting on all
constitutional amendments; 2) Fellows, electing members of senior
qualifications and experience to
their own number (about 10 percent
of the membership); and 3) the Executive Council, electing its own officers, who automatically become
the officers of the whole Affiliation. Can an organization like ASA
that is basically an open forum
"take action" without sacrificing
some of its openness or spiritual
unity? Do we have an organizational commitment to "do the truth"?
As we understand it, a mechanism being explored is for resolutions to reach the Council only via
a commission or standing committee. The Council could reject a
resolution, or reword it, but could
not adopt it in the name of ASA.
Any "Council-approved" version
would then be submitted (with arguments pro & con?-Ed.) to the
body of Fellows by mail ballot for
official adoption or rejection.
A NAME TO
REMEMBER
Scientific breakthroughs produce
lots of neologisms ending in
on. Nuclear physicists have gone
from protons to bosons to muons
to gluons. Molecular genetics is full
of introns and exons. At first we
thought a "templeton" was short for
DNA-template-on. Now we know
it's the name of ASA member John M Templeton, of The
Templeton Plan (his book on financial investment), The Templeton
Prize for Progress in Religion, and
The John Templeton Foundation.
The Templeton Foundation has
funded a campaign to attract new
subscribers to Perspectives on
Science & Christian Faith, primarily
through direct mail to selected lists.
A letter and attractive brochure
("Broaden Your Perspective") offers
a free copy to inquirers, plus a
copy of Teaching Science in a
Climate of Controversy to new subscribers. Beginning in 1989, about
3,800 pieces were mailed in Phase
1, yielding 120 responses (43 new
subscriptions). Some 10,000 pieces
were mailed in Phase II. As responses continued to come in, Phase III
began, a mailing of 61,500 pieces.
ASA's overall goal is 1,600 new
subscribers.
A brand-new project is a
science/theology dialogue on university campuses to be known as The
Templeton Foundation Lecture
Series. The series will be organized
by the American Scientific Affiliation. ASA Executive Director Bob
Herrmann was notified in Oct
1990 of an initial one-year grant of
$66,000 to ASA to support one lecture at each of ten major universities.
Since a number of organizations
were invited to submit proposals,
we can be proud of ASA for winning the grant on a competitive
basis. On the other hand, one of
John Templeton's main themes is a
"theology of humility," which he
believes the study of science should
produce. So let's say instead that
we're grateful-to God and to The
Templeton Foundation-for this new
opportunity to co-sponsor significant
lectures that should make ASA
more widely known in the process.
ON TO WHEATON
A
" wheaton" is neither a subatomic particle nor a piece of
cereal DNA (see above), but the
place to hear more details of
what's happening in ASA. The
1991 ASA ANNUAL MEETING
will be held at WHEATON COLLEGE in the Chicago area on
JULY 25-29. As ASA's 50th anniversary celebration, the meeting
will focus on the history of science
and on ASA's role in the
science/theology dialogue.
The Annual Meeting comes a bit
earlier this year, so please respond
early to the call for papers and
registration materials when they arrive. Advanced registration deadline is May 31. For this "midwestem
year" and special occasion, twice
the usual number of registrants are
expected. Local arrangements chair
Al Smith is checking out nearby
hotels/motels for the expected overflow from the Wheaton dormitories.
Register early!
On program chair Jack Haas's
tentative schedule, both the Affiliation of Christian Geologists and Affiliation of Christian Biologists will
gather Thursday morning, July 25.
Others are welcome to join them.
Registration for the ASA meeting
itself begins Thursday afternoon,
before an evening keynote lecture
by U. of Wisconsin science historian David Lindberg. The meeting ends with lunch on Monday.
The 1991 theme, "Celebrating the
Past and Looking to the Future,"
has special meaning for our 50th anniversary year. Several speakers, including Mark
Kalthoff, author of a
Ph.D. dissertation on ASA, will survey ASA's history and prospects.
Former journal editor Richard Bube will look to the future in his banquet address.
