In testimony last week before the federal district court in Harrisburg, Penn., Professor of Biology Kenneth Miller '70 argued that the theory of intelligent design has no support in the scientific community and does not belong in the public school science curriculum.
Eleven parents from Dover, Penn. are suing the Dover Area School District over a four-paragraph statement written by the Dover High School board that discusses problems with the theory of evolution and introduces intelligent design as an alternative.
Intelligent design, the belief that living organisms were designed by a higher intelligence, runs counter to Darwin's theory of evolution, which says that lower life forms have developed into higher life forms through natural selection, rather than through the actions of a supernatural force.
Miller, one of five experts called by the plaintiffs, was the first witness to be put on the stand. He spent eight hours over two days delivering his testimony to U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III. The trial was heard without a jury.
"Intelligent design is an idea that has no standing whatsoever in the scientific community. I strongly believe that ideas that have not been able to gather any significant amount of scientific support should not be a part of scientific education," Miller told The Herald.
The Dover School Board has said that its goal is not to teach intelligent design but to make students aware of its existence as an alternative to evolution. The school board said that intelligent design is not "religion in disguise" but a scientific theory in its own right, according to CNN.com.
According to Miller, the trial's foundations stretch back to 2004, when biology teachers at Dover High School, a small school in central Pennsylvania, chose his biology textbook, "Biology," as the text that they wanted to use in their classrooms. School board members said the book was "laced with Darwinism," and argued that if evolution were to be taught in the high school, it would have to be taught alongside creationism, Miller said.
There was a great deal of debate over the matter, and after some time the board replaced the term "creationism" with "intelligent design," Miller said. The board then drafted a four-paragraph statement on intelligent design and inconsistencies in the theory of evolution, and in October 2004 the board instructed all biology teachers in the high school to read the statement to their classes.
All of the teachers refused to read this statement, citing the Pennsylvania teachers' code of ethics, which says that they will not knowingly present false information to their students. The board then instructed the district's superintendent and assistant superintendent to go into biology classrooms themselves and read the statement, as well as refer students to an alternative textbook called "Of Pandas and People," which pushes the case for intelligent design.
On Dec. 14, 11 parents in the district filed suit against the Dover Area School District on grounds that the statement was a violation of First Amendment rights. The parents said that the statement was religiously motivated and therefore amounted to the school board using state power to promote religion.
Upon hearing about the case, Miller introduced himself to a few of the plaintiffs as the author of "Biology" and offered his help, if needed. He was then contacted by one of their lawyers to testify in the case. Miller was not paid for his testimony or for the time he spent preparing his case.
During the opening statements, the plaintiffs' lawyers stated that the Dover school board was "making a calculated attempt to undermine science for clearly documented religious purposes," according to Miller. The defendants said that the board's statement had "nothing to do with religion and that this was a matter of free expression and the presence of critical analysis in education," Miller said.
When Miller took the stand, he was first questioned about his qualifications. He was then asked a series of questions about the theory of evolution and was subsequently asked about how scientists are continuing to test the theory.
Miller also discussed "Of Pandas and People," which he said "systematically misrepresents evolution and misleads students as to scientific support for it." Miller was also cross-examined for three hours and was asked about "the nature of science, religion and what (he) thought was good educational practice."
According to Miller, the trial is likely to go on for at least three weeks, and the judge's decision will be announced only after he and his clerks write a detailed statement on the case, which could take anywhere from one to two months.
"Our side has made a very good case, and I expect the judge to be fair and reasonable," Miller said.
On the morning after Miller delivered his testimony, he received a number of e-mails, some of which he characterized as "you're going burn in hell" e-mails sent by those opposed to his beliefs. "There were no implied threats in the e-mails, and I am not concerned about my safety," Miller said. He said he received four to five times as many encouraging and congratulatory e-mails as he did critical ones.
The debate over the teaching of evolution in schools has a long history, dating back to the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial," in which Tennessee biology teacher John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution.
Both the plaintiffs and the defendants predict that the Dover trial will advance to the Supreme Court, according to the New York Times.
Miller, who attended Brown as an undergraduate, has coauthored three high school and college biology textbooks. He also conducts research on cell membrane structure and function and has had his work published in leading scientific journals. Miller has also received five major teaching awards. At Brown, Miller teaches BI 105: "Biology of the Eukaryotic Cell" and BI 20: "The Foundation of Living Systems."
