NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation

Local Phoenix ASA Meets; Templeton-ASA Lectures at Grand Canyon U.
by David F Siemens Jr.

[David Siemens filed the following (edited) report on the Templeton-ASA talks at Grand Canyon U. in late January.]

The first lecture by Ronald Numbers was a masterful survey of the shift from gap theory to creation science as the most popular view among evangelicals. Phillip Fernandez, biology professor at GCU, spoke on "A Christian Perspective on Evolution as a Way of Understanding Biology." Howard Van Till explained how design science falls prey to scientism.

Fr. John G. Long, 0. Carm., Director of the Kino Inst., Phoenix, described the Catholic outlook, with special emphasis on the recent encyclical in contrast to that of Pius XII of 1943. Catholic scholars have no problem with evolution.

The fifth lecture was by a Buddhist priest, Lee Rosenthal, originally an Orthodox Jew. The fundamental irrationalism of the Buddhist position came through as he sidestepped all questions except those concerning his personal history. The final speaker was Hyung Choi, GCU physics professor, who contrasted the Cartesian-Newtonian view with modern developments. The former tends toward naturalism; the latter raises epistemological and metaphysical issues that require more than what naturalism can explain.

Don Munro was at the first lecture on Jan. 27, and at a meeting of local members the Saturday before. Fred Hickernell and William Traugott attended several lectures; Thomas Hickernell attended the first one. Dr. Choi and I were the only ASAers who attended all.

I've urged Dr. Choi to write up his presentation for Perspectives [ASA's journal, PSCF]. With degrees in both physics and theology, he presents a different take than I have seen presented at the GCU lectures.

At the Saturday meeting, Don Munro spoke both of what the ASA was doing and hoped to do, and of the ethical issues raised by the newer developments in genetics and its applications.

Harvard U. prof. of the history of science, Owen Gingerich, gave a Templeton-ASA lecture, "What Would Galileo Say to the Creationists?" at CarnegieMellon U. on Mar. 13. Owen was hosted by CMU chemical physics prof. Gary Patterson and introduced by CMU physics prof. Robert Griffiths. Before the meeting, Owen was able to look at the CMU library's copy of an early manuscript by Galileo.

Reviewing the events of the Galileo affair, Gingerich demonstrated an obvious mastery of the subject, replete with slides of primary material. He characterized Galileo's scientific approach as hypothetico-deductive. Heliocentric theory could not be deduced from biblical assertions; inductive reasoning from the observations was required.

But neither was the theory regarded by Galileo as merely one of "saving the appearances," a convenient way of accounting for the empirical data without considering it to be true of nature itself. Galileo was instead a realist who believed that his theory was true of what it was describing. Owen traced Galileo's scientific line of reasoning, including observations of Venus that offered evidence for its movement around the sun. He also traced the human and ecclesiastical angles of the story in vivid detail.

The next day Owen gave a lunch time talk, "Dare a Scientist Believe in Design?" at the U. of Pittsburgh, nearby. About 100 people attended the evening lecture, including Stephen P. Jenkins, assoc. prof. of biology at Grove City C., about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. Dennis and Dotty Feucht also attended and Dennis chatted with Gary Patterson about his former colleague at Stanford U., Dick Bube. Owen was preceded on Feb. 20 by Howard Van Till, who also spoke at CMU as a Templeton-ASA lecturer.

Oskar Gruenwald's IIR-ICSA is an international educational ministry called to integrate faith and learning. Its Int'l Christian Studies Assoc. Newsletter, (Fall/Winter 1996-97) announced the latest issue of the J. of Interdisciplinary Studies (Vol. V111, No. 1/2), on "The City in the 21st Century." JIS is de 

Continued on page 3, ASAers in Action

One exciting development is the appointment of a Young Scientist's Task Force for the ASA. Five members are communicating by e-mail to prepare suggestions for the Council about how we can better serve our younger members. These ASA members are Eric Arnoys, Michael Everest, Steven Hall, Liskin Swint-Kruse, and Jennifer Wiseman. They are graduate students or are very early in their careers. Jennifer is the repository for the group discussions. If other young members have suggestions they would like to see included in the task force report, please send your suggestions to one of the task force members. Their email addresses are in the new ASA directory or you can e-mail it to me at asa@newl.com and I will forward all correspondence to them. I hope this is the  start of something new and exciting in the affiliation. Just the other day, Wheaton C. sent funds for student memberships for I I chemistry graduates. During this year, ASAers have to convince these young chemists that their membership in the ASA is worth renewing.