MESSIAH MEMORIES
By the Feb/Mar Newsletter we
start getting excited about the
coming ASA ANNUAL MEETING
while the last one is still fresh on
our minds. Several people recall the
same vivid experience: banking low
into Harrisburg's airport, they realized that what they were flying
over that looked exactly like news
photos of Three Mile Island, really
was that notorious Susquehanna
River nuclear plant. At least Grantham wasn't downwind of TMI.
The plenary sessions, papers, and
discussions made for a full prograin. Some folks took a break
with a visit to the National
Military Park at Gettysburg, 30
miles SW, soon to be brought to
mind again by the Civil War series
on PBS television. Others went SE
to Lancaster County and the quaint
Pennsylvania Dutch country. Moming joggers discovered that the Messiah campus itself, though replete
with modem buildings, included a
quaint covered bridge across Yellow
Breeches Creek.
The Affiliation of
Christian Biologists
(ACB) headed for the
woods rather informally, but the Affiliation
of Christian Geologists (ACG) did
their field trip up
right. With the aid of
Messiah's Mark Wolgernuth, geologist Frank Roberts had
produced a 14-page
booklet describing
every detail to be
seen on a 74.2-mile
trip through the "upper Triassic Gettysburg basin," including such as the battle
of Little Round Top. A note pointed out that the
intruding "diabase
dike" had kept Union soldiers from
digging trenches there. Frank's
guidebook posed a few questions:
"Is the pseudostratification of the
diabase due to intrusion of a succession of pulses of magma or is it
sheet structure due to unloading?"
Worshipping together, a high
point of ASA meetings, seemed
especially uplifting at Messiah.
Saturday's devotions were led by
mathematician Harold Heie,
academic dean at Messiah and onetime ASA member. He spoke
from Titus 2:7 (TLB) on "the
signs of those who love truth."
At the simplest level they include
hunger for more truth, combined
with intellectual humility. At a
deeper level they include courage to
speak the truth, combined with willingness to speak it in love. Heie
said polarization ruins the process
of testing truth,
which requires
dialogue. ASA's
resistance to
polarization gives
him hone he said
On Sunday
morning, Ron
Sider drove over
from Eastem Seminary in Philadelphia to help us
"think biblically in an ecological
age." It was a powerful sermon
that we hope will appear in Perspectives.
Expressing his own appreciation for ASA's sane approach to
controversy, Sider urged us to seek a more active educational role in
the evangelical community.
Sorry. For the video tapes, contact
Karen Brunstrom in the ASA office, P.O. Box 668, Ipswich, MA
01938.-Ed.)
BULLETIN BOARD
2. The Center for Theology & the Natural Sciences (CTNS) at Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union announces that its J. K. Russell Fellow in residence this spring will be Holmes Rolston, III. Rolston, professor of philosophy at Colorado State in Fort Collins, is author of Science and Religion: A Critical Survey (1987), Environmental Ethics (1988), and Philosophy Gone Wild (1989). He will give a public lecture on "Respect for Life" on Feb 8 and be the focus of a day-long conference on "Genes, Genesis, and God in Natural and Human History" on Feb 16. For information contact CTNS, 2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709; tel. 415-848-1417.
Monday's devotions included memonial resolutions led by Bob
Herrmann and selections from the
writings of Ren6 Descartes chosen
by science historian Ted Davis of
Messiah. Saying that the frequently
maligned "Cartesian dualism" still
has some substance, Ted read what
Descartes had to say about such
themes as divine providence and
redemption. One thing Descartes
knew from his experience as a soldier on the Protestant side in the
Thirty Year's
War: War ruins
everything.
Standing out
above all other
years was the
worshipful music
selected and led
by physics grad
student Larry Martin of the U. of
North Carolina and wife Susan. The
congregational singing of great
hymns of creation and redemption
was marvelous: "For the Glory of
the Lord"; "All Creatures of Our
God and King"; "Holy, Holy,
Holy." By Sunday morning, Larry
and Susan had assembled a small
choir whose joyous anthem filled
the gymnasium area we used for
plenary sessions. That was a
reminder, for any who needed it,
that laboratories aren't the only
places to worship God.
