72 Nobel Laureates Take Stand Against Creationism in Schools

The biblical story of creation is not science and has no place in public schools, 72 Nobel laureates told the Supreme Court today in a case they said pits science against “the dark forces of ignorance and superstition.”

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in a Louisiana case, the scientists said evolution is the only explanation for the development of man and should not be taught as a theory along with creationism.

“Teaching religious ideas mislabeled as science is detrimental to scientific education,” they said. “It sets up a false conflict between science and religion, misleads our youth about the nature of scientific inquiry and thereby compromises our ability to respond to the problems of an increasingly technical world.”

The legal brief represents the views of two dozen scientific organizations and the largest group of Nobel laureates ever to join in a single statement. The brief was filed in a case testing the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring science teachers to give balanced treatment to evolution and creationism.

The law was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and is now being appealed by state officials to the high court.

The scientists’ involvement in the court case was initiated by Murray Gell-Mann, a 1969 Nobel Prize winner in physics who sent a letter to all living Nobel laureates telling them about the Louisiana law.