Scientists Offer Ground-Level Support for Evolution

As the National Science Teachers Association convened for its annual meeting over the past week, the steady wave of challenges to the teaching of evolution occupied a dominant place on the agenda.

That gathering took place as classroom teachers and others trying to stave off those offensives are receiving a renewed offer of help from a longtime ally: the scientific community.

Leaders of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences are urging their members to take a front-line role in working with teachers and others to combat what many science instructors see as attempts to weaken...