(Only the audio tapes from Messiah are available from ASA Tape
Service, c/o Sanders Christian Foundation, P.O. Box 2094, Hamilton,
MA 01982-0094, contrary to what
we said in the Dec/Jan Newsletter.
3. Access Research Network
(ARN) is a new parent organization
for Students for Origins Research
(SOR). ARN chair Dennis Wagner and executive director Mark
Hartwig are both ASA members.
Mark says the Network will
"provide accessible and reliable information on issues related to science,
technology, and society." SOR, now
13 years old, will continue as a
division, publishing Origins Research
in the current format. The SOR Bulletin will be renamed and expanded
to include reviews and analysis on
a wide range of science topics. Contributions to help with the reorganization and expansion are requested: Access Research Network,
P.O. Box 38069, Colorado Springs,
CO 80937-8069.
4. Evangelical Scholarship Initiative (ESI) is a new program funded
by the Pew Charitable Trust, providing $30,000 grants to selected
scholars within the evangelical community. The Initiative's first effort
was to solicit research proposals in
fall 1990 from scholars in the
humanities, social sciences, and
theological disciplines. The announcement arrived a bit late to inform ASAers this year, but scholars
in need_of support for future years
might contact Nathan 0. Hatch,
Director, or Michael S. Hamilton,
Project Coordinator, Evangelical
Scholarship Initiative, G151 Hesburgh Library, U. of Notre Dame,
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556. (ESI is
evidently a new grants-in-aid
program similar to that of the Institute for Advanced Christian
Studies; several ASA members have
had IFACS support to complete
books, including psychologist Mary
Stewart Van Leeuwen and
geologist Davis Young.-Ed.)
IN PRINT
For roughly the first 50 years of
our existence, ASA hardly came
to the attention of either the Christian or the scientific community.
That seems to be changing, as our
name (if not always our address)
gets into a variety of print media.
Examples:
The "Lifestyle" section of the
Fort Lauderdale (FL) Sentinel (5
Aug 1990) carried a story by
religion editor James Davis headlined "Challenger at heart of ethics
study. " It was based on an interview with Edward Allen of Boca
Raton about "a conference on professional. ethics by a fellowship of
scientists and religious leaders." Ed,
"part of a study group with the
American Scientific Affiliation,
based in Ipswich, Mass," meeting
that weekend, was identified not
only as a systems engineer with
the Glenbeigh hospital chain, but as
a Christian since his youth and a
member of ASA's Commission on
Industrial & Engineering Ethics.
Bob VanderVannen of Toronto
has mastered the art of publicizing
CSCA in national Christian
magazines in Canada: he sends a
B&W photo with a timely story
tailored to each publication. Bob
"scored" a front-page story in both
Christian Week (20 Nov 1990) and
Calvinist Contact with write-ups of
the 20 Oct meeting at the U. of
Toronto on "Christianity and Nation
Building."
A strategically placed story appeared in the new Christian journal
"by and for graduate students" (mentioned in the Dec/Jan Newsletter,
pp. 3-4). Vol. 1, No. I of Crucible
carried Larry Martin's "Still Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy," based on his interviews
with the authors taped at the Messiah meeting, plus excerpts from
the ASA booklet and Larry's own
comments. Since the 4-page article
was essentially a book review,
Larry was able to end it with the
price of the booklet and ASA's
Ipswich address.
A remarkable mention of ASA appeared in another strategic place,
the Sept 1990 issue of NSTA's
The Science Teacher. Richard E.
Dickerson, director of UCLA's
Molecular Biology Institute and member of the National Academy of
Sciences, included the following
paragraph at the beginning of his article, "Letter to a Creationist: Seeking the Middle Ground" (pp. 49-53):
I might add that I am enrolled as
a Friend (an associate) of the
American Scientific Affiliation, an
organization of Christian scientists
(not "Christian Scientists") that has
been in existence since 1941. 1
regularly read their quarterly,
"Perspectives on Science and
Christian Faith." Although many
members of the ASA describe
themselves as creationists, they are
not "young-Earth" creationists like
the Institute for Creation Research
(ICR) in San Diego, and do not
see any inherent clash between
religion and science.