The ASA Commissions will be meeting at Westmont and most of the chairs will be present. Each commission is to work on goal setting for the next two years. When you come to the meeting, plan to attend your commission meeting and help your board. The Biology and Geology Affiliations, under presidents Gerald Hess and Paul Ribbe respectively, will each meet right after the commissions. This way our members can attend both a commission and an affiliation meeting.

There are changes that you should make in the back of your new ASA Directory. James Peterson of the Bioethics Commission wished to stay on the commission board but relinquish his position as chair. Tomuo Hoshiko is the new chair. Also, Bernard Piersma wanted to resign as chair of the Physical Sciences Commission but remain on the board. Bernie is headed for a one year sabbatical at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Lee Branscome is the new chair. We want to thank both Jim and Bernie for their hard work as chairs and extend our good wishes and prayers to Tomuo and Lee as they assume their new duties. Another change is to take Perry Phillips off the board of the Communications Commission and list him with the board of the Creation Commission.

Pray for the ASA Council as they gather in Santa Barbara for their July 3031 meeting. One day will be spent on regular business and the other on goal setting. This was previously done at the urging of Robert Herrmann in 1984 during my presidency and it was a worthwhile day. The ASA's Statement of Mission found in the 1993-1994 membership directory came out of that session but is in need of updating. Also we will welcome our new Council member, Jay Hollman. ASA President Ken Olson, who specifically asked that we set aside the extra day, will preside over his first meeting.

We are already finalizing much of the 1998 meeting in Cambridge, England. A program 'is developed and the invited speaker list is nearly complete. Jack Haas and R. J. Berry and the Christians in Science (CIS) in England deserve thanks for that. Soon there will be a call for papers.

We are excited about the British Isles tour that will follow the meeting. Details will be available soon. We hope to begin taking reservations and deposits at the Westmont meeting and by mail. We are planning on accommodating about 50 people. The 10-day tour will leave directly from Cambridge and end in London. We expect to be in cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Holyhead, Dublin, Waterford, Bath, and more. Astute geographers will see that we will be in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as well as England. Dr. David Franz, retired director of the Gordon C. tours, has volunteered to help on details including locations of interest for scientists along the route.

In April, it was my privilege to travel to Arkansas for the first time. I heard Peter Hodgson from Oxford U. in England give a Templeton/ASA lecture at the U. of the Ozarks in Clarkesville, AR. It was an excellent presentation and following the meeting Peter joined ASA. I then traveled to Siloam Springs, AR to visit John Brown U., the site of ASA's 1999 meeting. Tours were conducted by Richard Ruble, the local arrangement's chair for 1999, and Robert Burns who among other things is called Camp Director. You could not have met two nicer people. I briefly met LeVon Balzer, long-time ASA member and President of JBU, who was in the midst of a trustee meeting. The site and buildings are very pleasant and I look forward to our 1999 meeting. Finally, I am very happy to announce that Fred S. Hickernell, 1994 ASA president, has accepted the call to be the Program Chair for the JBU meeting in 1999.

As I drove through Arkansas, the beauty of the dogwood trees blossoming through the forests was a wonderful sight. What a magnificent Creator we have! Recently, one of our members wrote to remind us that ASA members need to be "salt, light, and leaven in the workplace." I agree and would like to hear from many of you about the different ways God enables you to accomplish this. Let us endeavor to fulfill our Christian calling during our short sojourn on earth.

Don

scribed as providing "an innovative research agenda and curricular models for the 21st century, bridging facts and values, knowledge and faith, science and religion." The 1998 JIS theme (Vol. X) is: "Beyond Culture Wars? 2 1 st-Century Literacy: The 3 Rs + Science + Faith." Send unpublished manuscripts on this or other JIS-relevant topics to: Dr. 0. Gruenwald, JIS Editor, 2828 Third St., Suite 11, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Membership in either IIR or ICSA can also be applied for at this address.

