Nobel Laureates Go Ape After Royal Society Creationist Comment

With the 200th anniversary of his birthday coming up next year, Charles Darwin has had a good few days in his native Britain. DISCOVER reported this morning that a senior member of the Church of England has apologized to Darwin for underestimating his idea; the church was one of the first to attack Darwin in the 19th century for daring to suggest that God did not create humans in their present form. Now, Nobel prize winners are coming to the defense of Darwinism after the Royal Society's education director, a clergyman named Michael Reiss, called for science teachers to tackle creationism in British schools. Harry Kroto and Richard Roberts—Nobel winners in 1996 and 1993, respectively—balked at a representative of Britain's most prestigious scientific organization endorsing a non-scientific teaching like creationism. Kroto says he warned the society last year against hiring Reiss, and now he is gathering other Nobel laureates to ...