Frequently a letter to the editor
provides an opportunity to get
ASA's name into print. In the Dec
1990 issue of American Journal of
Physics, for example, Howard Van Till responded to an earlier story
about Carl Sagan's "appeal to the
world's religious community."
Howard wrote that "our care for
this planet gains its deepest significance, I believe, not as an act
of reverence for a sacred Earth, but
as an act of thankful love for
Earth's divine Creator." He signed
it not only as a Calvin College
professor but also as "President, Executive Council, American Scientific
Affiliation."
An account in the Wall Street
Journal (22 Oct) of Scientific American's treatment of science
writer Forrest Mims (see LAST
WORDS, below) gave two ASA
members an excuse to respond. The
9 Nov issue included letters from Mark Hartwig and John Wiester as well as from Mims himself.
John's letter ended thus:
The American Scientific Affiliation,
composed of more than 2,000
scientists who are also mainstream
Christians, recently published
'Teaching Science in a Climate of
Controversy." This booklet helps
science teachers distinguish the
science of evolution (which
answers the questions of how and
when) from the religious doctrine
of creation (which answers the
questions of who and why). It
also raises certain unanswered
questions in connection with
Darwinian evolutionary mechanisms.
For this, our booklet was banished
from science classrooms by the
manager of the Math/Science Unit
of the California Department of
Education and our reply to an
arrogant caricature of it was
refused by the California Science
Teacher's Journal. Fundamentalists
aren't the only bullies on the block.
World magazine's story on the
Mims situation (10 Nov) included
comments by Jack Haas, identified
as a Gordon College chemistry prof
and "editor of the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation."
WHEREVER GOD
WANTS US: 16.
More from the Mideast: In the
Dec/Jan issue we sighed with
relief over cancellation of ASA's
mideast tour on the eve of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. For balance we offer some positive comments from
Stan Anderson, who wrote from Sultan Qaboos
University. On a two-year leave
from Westmont College, Stan is in
Oman serving as head of the
Chemistry Dept at that university.
Despite the crisis in the Gulf,
"Oman is far removed from
tensions and very peaceful." In fact
Stan doubts that Oman would be
directly affected even in the event
of hostilities.
Primarily Stan wrote to tell us
about positions open at SQU in all
Areas---
'of engineering and geology
and in his department in particular.
The university needs help in implementing a typical North
American course/unit semester system. Stan is looking for chemists
in physical, analytical, and inorganic
with a minimum of five years of
teaching experience-including at
least one full professor able to take
his place as department head.
Ability to direct undergrad research
is important; facilities are all new.
Benefits include yearly round-trip
tickets for up to three dependent
children under 18, free housing, no
taxes, partial school fees paid, and
competitive salaries (given those
perks). Contact: Prof. Stanley E.
Anderson, Head, Dept. of
Chemistry, Sultan Qaboos University,
P.O. Box 32486 Al Khod, Muscat,
Sultanate of Oman.
NOTE: Stan wrote on 18 Oct
1990 and this is being written a
week before the U.N.'s Jan 15 deadline. A lot may have happened by
the time you're reading this. The
Weary Old Editor (WOE is me
Ed.)
doubts that the long-term costs
of occupying an Arab country after
even a "quickie" war have been adequately counted by either "side."
We've written the White House and
called its hot-line to register our
comments. (tel., 202-456-1111. A person, not a machine, listened each
time.) Now we're praying this
"Prayer for Saddam Hussein and
George Bush":
0 God, you fill the universe with
light and love. In you we live and
move and have our being. We
pray for Saddam Hussein and
George Bush. Enlighten their minds
and fill their hearts with the power
of your creative love. Guide their
actions so that all civilians and
soldiers in the Persian Gulf area
are protected from the sufferings of
war. Inspire their decisions so that
the crisis in the Middle East is
resolved peacefully, and all people
of the world learn to walk in
ways of justice, love, and peace.