William B. Monsma directs the academic programs of the MacLaurin Institute. Their Volume 1, Number I issue of University & Universe came out March 1997, with a front-page story by Bill on "The Christian Message in the PostModern World: How can we communicate in a changing culture?" The Institute is also launching an annual lectureship at the U. of Minnesota, the Holmer lectures, honoring the university's philosopher Paul Holmer. The lectures are intended to show that the demands of sound scholarship are compatible with a lively faith. Prof. Holmer gave the inaugural lecture in Nov. 1996. The MacLaurin Inst. also has books, courses, and conferences. Get them at: 331 Seventeenth Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414; tel. (612) 3311003; fax: (612) 378-1935, and with Bill Monsma at e-mail address:
monsm001 @maroon.tc.umn.edu

Robert A. Pease is wellknown in the electronics semiconductor industry. He works for a leading integrated circuit manufacturer, National Semiconductor Corp., in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, CA to be precise). Bob writes a popular column in Electronic Design, a leading trade journal, called "Pease Porridge."

Bob is skeptical of the "quality" movement in government education and sent in a commentary from Quality magazine (April 1997, p.4; http://qualitymag.com) by its editor, Gary L. Parr, entitled, "Teachers need books, not a Baldrige award." His point was about the 77% increase in federal funding for the Baldrige program for health-care and education companies. As a former teacher and husband of a teacher, Parr says: "... the last thing educators need is a plaque in the school lobby. They need books, science equipment, paper and toner to make photocopies, and fewer kids in classrooms." Books for elementary-school students to learn to read seem more important to Parr than awards to educators.

Creation/Evolution Activity Abounds

Christianity Today reported on the Pope's announcement (Dec. 9, 1996, pp. 72-73) on evolution, with a historical perspective contributed by Harvard astronomer and science historian Owen Gingerich. Phillip E. Johnson, Michael Behe, and Eastern C. theologian Ray Van Leeuwen were also quoted.

Hugh Ross thinks that the papal letter undermines classic Darwinian theory by referring to theories of evolution, opening the door to different interpretations of the fossil record. And Howard Van Till maintains that evolution may be part of God's design. He said, "We need to get away from this idea that the fundamental presuppositions of modern science are an outgrowth of an antitheistic naturalism," referring to how the issue is treated by historic Christianity.

The final quote from Van Leeuwen cautions against identifying Christianity too closely with any particular scientific theory:

The Christianity of the Middle Ages was the Siamese twin of a geocentric worldview. When geocentrism was proven false, the natural conclusion was that Christianity was false. That's what can happen when you identify scriptural truth with fallible scientific understanding.

Wiester writes a few letters

Science Education Commission chairman and geologist John Wiester, besides managing his Rio Vista Cattle Company in Buellton, CA, has been setting an example for fellow ASAers in writing letters to publications. He first appears in Christianity Today, with a letter on "The Pope and Evolution." When the Pope was quoted as saying that "evolution is more than a hypothesis," John affirms the factual basis for microevolution. (The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano corrected its previous mistranslation that read: more than one hypothesis.)

John then drives home the basic point that this is not to be confused with the grand metaphysical scheme, also called "evolution," that "claims that the entire living world is the product of blind natural forces." John gets to the point of his commission's concern:

Unfortunately, the grand metaphysical scheme is the one being promoted under the guise of science in the biology classroom. Not only does the National Association of Biology Teachers define evolution as "an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable and natural process"; the popular tenth-grade text Biology, by K. Miller and J. Levine (1993, Prentice Hall), informs students that "evolution works without either plan or purpose," and evolution "is random and undirected." Such statements are not justified on scientific grounds and illustrate that evolution is not taught as science, but as Darwinian philosophy, whose purpose is to replace the otherwise obvious design of organisms (Feb. 3, 1997, p. 10).

Following Wiester's letter was a shorter one by Stanley Lindquist, cautioning that "The only thing we can be absolutely certain about is that he [God] 'created.' Anything further is pure speculation." No man, Stan said, knows the mind of God and we are told repeatedly to be careful not to claim too much.

World, an emerging Christian news magazine (www.worldmag.com), ran a front-cover headline: "The evolution counter-revolution," showing a fish symbol with open mouth in pursuit of a "Darwin fish" symbol. In this March 1, 1997 issue, the Intelligent Design movement got its say in the article, "The Evolution Backlash: Debunking Darwin," by Nancy R. Pearcey. Featured prominently was "design leader" Phillip E. Johnson, a U. C. Berkeley law professor, who points out (as has John Wiester) that "Darwinists benefit from equivocating between two meanings of the term evolution." Johnson restated his assertion, that "Darwinism is not so much an inference from the facts as a deduction from natural philosophy."

