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VOICE ONE:
Evolution is a theory, a word that is often used to describe an educated guess. But it is a scientific theory based on repeated observations, experiments, measurements and discoveries. A scientific theory represents the best explanation of how the natural world works.
There is almost no disagreement over the main ideas of evolution in the scientific community. But the idea that species have evolved from simpler forms is less accepted by the public. A Gallup Poll opinion study taken last February found that twenty-five percent of Americans reject evolution. Thirty-nine percent accept it and the rest have no opinion.
VOICE TWO:
Many important American court cases have dealt with evolution. The most famous took place in Tennessee in nineteen twenty-five. The trial found high school teacher John Scopes guilty of violating a state law banning the teaching of evolution. Later cases ruled that teaching religious creation stories in public schools violates the First Amendment of the Constitution that calls for separation of church and state.
More recently, religious groups have supported the idea of intelligent design in public schools. This is the idea that an intelligent force created all forms of life. In two thousand five, a group of high school students brought legal action against a Pennsylvania school district. Dover area schools had required that intelligent design be taught along with evolution. A United States District Court said intelligent design was not science and could not be separated from religious belief.
VOICE ONE:
But there have also been efforts to bridge the differences between religious belief and evolutionary science in recent years. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, has attempted to do that. He is a geneticist who led the effort to map all the human genetic material, DNA.
Francis Collins started an organization called the BioLogos Foundation. It is meant to support the idea that traditional Christian beliefs can coexist with science and evolution. In two thousand six, his book, "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief," became a national best-seller.
VOICE TWO:
One hundred fifty years after "On the Origin of Species" first appeared, it remains one of the most influential and debated books ever written. But it is only a beginning. John Kress of the Smithsonian says that, while science accepts evolution, debate continues.
JOHN KRESS: "We do have debates among ourselves over the exact process. And I think this is what science is about. We continually test our ideas; we continually conduct experiments to see if we can gain new insights into how life evolved and that's what really science is all about."
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VOICE ONE:
This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Doug Johnson. Visit our Web site at voaspecialenglish.com to find a link to the works of Charles Darwin. And join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.