Amen.
(That prayer, a "Call to Prayer
& Fasting," and practical advice for
communicating with elected officials
about the Persian Gulf crisis were
part of a December mailing from
the Baptist Peace Fellowship of
North America. BPFNA requested
contributions to pay for its "urgent"
extra mailing. Address: 499 Patterson St., Memphis, TN 38111.-Ed.)
LOCAL SECTIONS
METROPOLITAN NEW YORK
The section's Executive Council
suffered a hemorrhage in 1990 as Randy Issac, Stan Rice, and Dennis Roark moved elsewhere. At the
Nov 3 meeting at The King's College, which drew about 50 people
to hear speaker Paul de Vries on
science and ethics, new members
were elected to the Council.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
In Oct 1990 ASA executive director Bob Herrmann and wife Betty
stopped off on their West coast
swing to make several appearances
in the Bay Area. (So did the Cincinatti Reds, for die World Series.
Both the Herrmanns and Reds did
well.-Ed.)
On Saturday, Oct 20, a public
meeting in Berkeley drew about 25
people to hear Bob bring news of
ASA activities and discuss "God
and the New Science," with many
references to the book he wrote
with John Templeton,
The
God
Who
Would
Be Known
(Harper,
1989). That meeting was held in
the Crouch Library of American
Baptist Seminary of the West, a
room used also by New College
Berkeley and (on Sunday mornings)
by The Fellowship of His People, a
small "house" church in which Jack
Irvine is active. Jack & Beverly arranged for the room and set up the coffee and cookies.
Sid Niemeyer brought the official ASA coffee pot. Larry Lagerstrom presided. Literature from ASA and from Berkeley's
Center for Theology & the Natural
Sciences was available for browsing.
The
God
Who Would Be Known
is an overview of "the awesome
magnitude, intricacy, beauty, and
order of Creation." Like so many
other books by ASA authors falling
"in between" science and theology,
it has not sold well despite its Harper imprint. The authors have recently taken to direct-mail advertising
(in their own names, not ASA's)
aimed at "fellow members of the
two priesthoods."
In Bob's words, "The tragedy of
our times is that the theologians,
those who should be most interested
in contemporary scientific exploration, seem to be the least interested-if not actually being
threatened-by the new science. For
them this book provides a challenge
and a framework for theological interpretation, drawing upon the best
minds in both science and theology-the many scientists and the
few theologians who have had the
courage to enter the dialogue of
faith."
(The God Who Would Be
Known can be ordered through the
ASA office, P.O. Box 688, Ipswich,
MA 01938.-Ed.)
In the North Bay, Bob & Betty
stayed with Chi-Hang Lee & Mae
in Walnut Creek. On Sunday Bob
spoke at Pacific Union College in
Angwin, hosted by Gerald
Winslow. The following evening he
spoke at an informal get-together in
Redwood City at the home of Ken
Lincoln & Shirley. Then the Herrmanns were off to Fresno, where
Bob spoke on "Human Engineering"
at Fresno Pacific College and
stayed with Stan Lindquist & Ingrid. From Fresno they headed to
Southern California, with stops at
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and
San Diego.
In other news from the section, Paul McKowen was honored on
Sept 30 at a huge testimonial luncheon at Irvington Presbyterian Church
in Fremont on his retirement from
the pastorate. Walt Hearn represented ASA in the tribute to Paul
& Mary Ellen's faithful witness.
ASA/CSCA NEWSLETTER
The section has often met at the Irvington church, and Paul has always given generously of his time
to ASA. "Now," Walt said, "ASA
hopes to see even more of him."
THE EDITOR'S LAST
WORDS: 13.
This fall, just before I left
Berkeley on a three-week trip to
Houston, John Wiester spotted a
Wall Street Journal story about a
science writer dropped by Scientific
American. The writer, Forrest Mims
111, had acknowledged that he was
a conservative Christian who didn't
believe in the Darwinian theory of
evolution-even though that had
nothing to do with the "Amateur
Scientist" column which he was
about to be hired to edit.