The central challenge of Intelligent Design is to go beyond the debunking of Darwinism and offer a positive alternative. Central to that challenge is Irish Catholic biochemist Michael Belie of Le-

Tracing the history of the ID movement, the article goes back to Francis Schaeffer's L'Abri fellowship in Switzerland and one of its young chemists, Charles Thaxton, who went on to coauthor the book, The Mystery of Life's Origins-that DNA is a message encoded by an intelligent agent. Other major books within the ID legacy are Michael Denton's Evolution: A Theory in Crisis and the high-school biology supplement, Of Pandas and People, published by Jon Buell's Foundation for Thought and Ethics (P. 0. Box 830721, Richardson, Texas 75083-0721). More recently, the journal Origins & Design, edited by Paul Nelson, takes up the ID theme.

Johnson, a driving force of the ID movement, has organized a series of conferences, such as the Biola "Mere Creation" conference (see ASAN, MAR/APR 97, p. 1) and the NTSE conference at the U. of Texas (see ASAN, MAY/JUN 97, p. 1). Johnson's strategy is to avoid defending a detailed position because in this case, "you end up becoming defensive, fragmented, and fighting each other." His approach to the meaning of design is "not a position, it's a metaphysical platform that creates space for rational discussion."

On the education front, John Wiester is quoted in Pearcey's article as saying: "Darwinism is naturalistic philosophy masquerading as science." Some of his major points are covered. (See previous section.)

Then in Alabama, Norris Anderson, a former "evangelist for evolution" who helped write textbooks in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) series, was highly involved in the effort to paste the Darwinism disclaimer in Alabama biology textbook front covers. In his Education or Indoctrination? (available from ARN; see below), Anderson cites biology textbook examples of naturalistic ideology.

What turned him around was a BSCS colleague's comment: "Don't get me wrong; I believe human evolution happened, but there's absolutely no evidence for it." Anderson's proposal that the textbooks be rewritten to reflect the actual state of the evidence was vehemently rejected. He observed, "I saw the scientists close ranks to present a false image of scientific certainty."

Finally, Pearcey's article covers the Johnson-Provine debates (on videotape from the Access Research Network, P.O. Box 38069, Colorado Springs, CO 80937; www.arn.org/arn) and the Jewish journal, Commentary, with its recent critique of Darwinism by mathematician and novelist David Berlinski. (See section, "Intelligent Design lazy" for more on Berlinski.) The article elicited about 50 pages of letters in a subsequent issue. World is published from Asheville, NC; tel. (800) 951-6397.

The article recognizes a shift in the political climate which has allowed the growth of pressure to stifle the teaching of evolution. The Alabama events were recounted, and the fight now seems to be at the level of school districts.

John Wiester responded with a letter to Science (at science - letters@ aaas.org), stating disappointment with the "lack of objectivity and balance" in the article's claim that "creationists have mounted a surge of assaults on science education." Wiester reviews what the Alabama text book disclaimer actually says, which is not covered in the article's attack upon it. He reiterates the naturalistic worldview statements of Miller and Levine's biology textbook ("evolution works without either plan or purpose" and that "it is important to keep this concept in mind: Evolution is random and undirected"), and asks (as he did of Ken Miller at the ASA Meeting in 1995): "Are these statements science or philosophy?" and "If science, what is the evidence that evolution is undirected and without plan or purpose?"

Wiester concludes with advice to the scientific community:

Let's quit motive-mongering and bashing those evil creationists and get our own house in order. We can begin by including unsolved problems and unanswered questions in our textbooks, and by defining and using with consistency of meaning that ambiguous word "evolution." Our goal must be to educate, not indoctrinate.

In a P.S., Wiester notes the ASA and says: "We take no position on the Creation/Evolution pseudo-controversy but have taken a strong position that evolution should be taught as science, and we are concerned that young-earth creationists are not the only ones abusing it."

Whatever one might think of the Intelligent Design movement, it is making news everywhere. The May 12 issue of The Scientist (on the Web at http://165.123.33.33) has an article on how to win in debates against creationists. Eugenie Scott of NCSE is there, and so is Michael Belie, the Lehigh U. biochemist who wrote Darwin's Black Box and has burst onto the scene nowadays.

