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Week 2 Assignment: Article Evaluation

Robert Boyle

After reading this article, I observed that the birth and death dates of the individual are placed in parentheses at the beginning of the page in the lead section, directly after the name in bold. The citation links work and are simple and easy ways to locate the sources of this information. All facts are followed by what appears to be an appropriate reliable source. On the surface, these sources seem to neutral and factual sources of information that the author used to condense information about this individual. Towards the end of the article there are links to Boyle's works, which direct the reader to his primary sources. In addition, there are links that direct the reader towards further sources and readings on Boyle's life and accomplishments. Many of the citations and suggests for further reading on Boyle's life seem to incorporate the impact of his work on religious texts. While overall the article seems neutral and objective, the titles of several of the sources seem to suggest that Boyle's life is recounted in light of the relationship between science and religion. Perhaps the impact of Boyle's work in a religious context is an over-represented idea or viewpoint. This article is a good article nominee, and is currently rated as B-class, because there are discrepancies on minor information about Boyle such as his nationality according to the Talk page.

Scientific Revolution

This article is also currently rated B-class, because there are some minor discrepancies in content details, and some problems discussed about the citation formatting, per the Talk page. The Talk page seems to be extremely active and detailed overall. A prominent discussion is the neutrality of the article. It is pointed out by contributors that the article should be more neutral and portray the Scientific Revolution in a more objective and less praise-filled light. Rather than lauding the advances made in science, it could be important to objective discuss ancient scientific methodologies are valuable and within the context of their time. Following this suggestion, a viewpoint that might be underrepresented is the negative consequences of the Scientific Revolution in terms of the environment, etc. The citation links are functional and the sources appear to support the articles claims. As a result, it could be necessary to expand the source list and bibliography to capture a more objective viewpoint on the scientific revolution.

Week 3 Assignment: Researching Topic

Potential Stub Articles to Develop:

Civic Biology: add information on the public reception of the book and the audience who read it,  add more sections on the material it contained, add a section about the debate and controvery stirred by the book

Butler Act: add a section about the legacy of the Butler Act and its impact beyond the Scope Trial, or add a section about the path of the Butler Act into law

Finalize:

Civic Biology: I plan to contribute more sections on the material that the textbook addressed through paraphrasing rather than large blocks of direct quotations from the book. It would also be useful to add a section about the debate and controversy stirred by the book in the immediate aftermath and the lasting impact on high school biology textbooks. I plan to add a section that addresses the implications of the textbook and its controversy on high school biology education and the development of further textbooks on evolution. I plan to address the issues of content bias brought up in the Talk section of the page. Some believe that the selected quotes from the textbook are selected in an effort to discredit evolution through politically biased evidence.

Bibliography/Sources:

Rhea County Courthouse. “The Scopes Monkey Trial.” What Hunter’s Civic Biology Really Taught, n.d. http://www.bradburyac.mistral.co.uk/tenness7.html.

“Ladouceur, Ronald P. ‘Ella Thea Smith and the Lost History of American High School Biology Textbooks.’ Journal of the History of Biology 41, No. 3 (2008): 435-71. Http://Www.jstor.org/Stable/40271486.,” n.d.

“Magat, Richard. ‘The Forgotten Roles of Two New York City Teachers in the Epic Scopes Trial.’ Science & Society 70, No. 4 (2006): 541-49. Http://Www.jstor.org/Stable/40404347.,” n.d.

“Moore, Randy. ‘The Lingering Impact of the Scopes Trial on High School Biology Textbooks.’    BioScience 51, No. 9 (2001): 790-96. doi:10.1641/00063568(2001)051[0790:tliots]2.0.co;2.,” n.d.

Pauly, Philip J. “The Development of High School Biology: New York City, 1900-1925.” Isis 82,      No. 4 (1991): 662-88. Http://Www.jstor.org/Stable/233320 ., n.d.

“Shapiro, Adam R. ‘Civic Biology and the Origin of the School Antievolution Movement.’ Journal of the History of Biology 41, No. 3 (2008): 409-33. Http://Www.jstor.org/Stable/40271485.,” n.d.

Wikipedia Addition to Civic Biology Stub Page

Development and Publication
Hunter was born in Mamaroneck New York, and was educated at Williams College, the University of Chicago, and New York University, where he obtained he doctorate. He later became chairman of the biology department at De Witt Clinton High School, a public secondary school for boys in Manhattan, and his alma matter. During his time at Clinton, he wrote or co-authored 30 textbooks for college and high school biology courses, including Civic Biology in 1905. By working with educators at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the geneticist, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Hunter developed Civic Biology, a textbook that shaped the modern secondary-school biology curriculum.

Eugenics
Along with many other evolutionary biologists, Hunter embraced the idea of eugenics. It was a popular idea in the early 20th century, and several states had enacted laws to compel the sexual segregation and sterilization of people deemed eugenically unfit. Hunter believed that society could perfect the human race by preventing intermarriage between people such as the mentally ill, criminals, and epileptics. Hunter also believed that the Caucasian race was the highest type of all the races. In the first edition of Civic Biology, Hunter discusses these ideas on one page of the 432 page textbook.

Controversy
Darwin had published his evolutionary theories 60 years before the public controversy over Civic Biology with the Scopes Trial. Once evolution began being taught in high schools, controversy over Darwin’s theories developed. In the early 20th century, there was a movement in the education sector to bring evolution into high school classrooms, in order to update and reshape how biology was taught. These efforts tried to incorporate progressive educational ideologies and apply the biological sciences to human society. This movement towards socially applicable biology was coupled with national efforts towards mandatory public education. Anti-evolution efforts and legislation were responding to the redesigned ideologies in the new biology curricula, and also to the centralized control and regulation of education. Concerns about public and standardized education were part of the public debate over Civic Biology.

Legacy
The Scopes Trial and the controversy over Civic Biology was a major setback for anti-evolution groups because of the 15 states with anti-evolution legislation pending in 1925, only 2 enacted laws restricting the teaching of Darwin’s evolutionary theories. While this public controversy had some political implications, it was not extensively discussed in educational research and development. During the 1970s, it was believed that pressure from Christian fundamentalists after the Scopes Trial forced biology textbook authors to limit the discussion of evolution. Now scholars believe that textbook authors worked to develop biological curricula that differentiated and defended its content, in an attempt to reduce the influence of religious fundamentalism on the biological sciences. Overall, biology textbooks were not heavily influenced by anti-evolution rhetoric after the Scopes Trial.