Twenty First Century Science - GCSE Science: Higher (OCR), Various Authors, Oxford University Press. 2006.

This textbook is part of the new OCR 'Twenty First Century Science' series which aims to emphasise the topic 'How Science Works'. Over 14 pages are devoted to Darwinist and neo-Darwinist explanations of origins, but only one brief paragraph mentions an alternative, and this is represented as being entirely non-scientific.

Evidence for Evolution

The module B3 - 'Life on Earth' begins with classification and variation. It presents a number of evidences for evolution, which it defines as the process of change that started with a few simple living things and over time produced all the kinds of living things on Earth today.

An evidence said to be 'very important' for this theory is the fossil record. Although this book recognises there are gaps in the record, it downplays the significance of these gaps by claiming that:

...scientists have collected millions of fossils. This huge amount of evidence has helped to build up a picture of evolution. (Page 180).

Over 98% of human genes are the same as those of a chimpanzee, but only 85% are the same as those of a mouse. (Page 181).

This evidence is discussed in our essay: Comparative Genetics and Biochemistry.

The next section is a double-page spread on the 'Evidence for change NOW'. Here, the general definition of evolution remains unchanged, yet selective breeding and natural selection are outlined and described as evolution happening now. This could easily mislead pupils because it does not distinguish between:

1. Empirical data for small scale evolutionary changes
2. The evolution of all life from single cells over 3.5 billion years

The discussion of Darwin continues with the story of Darwin's Finches. Regrettably, recent data from the Galapagos Islands has not been included.

This book then presents a simplistic over-generalisation about early objections to Darwinism:

Almost everyone in Victorian society disagreed with the idea of natural selection...The Bible said that all life on Earth was created in six days. There was no natural selection, and no evolution. (Page 188).

In fact, many Victorian scientists made strong arguments against Darwinism on scientific grounds. Natural selection was less controversial that the process of creative evolution which Darwin claimed natural selection was the mechanism for. Indeed, the Bible-believing scientist Edward Blyth (1810–1873) published three detailed articles on natural selection in The Magazine of Natural History (1835 and 1837) well before Darwin but he did not consider natural selection a source of unlimited creative novelty.

On the same page, this text also charicatures critics of Darwin in a cartoon. A religious spokesman seems to be objecting on vague moral grounds to the idea that apes and humans share an ancestor. Meanwhile, a Victorian 'scientific gentleman' on the right seems to be defending the fixity of species and the view that God directly placed fossils in the rock strata from the beginning of the world. The cartoon is deeply misleading for two main reasons. The fixity of species was not universally held before Darwin, and many scientists of this era considered fossils to be the remains of past life, buried in catastrophies.

Surprisingly, these poorly described Victorian objections to Darwin's theory are the only consideration of any detail which this book gives to alternative theories of origins. Students are not enabled to understand the contemperory controversy which is going on around them.

The omission of important facts continues in: 'Where did life come from?' Here, it is claimed that life on Earth began about 3,500 million years ago. Then, two views about how life arose are presented. The first view is that life started somewhere else in the Solar System and was brought to Earth on a comet or a meteorite. The second is that life began as a chemical soup inside hollow bubbles of iron sulphide on the sea floor. Both these views have considerable problems which are not pointed out.

The text of this section finally concludes...

People continue to debate evolution. Because many of them have strong personal beliefs that are affected by this idea, it is unlikely to stop anytime soon. (Page 189).

Thus, the current controversy, regularly mentioned in newspapers and leading scientific journals, is dismissed. Students are not permitted to explore the current scientific problems of Darwinism, or alternative theories, but are told that the debate is mainly due to "strong personal beliefs". On this point, the textbook fails students seeking to develop scientific literacy and an ability to participate in the scientific controversies of their day.

 

Human Evolution

Pages 196 and 197 cover the topic of human evolution, with reference to the discovery of two extinct apes which differ slightly from modern apes in their pelvis, knee and ankle joints (Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus afarensis - or 'Lucy'). The text seeks to associate these with some footprints found in volcanic ash at Laetoli, Tanzania (because the remains of 22 extinct apes have been found in the vicinity of Laetoli). Little mention is made of the scientific controversies with which modern palaeontology is rife.

 

Teaching the controversy?

This textbook begins with the statement:

You will develop skills to help you:

1. weigh up evidence on both sides of an argument
2. make decisions about science issues that affect you

...you should be able to identify:

1. statements that are data
2. statements that are all or part of an explanation
3. data or observations that an explanation can account for
4. data or observations that don't agree with an explanation

Clearly, an opportunity has been missed to present scientific evidence that does not agree with Darwinian evolution. Teachers may wish to consider supplementary materials in order to teach both sides of controversy argument fairly.