Belie's response to the article, "To Effectively Discuss Evolution, First Define Theory," by Ricki Lewis, is that the title gives good advice. Belie goes on: "Even better, however, is to first define 'evolution.' The article uses the word 'evolution' equivocally to stand for three distinctly different concepts ..."

World magazine publisher, Joel Belz, highly praised Behe's book in the Oct. 12, 1996 issue. Only once in his life has he burst forth "quite literally and embarrassingly loudly-in a hymn of praise to God." And that was recently at Chicago's O'Hare Field, so moved was he from reading Behe's book while waiting for an airplane.

In the Jan. 6, 1997 issue of Christianity Today (p. 64), Belie is pictured in the article, "Debunking Darwin? 'Intelligentdesign' movement gathers strength." (See the section, "Debunking Darwin.") Del Ratszch, Eugenie Scott, Phil Johnson, Paul Nelson and Belie appear. The author, Scott Swanson, sums up the ID movement:

A central tenet of intelligent-design theory is that it is extremely improbable that the high level of complexity found in most life forms could have resulted from chance occurrences, as Darwinists believe.

... The movement's defining view is that "we have to recognize the difference between materialist philosophy and scientific investigation" [Phillip EJ Johnson says.

"We need to have a separation of the philosophy from the real science, both in order to have an honest, unbiased scientific enterprise, and to protect the public from getting the false impression that scientific evidence has shown that (the] evolutionary process is our true creator," he says.

Behe has nettled Richard Dawkins, whose comment on Behe's irreducible complexity argument was: Why doesn't he stop being so lazy? Instead of saying, "I can't think of an explanation; therefore, God must have done it," which is the ultimate cop-out, why doesn't he actually go the library and work out the intermediate stages?

But as Jim Bell has observed, Mike did just that and found nothing in the literature which explained the intermediate design stages that Dawkins claims exist. Could it be that no one has done the necessary research to lay the issue to rest?

David Berlinski defended Behe by replying that:

The correct response to Dawkins is thus to ask whether retrospectively he would have urged Einstein to be intellectually more vigorous and instead of accepting the Michaelson-Morley experiment simply get off his behind and get on with the task of finding that ... ether.

Berlinski, a mathematician and philosopher, is published in Commentary, Vol. 101, No. 6, June 1996, p. 19ff: "The Deniable Darwin." Berlinski is answered by his critics in the September 1996 issue, among whom are Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Arthur Shapiro, Robert Shapiro, Martin Gardner and the omnipresent Eugenie Scott. Among those defending Berlinski are: Tom Bethell, Mike Belie, Phil Johnson, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, John Wiester, Nancy Pearcey and M. P. Schiitzenberger. Berlinski gets the last word in reply to his critics.

In the Nov 30/Dec 7, 1996 issue of World, the DMN trio (Bill Dembski, Steve Meyer, Paul Nelson) is pictured in the article (p, 5) called, "Very Intelligent Design." Also cited are Hugh Ross, Walter Bradley and Fritz Schaefer as "other credible voices" on the subject. On p. 18 of the same issue, Behe returns, in the lab pointing to a mouse trap. The article, "Witnesses for the prosecution," by Joel Belz, actually covers the movement's leader, Berkeley lawyer Phil Johnson more than Behe, its leading scientific "whiz-kid."

The article also noted the concern of some attending the Mere Creation conference at Biola U. about ID being too close to the "God of the gaps" fallacy, that God is the default explanation for "gaps" in scientific explanation.

In its April 28, 1997 issue, the front cover of Christianity Today shows a drawing of Michael Behe playing cards with Charles Darwin. Underneath is the title of the lead article, by Tom Woodward, "Meeting Darwin's Wager." The article begins on p. 14 with a fuller picture; kudos to the artist, Jody Nilsen, whose lifelike resemblances of Darwin, Behe, Stephen J. Gould, Nancy Pearcey, Phil Johnson and others were immediately recognizable and eye-catching.

Woodward sums up Behe's position, stating succinctly that "Behe wants to be nothing more than a biological accountant, initiating a long-overdue audit of the Darwinian books." Behe's book, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, won CTs 1997 Book of the Year first place. Del Ratszch's The Battle of Beginnings: Why Neither Side is Winning the Creation-Evolution Debate (IVP) was #7.

