Joe Novak: Articles written by creationists are not fit for public schools

To The Daily Sun,

I would like to thank Len Hanley for demonstrating why our children need to learn science, specifically evolution, in our public schools, though he quite clearly tried to do the opposite.

First, Mr. Hanley said, that "Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves." Well, if the books actually say that, then they are probably only trying to say that science does not need to try to fit a creator into the cosmological picture because there is no evidence for such a creator. The scientific method requires evidence, not faith.

In his second example, Mr. Hanley says that the books state that "fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles." I doubt that the books say exactly that because species don't "change" into other species; the evolutionary process requires random mutations from one generation to the next, mutations that offer the progeny of a species an advantage in life so that this advantage can be passed from generation to generation. Over time, after a long series of mutations, a new species is formed. Science, not faith.

In Mr. Hanley's third example, he states that all matter of the universe was concentrated to a very small dense region some 18-20 billion years ago. First, if the book that he reviewed said that, then the school needs to try to obtain a more recent book because cosmologists now say that the Big Bang most likely occurred about 13.8 billion years ago. And whether all of matter was condensed into an infinitesimal point or one a bit larger can be debated as part of the scientific process as more evidence becomes available. Science will decide, not faith.

And despite his suggestion, articles written by creationists are not fit for public schools.

Joe Novak

Center Harbor