Later, John saw a "Commentary"
piece in the L. A. Times (3 Nov)
by U.C. Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson, using the Scientific
American editor's attitude to pound
home a point Phil made at the
1990 ASA Annual Meeting: Science
is beset by both "creation scientists"
and another kind of "fundamentalists."
That other
group,
Johnson
wrote, "has
enormous
clout in.
science and
science education, and is prepared
to use it to exclude people they
consider unbelievers. The influential
fundamentalists are called Darwinists."
Wiester called Mims (in Seguin,
Texas, near San Antonio), then
called me to suggest that since I
was "already in Texas," I should
"drop in" on Mims, who had
received little support from fellow
Christians. Seguin isn't exactly a
Houston suburb, but I called Mims,
liked him, and drove the 180 miles
to see him. By then his story was
breaking all over the place.
You may have read about
Mims's dismissal in places as disparate as Science (9 Nov) and Christianity Today (19 Nov).
Mark
Hartwig has written one of the
most complete accounts, in "Defending Darwinism: How Far Is Too
Far?" in Origins Research (Vol. 13,
Nos. 1-2, 1990 Double Issue. Write
for a copy from SOR, P.O. Box
38069, Colorado Springs, CO 809378069).
1 can't tell the full story here,
but trust your Weary Old Editor
(WOE is me-Walt Hearn) that Forrest Mims is an upstanding guy
whose case of religious discrimination is so strong that the Texas
ACLU called him up to offer aid.
With a B.S. degree from Texas A&M in political
science, he has
more empirical spirit that a lot of PhDs I know. (He excused hi self
from our conversation to record atmospheric ozone
and water vapor
measurements at
precisely the same time of day he
has taken them for years-with his
own homemade equipment.)
Forrest Mims has made his
living as a science writer for 20
years. He's written some 70 books,
mostly of the "how to do it"
variety. His Getting Started in
Electronics for Radio Shack has
sold 800,000 copies. A true
" amateur scientist," he was the
ideal choice to take over the
column of that title in Scientific
American, as even Jonathan Piel,
the editor who dropped him, has admitted. Now, to avoid dealing with
Mims, the magazine has dropped
the column after 30 years.
Forrest has been deeply grateful
for encouragement offered him by
ASA members so far. He is not a
litigious individual but he has been
wronged and he wants Jesus Christ
to be honored in the outcome.
Here are several ways to help:
1. Editor Jonathan Piel of Scientific American is the person who
turned against Mims after pressing
him about his religious beliefs. Piel
is now totally unresponsive,
"
stonewalling" behind lawyers. Nevertheless, letters of protest from scientists identifying themselves as
Christians might carry some weight if addressed to: Claus-G. Firchow,
President, Scientific American, Inc.,
415 Madison Ave., New York, NY
10017. You could suggest that
Mims be reinstated, since in all of
his writings on science he has
never mentioned his religious
beliefs, including his belief in creation.
2. Mims's ongoing, well-publicized case offers an opportunity to
get scientific societies to go on
record in opposition to discrimination against religious believers. In
response to his documented complaint to an appropriate AAAS committee, Mims received a letter from
the chair affirming the committee's
"commitment to the principle that articles submitted for publication in
journals devoted to science, technology and medicine should be judged
exclusively on their scientific merit.
A person's private behavior or
religious or political beliefs or affiliations should not serve as criteria in
the evaluation of articles submitted
for publication." Write to Dr. Sheldon Krimsky, Chair, Committee on
Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, Directorate for Science and
Policy Programs, AAAS, 1333 H
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005,
to thank him for his committee's
forthright stand against religious discrimination in science. Mims plans
to attend the AAAS meeting in
Washington, D.C., Feb 14-19, to
address the Resolutions Committee
and possibly the AAAS Council
itself. If you go, look him up.