Manuscript-master Walter Hearn, in Berkeley, CA, wrote a congratulatory letter to Tom Woodward on his lead article, hoping that "writing that long piece fit in with your Ph.D. studies." Tom also recently produced the videotape, The Princeton Chronicles, interviews with Christian professors at Princeton U., including one of this year's Annual Meeting plenary speakers, geologist John Suppe, and fusion researcher Robert Kaita. Hearn used the tape in his "Scripture and Science" classes. (See "... and Reaching on the class, and "C. S. Lewis Inst. under "Personals" for contacting Woodward.)

In the article, the young-earth Institute for Creation Research has noticed "a growing move among many scientifically-minded Christians to de-emphasize the Bible and Christian doctrine, and to merely encourage scientists to recognize 'intelligent design' in nature, thus refuting atheistic naturalism." (John D. Morris, April, 1997 letter.) 2 Mike Behe, Jim Bell, David Berlinski, Walt Hearn, Phil Johnson, John Wiester

The ASAN has been highlighting ASAer's efforts to bridge the gap between the scientific and Christian communities by teaching courses on sci/Xny in their churches. Numerous cases have been reported, including that of Walt Hearn's "Scripture and Science" course. Walt wrote the Editor:

I've lost count of how many people have asked for help in teaching such a course but I know that all but one of them wrote because of that story you did in the Newsletter. This is an ideal avenue of service for ASA that high-level theology/science "think tanks" aren't likely to tackle.

One inquirer was John Miller, way up north in Fairbanks, Alaska. Barbara Gaskell also liked the way Walt approached the course, and requested his notes so that she would be "better equipped to handle these sorts of questions when they come up in my conversations with people at church."

Church teachers Loren and Deborah Haarsma are leading a six-week adult Sunday school class on science-and-faith issues at the venerable Park St. Church in Boston, MA. The course title is "God's Handiwork, Through the Eyes of Science and Faith." The course is oriented along the line that the best science and the best theology should be used in our effort to learn about the Creation. We will look at why Christians feel called to science and how their faith affects their work, using examples from our backgrounds in astrophysics and neuroscience.

The Haarsmas discussed a spectrum of positions on Genesis, creation, and evolution, emphasizing that there are more than two extremes. They are spending time on other issues too, such as how scientific concepts of natural law and chance relate to the theological concepts of providence and miracles, and how brain structure and biochemistry relate to sin and the soul. Other topics are: the brain and behavior, the environment and bioethics. Each week, Scripture, praise and prayer is included, to worship the Creator as such.

On the evening of March 2, the church held a meeting directed towards nonChristians on the topic of "Faith and Science." The Haarsmas were interviewed for 20 minutes, answering questions on

stumbling blocks to faith for some people. They stayed afterward to answer questions too.

Other ASAers teaching sci/Xny courses in their churches, or who are attempting to bridge the science/religion gap in other ways, are encouraged to share their efforts; send them to the Editor. (Note the Editor's new e-mail address!) H Loren & Debbie Haarsma, Walter Hearn

Chemistry prof. Joseph Lechner presented a paper, "Diet and cardiovascular risk: The National Research Council and the Torah," at the Midwest Connective Tissue Research Workshop in Chicago on Nov. 18, 1995. Joe has been giving similar talks at churches and, most recently, a luncheon gathering of engineers, as reported by his school's Mt. Vernon (Ohio) Nazarene C. Natural Sciences Div. Newsletter.

Jones wins ASTM award Engineer Thomas S. Jones of Rockville, MD received a service award from the American Society for Testing and Materials. Tom received the Charles W. Briggs award from the Committee (E-7) Thomas S. Jones on Nondestructive

Testing, which recognizes outstanding and continuous contributions to the Committee work. Tom is vice-president of R&D at Industrial Quality, Inc., in Gaithersburg, MD. He started his career in 1977 with McDonnell Aircraft, where he was a technical specialist. He has been involved in ultrasonic and radiologic NDT, and in the development of infrared thermal applications for composites used in marine, aviation, and ground vehicle armor. ASTM's news release also cites Tom as active in the ASA. Jack Haas

C. S. Lewis Inst. hosts Behe; Suppe on Princeton video

C. S. Lewis Institute Director Tom Woodward puts out the C. S. Lewis Inklings newsletter. The Spring '97 issue offers "powerful apologetics resources" from the Institute's Website at www.apologetics.org. Tom talked on

Before the talk, there was Christian rock music playing, people clapping their hands and swaying with the music. This was definitely not like good old St. Theresa's parish back home. In fact, I had my doubts about getting up in front and talking about the cilium and the blood clotting cascade. But everyone paid very close attention as I talked and I could see from their faces and the questions afterward that they understood exactly what I was saying.

