Evolution - By the (Text) Book

Abstract

Textbooks are widely used in American science classrooms and as such have become a focal point of efforts by the anti-evolution movement to eliminate or weaken evolution education in American schools. Because of this, the experience of writing and rewriting a biology textbook today is much more than an exercise in scientific pedagogy. The particular history of just one high school biology text illustrates the degree to which pressure can be placed on authors and publishers to weaken or dilute the coverage of evolution. The use of textbooks to define and support curricula makes it particularly important for the scientific and education communities to resist such pressures and to assert the integrity of the scientific process in determining textbook content.