Project Steve
Project Steve is a list of scientists with the
However, at the same time the project is a genuine collection of scientists. Despite the list's restriction to only scientists with names like "Steve", which it turns out is roughly 1 percent of scientists,[1] Project Steve is longer and contains many more eminent scientists than any creationist list. In particular, Project Steve contains many more biologists than the creationist lists, with about 54% of the listed Steves being biologists.[3] The "List of Steves" webpage provides an updated total of scientist "Steves" who have signed the list.[4] As of May 22, 2024[update], Project Steve has 1,497 signatories.[4]
Statement
The statement that signatories agree to reads:
Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism in its occurrence. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to "intelligent design", to be introduced into the science curricula of our nation's public schools.
There have been some complaints that the statement left out the geological sciences, where evolution is an important principle as well. However, this oversight was noticed too late and it was decided that it would be more effort than it is worth to go back to correct it.[3]
History
The project was named in honor of the
The original goal was to collect the signatures of 100 Steves, but this goal was reached in about 10 days. Both
Project Steve captured the attention of the media. The first media coverage included articles in the
As Project Steve reached the 400 scientist mark, the NCSE decided to offer a commemorative novelty Project Steve t-shirt. The t-shirt is emblazoned with the proclamation, "Over _00 Scientists named Steve Agree, Teach Evolution!" in large letters, where the blank contains the most recent hundreds mark. A list of the current signatories is included in a smaller typeface on the t-shirt as well.
Eugenie Scott, Glenn Branch and Nick Matzke published an article in the July/August 2004 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research (with all the Steves that had signed up to that point listed as co-authors) called The Morphology of Steve which contained "the first scientific analysis of the sex, geographic location, and body size of scientists named Steve".[11] The data were obtained using NCSE's "pioneering experimental steveometry apparatus"—the t-shirt.
Shortly after the second anniversary of Project Steve in February 2005, 543 Steves had signed the list. A front-page story in the Ottawa Citizen marking this event was published on February 20, 2005.[12] On September 12, 2005, the 600th Steve signed the list.[13] By February 16, 2006, the third anniversary of Project Steve's official launch, the Steve-o-meter stood at 700.[14] On April 24, 2007, the list had grown to 800 Steves.[15] In February 2009, the milestone #1000 was assigned to professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Steven P. Darwin (no relation to Charles).[16] Subsequent milestones were #1100 on August 25, 2009,[17] #1200 on April 6, 2012,[18] and #1300 on January 15, 2014.[19]
There have been articles about Project Steve in
Evolution
Reactions
If Project Steve was meant to show that a considerable majority of the scientific community accepts a naturalistic conception of evolution, then the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) could have saved its energies—that fact was never in question. The more interesting question was whether any serious scientists reject a naturalistic conception of evolution.[25]
Inspired by Project Steve, and motivated by media coverage of the
See also
References
- ^ a b "Project Steve". National Center for Science Education. October 17, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ Pew Research Center: "Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media" July 9, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Project Steve: FAQs". National Center for Science Education. February 16, 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "List of Steves". National Center for Science Education. January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ TEACH EVOLUTION! Over two hundred scientists named Steve agree, National Center for Science Education press release, February 16, 2003.
- ^ a b All About Steve (and Darwin), Glenn Branch and Skip Evans, Geologic Column, Geotimes, May 2003.
- wma audio file, National Center for Science Educationwebsite
- radio show transcript, The Science Show, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 8, 2003.
- ^ Hawking is Steve #300, National Center for Science Education, April 21, 2003.
- ^ Project Steve Update, National Center for Science Education, December 26, 2003.
- S2CID 60656868.
- ^ Project Steve in Ottawa, National Center for Science Education, February 24, 2005.
- ^ Project Steve: n > 600, National Center for Science Education, September 16, 2005
- ^ Announcing the NCSE 700 Club, National Center for Science Education, February 16, 2006.
- ^ Project Steve: n > 800, National Center for Science Education, April 26, 2007.
- ^ "Steve Darwin is Steve #1000". NCSE. 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "Project Steve: n > 1100". NCSE. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "Project Steve: n > 1200". NCSE. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
- ^ "Project Steve: n > 1300". NCSE. 2014-01-17. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "Sign here if your name is steve". The Times. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^ "Count On Steves to Defend Darwin". Scientific American. February 20, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ^ Tom, Jessica (February 25, 2003). "'Steve' profs. collaborate to support teaching evolution". Yale Daily News. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ^ Project Steve in the media Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine, National Center for Science Education, Last updated February 26, 2004, retrieved September 11, 2007.
- ^ A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism, Discovery Institute website
- William Dembski, Center for Science and Culture, Discovery Institute, March 19, 2003.
- ^ Brandon, R. Joe (October 21, 2005). "Results of The Four Day Petition – 7733 Scientists Agree on: A Scientific Support For Darwinism And For Public Schools Not To Teach Intelligent Design As Science". Shovel Bums LLC. Archived from the original on August 10, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Thousands of Scientists Sign Petition Opposing the Teaching of Intelligent Design as Science: No Debate Among Scientists – Regardless of Faith, Intelligent Design Is Not Science, PrNewsWire, October 20, 2005
External links
- Project Steve main webpage, National Center for Science Education website
- Project Steve: Humorous Testing of the Scientific Attitudes Toward "Intelligent Design" Via Scientists Named "Steve", TalkOrigins Archive posted: May 26, 2003; last update: October 3, 2003
- Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).