Next morning, at the U. of S. Florida biology dept., Mike describes:

They most definitely were not swaying to the music. It was clear they didn't like the idea of design, but I think they quickly realized that the theory they thought was so solid is very theoretical indeed.

At Trinity C., where Tom teaches, the reception included a cake with an edible black box! Mike rated the trip "a smashing success."

An update on the Princeton Project: interviews with five Christian Princeton profs, including this year's Annual Meeting plenary speaker, John Suppe, are being distributed to student groups at nearly 300 campuses. Get the Princeton Chronicles video set for a gift of at least $35, payable to Trinity College with CFUM on the memo, from 2430 Trinity Oaks Blvd., New Port Richey, FL 34655.

A review of Dutch physicist-philosopher-theologian Willem B. Drees's Cambridge U. Press book, Religion, Science and Naturalism by William A. Durbin was sighted in American Scientist, May/June 1997. Drees views the Galileo and Darwin cases as more complex than fitting a conflict-harmony categorization, and has a 3 x 3 classification scheme, "in which the cognitive, experiential and cultural dimensions of religion interact with three ongoing challenges from science: new knowledge, new conceptions of knowledge and of new 'appreciations' of the natural world." (Durbin's words) Drees makes a case for religion within the bounds of naturalism, and appears to redefine naturalism as the whole of reality.

Nevertheless, Drees speaks of the transcendent, though knowledge of it is out of human reach. Durbin's commentary is that Drees, who is from a liberal Protestant tradition, "often sounds like a revitalized John Dewey." Drees's survey "tries to reconcile the humility of science with the hope of religion." 2 Walt Hearn

Alton Everest clipped an article from the Santa Barbara News Press (22 Apr. 97) titled, "Professor likes to play with fire." Westmont C. physics prof Ken Kihlstrom likes to dramatize his students with demonstrations like that shown in the article. Kihlstrom's pant legs are rolled up and he is walking barefoot across a bed of hot coals. The key is to use low-density wood which has a low heat capacity. Once he used oak and scorched himself. Commercial briquettes are no good either. His other favorite ritual, performed immediately before student course evaluation, is to lie on a bed of nails with another bed on top, topped by a concrete block. An assistant uses a sledgehammer to shatter the block. Alton said: "Kihlstrom's not an ASA member apparently, but with the convention set for the Westmont campus, I thought the membership should be warned as to what to expect." The Annual Meeting is Aug. 1-4.

The ASA has several Ken Olson's but the Ken Olsen featured in the Boston Globe (May 19, 1996) under the title, "New company, same Olsen," founded Digital Equipment Corp., the leading supplier of minicomputers, such as the PDP- I I and VAX, and was the number two computer company behind IBM at one time. DEC is still around, of course, but at 70, Ken is back to the thrill of entrepreneuring, with a new start-up company, Advanced Modular Solutions, Inc., in Boxborough, MA. He can once again work directly with the products, customers, and engineers.

Lyn Benton, DEC's new president, says of Ken: "Ken is the ultimate teacher. He is constantly teaching everyone around him." Ken was the keynote speaker at Innovation Expo '96 and was toying with a quote from Max Planck that he wasn't sure would be understood. But he liked it:

An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: It rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out and that the growing generation is familiarized with the idea from the beginning.
~~ Don Munro

The University of Chicago Press is publishing a quarterly, Technology and Culture, the international quarterly of the Society for the History of Technology. See their Website at wwwjournals.uchicago.edu. Or visit the Technology and Culture Website at http://hfm.umd. umich.edu/tc. The SHOT newsletter is at www.auburn.edu/shot/

The Inst. for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology was founded some 20 years ago by physicist Bob Brungs, whom Tom Hoshiko met at a meeting with the late Jim Neidhardt. The meeting set up by Bob Herrmann. The ITEST Bulletin presents some worthwhile articles on science and religion, largely in a Catholic context. ITEST is at 221 North Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103; tel. (314) 977-2703; fax: (314) 977-7264; e-mail: postigm@ wpogate.slu.edu M Tom Hoshiko