3. Subscribe to Science Probe!
The Amateur Scientist's Journal, for
yourself or for some bright young
future scientist. No kidding, a
publisher friend of Forrest's has
answered Scientific American by starting a whole new magazine devoted
to the kind of material that used to
appear in its "Amateur Scientist"
column. I saw the premier issue
(Nov 1990), a thick, slick, attractive, informative magazine dedicated
to the late C. L. Stong, editor of
that column from 1955 until his
death in 1975. Forrest Mims is
editor and contributor of several of
the articles for the first issue.
Begun as a quarterly, the successful
magazine will soon go bimonthly.
(And guess which magazine it's already outselling on some newstands.
Serves 'em right.) Charter rates: I
yr (4 issues), $9.95; 2 yrs (8 issues), $17.95; Science Probe! Subscription Dept, P.O. Box 54098,
Boulder, CO 803214098.
Forrest Mims's address is 433
Twin Oak Road, Seguin, TX 78155
(tel., 512-372-0548). He would appreciate receiving a copy of any letter written on his behalf and
welcomes further ideas for using his
situation to stop censorship of those
who hold theistic beliefs. (Because
of past experiences, no doubt, Jews
in scientific work came to Forrest's
support before any Christians did.)
What about the scientific societies to whichyau belong?
This issue of the Newsletter is
dedicated to my much-loved
brother, Dale Hearn of Houston,
who made the trip with me on 13
Nov 1990 to meet Forrest Mims.
Bom 19 June 1920, Dale went
into the hospital on 24 Dec 1990
and entered the full presence of
the Lord on 5 Jan 1991.
ECCE 1991
In addition to being ASA's 50th
Anniversary Year, 1991 begins
the Year of the Ram on the Asian
calendar. (In ASA history, 1954
was our memorable "Year of the
Ramm"; that's when Bernard
Ramm's Christian View of Science
and Scripture was published.-Ed.).
Further, 1991 has the same pattern of days as 1974 and 1985. If
you'd saved calendars from one of
those years, you could re-use them
this year. If not, save your 1991
calendars to use again in 2002. (Do
you realize that for a thousand
years essentially no one in the
world could do what many of us
will be able to do, namely, to live
through two palindromic years?-Ed.)
PERSONALS
N. Celeste Bailey has begun a
postdoctoral fellowship in the Dept
of Medicine at U.C. San Diego.
Celeste moved from New York to
California even before the awarding
of her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences
(immunology) in Dec 1990. She has
had some unusually productive years
as a graduate student, with over a
half-dozen research papers on antibodies already in print and still
others submitted.
David Block has returned to his
post as professor of astronomy &
applied math at Witwatersrand
University in South Africa after a
sabbatical year abroad. The 4 Oct
1990 issue of the British journal Nature featured his photo of the
Rosette nebula on its cover. In the
accompanying article, David acknowledged those who had helped and
encouraged him in his research, including Reasons to Believe 'in
Pasadena, California, Hugh Ross , s
science-based apologetic ministry. David laughed when the Nature
editor asked about that "observatory
in Pasadena" that was new to him.
Richard H. Bube of Stanford U.
added up the extracurricular talks
on science and Christianity he gave
last year and discovered that the
number came to 35. He finished up
strong in September as a Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar lecturer
at Northwestern College in Orange
City, Iowa, filling three days with
a public lecture and press conference, three chapel talks, and four
classes, besides lunch and dinner
meetings with faculty and students.
Iowa ASAers there for part of
1
were Russ Maatman from nearby
Dordt College and George Jennings
from Le Mars. Dick & Betty then
visited daughter Sherri in Rochelle,
Illinois, where Sherri's husband Jim
is associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church. Dick spoke to a
large group of adults at the church
on the interaction of science and
Christian faith.