  The book, The Cross and the Rain Forest: A Critique of Radical Green Spiritu-

Who Said

Religiously active people also report greater happiness. One Gallup survey found that highly religious people were twice as likely as those lowest in spiritual commitment to declare themselves very happy. Other surveys, including a 16-nation collaborative study of 166,000 people in 14 nations, have found that reported happiness and life satisfaction rise with strength of religious affiliation and frequency of attendance at worship services. Some researchers believe that religious affiliation entails greater social support and hopefulness.

The above paragraph is from a 30-page chapter, "Faith, Hope and Joy," in Dave Myers' book, The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy and Why (Avon). It also appeared in an article that Dave and U. of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener published in May, 1996. Dave is at Hope College (myers@hope.cit.hope.edu). He appreciates the ASAN and always enjoys looking through it. This also contributes to the Editor's happiness I

Alan Hale of Hale-Bopp comet fame posted an open letter in cyberspace "to the scientists of my generation," bemoaning the insipid support of science by the public. He says in the letter:

... unless there are some pretty drastic changes in the way that our society approaches science and treats those of us who have devoted our lives to making some of our own contributions, there is no way that I can, with a clear conscience, encourage present-day students to pursue a career in science.

Hale's concern is being addressed by the ASA with the immanent announcement of a joint ASA/IVP book, Being A Christian in Science, written to counsel and encourage Christian graduate students in the sciences. Authored by the previous ASAN Editor, the communication-capable Walter Hearn, ASAers will have a new literary tool for helping to keep both science and Christian involvement in it alive in the future.  Patsy Ames & Mack Goldsmith, Walt Hearn

John E. Katon was chemistry prof. at Miami U., Ohio, where he directed the molecular spectroscopy lab. He died last October 13, 1996 at age 67. John was a former scoutmaster and received its Distinguished Service Award in 1995-and the Outstanding Chemist award in 1979 from the Cincinnati chapter of the American Chemical Society.  Ed Yamauchi

Betty Bube, wife of Richard Bube, died of cancer in early April. Dick is an emeritus professor of materials science and electrical engineering at Stanford U. and has written much on the relationship of science and Christianity. You might want to drop a card or letter of sympathy and encouragement to Dick, who is at 753 Mayfield Ave., Stanford, CA 94305.

... to submit your popular-level, tutorially-oriented two pages of advice on some significant science/religion issue for non-experts. The Editor is extending the deadline to July 10, 1997.

The best two leaflets will win a modest award of $75 US, as judged by the Leaflet Committee. Submit entries by postal mail, fax: (814) 789-2149, or as an e-mail attachment (text is fine) to: dfeucht@toolcity.net.

The "up" side of this difficult situation is that ASAers who teach at Christian colleges ought to see this as an ideal time to hire a first-class historian or philosopher of science. Judging from the comments I hear at ASA meetings, many members recognize the key role of HPS in the science/faith dialogue; our journal reflects this by publishing a rather high percentage of articles on historical and philosophical topics related to science and faith. On the other hand, I am often told that Messiah College is "really lucky" to have an historian of science, that not many Christian colleges can afford to have one, because we couldn't teach enough courses to justify a full-time position.

In fact, this is not true. Most HPS people know enough basic science, history, and/or philosophy to teach several lower level courses in those areas in addition to courses in HPS. For example, in my twelve years of teaching at Messiah, I have taught such things as Western Civili zation, introductory physics (the course for science majors), physical science for elementary education, and various freshman seminars, as well as courses in my specialty. The problem isn't that we can't earn our keep; the problem is that most individual departments don't see how we could earn our keep, because their vision is too narrowly focused on their own needs. The solution is for academic administrators, whose vision is necessarily much wider, to take the bull by the horns and make room for HPS people by splitting their responsibilities among various departments, tailoring the appointment to fit the gifts of the individual.

Thus, I urge ASA members at Christian colleges (and other smaller institutions where their influence is not lost in an impersonal process) to have the sort of interdisciplinary conversation that can result in the hiring of a person with HPS expertise. The candidates are out there; I suspect the positions are too, if only the vision is there to create them.