Jon A. Buell directs the Foundation for Thought & Ethics (FTE) in
Texas, producer of the high school
biology supplement, Of Pandas and
People. 'Me book is being used in
some schools despite strong statements by the National Science
Teachers Association (NSTA) and
the National Center for Science
Education (NCSE) that its "theory
of intelligent design" is really "scientific creationism" in disguise. The
Sept 1990 NSTA Reports! warned,
"Look Out for Creationist Text,"
saying that NSTA would not allow
the book to be advertised in its publications. The Dec 1990 issue
published excerpts of three letters
protesting such censorship, countered
with an article by former NSTA
president Gerald Skoog defending
NSTA's position. In Nov 1990, Jon
Buell attended hearings of the
Texas Board of Education on biology textbooks, where Pandas was
not up for consideration. Texas
A&M engineer Walter Bradley and U.T. Medical Branch biochemist Gordon Mills were among those who
testified concerning overstatements
about evolution in those texts. To
overcome the naturalistic and
humanistic philosophy permeating
such books, Jon says, the solution
is to "take good books to the
schools on a grass-roots level." FTE
needs support for that long-term
strategy, he adds. (Address: P.O.
Box 830721, Richardson, TX 750830721.)
Glenn Kirkland of Bethesda,
Maryland, a physicist who retired
from Johns Hopkins years ago to
care for his mentally ailing wife,
told us at the Messiah College Annual Meeting that Grace died peacefully on 22 May 1990 at age 79.
To complete the series of
videotapes featuring the course of
her Alzheimer's disease, Glenn had
invited the team from the U. of
Maryland School of Medicine to
make a third documentary just three
months before she died, on what
turned out to be her last visit
home from foster care. Glenn's
Perspective on Grace (13 yrs after
diagnosis) is available for sale or
rent, along with Caregiving with
Grace (10 yrs) and the prizewinning Living with Grace (6 yrs),
from Video Press, U. of Maryland
School of Medicine, Suite 301, 32
S. Greene St., Baltimore, MD
21201. Videos on implications of
this superbly documented case study
for the medical and nursing professions are available from the same
source. Alzheimer's does not run
the same course in everyone diagnosed with it, but in the final
video, "Glenn is a wealth of
caregiver tips." Glenn was cited by
Maryland Governor W. D. Schaefer
for "tireless efforts in raising awareness regarding the important needs of families touched by Alzheimer's
disease."
Joseph H. Lechner is professor
of chemistry at Mount Vernon
Nazarene College in Ohio. He's in
his second year of chairing the
college's Div. of Natural Sciences,
and in May 1990 received the
Sears Roebuck Foundation Teaching
Excellence & Campus Leadership
Award. About 700 colleges and
universities participate annually, but
Joe was the first to receive the
Sears Award on his campus. He's
excited about a course he's initiating in Feb 1991 on "Science and
the Judeo-Christian Faith," which
might even become part of the required general education core. He hopes to offer a progress report at
the 1991 ASA ANNUAL
MEETING at WHEATON
COLLEGE. Meanwhile, Joe would
welcome correspondence with other
ASAers who have taught such an
integrative course elsewhere.
(Address: Dept of Chemistry, Mount
Vernon Nazarene College, 800
Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon,
OH 43050.)
Stanley Lindquist was the subject of a major story in the I Sept
1990 Fresno (CA) Bee by religion
writer John Taylor. The story was
actually about Link Care Center but
the photograph was definitely Stan,
with a big smile on his face. He
seemed to be smiling about the
recognition Link Care has been
receiving-as exemplified by the
newspaper story and by the opening
of Link Care East that same week.
The new branch, housed in the
Tuscarora (PA) Resource center in
the Pocono Mountains, offers the
same services of missionary
selection, counseling, and
rehabilitation for which Stan
founded the Fresno Center. The
story focused on the variety of
Christian counseling services offered
through Link Care and on the big
demand for such services. (Thanks
to Richard Arndt of the Office of
Student Affairs at Cal State Fresno
nw
for the clipping--Ed.)
POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE. Physics: Fall 1991, to provide leadership for 2 first-level physics courses for engineering, mathematical science, and natural science programs and to assist in teaching either math or engineering major courses; in dept offering majors in computer science and math, plus service courses in physics and statistics. Ph.D. in physics or closely related field required. Contact Dr. Wayne Cassel, Chair, Dept of Mathematical Sciences, Messiah College, Grantham, PA 17027; tel. (717) 766-2511.