Evolution: Just the facts

Evolution is the foundation of biology and its effects
are far-reaching.

The simple mechanism of evolution helps determine who
lives, who dies, and who gets the opportunity to pass
on their traits to the next generation. Darwin's theory
of natural selection, which is supported by 150 years
of scientific research, underpins all of modern
biological thought and its implications affect our
health, our food supply, and the vast web of life
around us. Understanding the theory of evolution is
more crucial than ever, especially in an age when
environmental, biotechnology, health, and genomic
issues dominate worldwide headlines.

Evolution is defined in two ways: first, as simple
description - things change over time; second, as the
mechanism that governs the progress and processes of
life on Earth. With the Evolution project, we've
explored the key themes inherent in understanding the
theory - from the role of mass extinction in the
survival of the species to the power of sex to drive
evolutionary change. We've looked at the sudden
emergence of consciousness, the success of humans, and
the perceived conflict between science and religion in
understanding human life.

Evolution. . .a journey into where we're from and where
we're going ( tagline )

€ Evolution is in our everyday lives.

Evolution affects almost every aspect of human life.
From medicine to agriculture to a person's choice of
mate, evolution touches our daily lives in
extraordinary ways. Having a grounding in evolution is
key to our understanding of so many issues around us.
In medicine, there's the question of whether the
antibiotics we take now to cure ourselves will remain
effective as new strains of bacteria become resistant
to tried-and-true drug treatments. In agriculture,
there's the dilemma of farmers' ravaged crops and
lessened yields due to pesticide resistant insects. For
all of us, there's the issue of bio-diversity.
Currently, we're undergoing a mass extinction in which
50% or more of species on Earth will die out. These are
just a few stories of evolution in our daily lives.

€ We approach the Evolution project from the
perspective of science journalism

Evolution is a scientific concept, and this is a
science series. The Evolution project presents facts
and the accumulated results of scientific inquiry;
which means understanding the underlying evidence
behind claims of fact and proposed theories, and
reporting on those areas where the science is sound. We
have enlisted the top minds in all of the sciences to
help us present the best scientific understanding of
the explanation of life on Earth. In keeping with solid
science journalism we examine empirically-testable
explanations for "what happened," but don't speak to
the ultimate cause of "who done it" - the religious
realm.

. Science and religion can coexist.

With this project we address the question of how life
develops on Earth from the point of view of science,
and not from the spiritual realm. Both realms can
coexist side by side, but they speak to entirely
different questions: one to the How, the other to the
Why? Many key people who have spoken out on evolution,
from Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Ken Miller to Pope John
Paul II and Rev. Dr. Arthur Peacocke are helping us
reinforce the idea that science and religion are not
mutually exclusive.

Belief in evolution does not challenge religious
beliefs. Pope John Paul II has declared that evolution
is a time-tested scientific theory that does not
contradict the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church.
Catholicism, conservative and reform Judaism, and many
Protestant denominations such as The United Church of
Christ and the Episcopal Church acknowledge that
evolution is the description of a mechanism that
governs the natural processes of life on Earth.
Evolution does not claim to say anything about the
existence of God, or about people's spiritual beliefs.

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Key Evolution Marketing

Third-party Endorsement Campaign:

€ Project spokespeople
€ Overall project spokesperson
€ Dr. Jane Goodall
€ Science spokespeople
€ Dr. Ken Miller ( author of "Finding Darwin's God")
€ Dr. Stephen Jay Gould (pre-eminent paleontologist
and evolutionary biologist)
€ Education spokesperson
€ Dr. Eugenie Scott (Executive Director of the
National Center for Science Education)
€ Religious spokespeople
€ Reverend Dr. Arthur Peacocke (2001 Templeton Prize
winner)
€ Reverend Dr. Arnold Isidore Thomas (Vermont
Conference of the United Church of Christ)
€ National Speaker's Bureau
€ Electronic and grass roots media tour
€ Op-Eds / bylined articles
€ National and regional events

Project Outreach ( in areas of science, education, and
religion):

€ Partnership with top educational and scientific
organizations
€ Platform Evolution at key forums
€ Co-opt existing local dialogue about teaching
evolution in schools
€ Station and community events to promote understanding
and participation in the natural
world
Evolution National Advertising Campaign:
€ Consumer campaign (indexes high with social
capitalists)
€ Television (cable in 16 markets)
€ Print (daily newspapers in 16 markets, TV Guide,
People)
€ Guerrilla/viral marketing

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The primary marketing challenge for the Evolution
project is making the topic relevant and accessible.
Evolution's internal positioning statement is:

Evolution is smart entertainment that helps me discover
how the story of life on Earth affects my own life and
future

We have translated this positioning statement into an
external, consumer-friendly tagline that will appear on
materials associated with the project:

Evolution. . . a journey into where we're from and
where we're going

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Top Controversial Questions:

Following are the top anticipated controversial
questions:

€ Why was Darwin's idea so dangerous?

Darwin's idea was dangerous in 19th century England and
still is today. His theory threatened society, his
family, his standing in the scientific community, and
the prevailing views of the Anglican Church. Why?
Because, if extrapolated beyond its role as a
scientific theory , it seemed to run counter to the
notion of man's supremacy and God's hand in the world
order. The same fear exists today: The concept of
evolution can seem in direct conflict with deeply-held
religious belief systems of how life came about on
Earth. Our point of view is that the science of
evolution focuses on observing and explaining natural
phenomena, not supernatural phenomena. As a science,
evolution does not address the issue of religion at all

€ Why choose such a controversial subject?

The topic was not chosen for the sake of controversy.
We understand that it is controversial in part because,
if it's misunderstood or misapplied, evolution may
suggest that the development of life is accidental, or
that human behavior is not affected by moral choices.
And the dispute with Creationists about the formation
and history of the world also makes it a controversial
topic.

We chose it for three major reasons:

- Evolution is one of the most important and least
understood of all scientific discoveries.

- Evolution forms the core of our understanding of the
nature and development of life on earth, and is
relevant to every aspect of our world today.

- No one has ever undertaken a comprehensive broadcast
and online effort to present and explain the topic.

€ Isn't evolution just a "theory " that has not been
proven?

In science, a theory is a rigorously tested statement
of general principles that explains observable and
recorded aspects of the world. As an underlying
principle of observed phenomena, it must be tested and
verified. In science, a theory is a higher level of
understanding that ties "facts" together. A scientific
theory stands until proven wrong-it is never proven
correct. For example, the Copernican theory explains
how planets revolve around the sun; no other evidence
has proven otherwise. Similarly, the Darwinian theory
of evolution has withstood the test of time and
thousands of scientific experiments; nothing has
disproved it since Darwin first proposed it, though
subsequent work has refined it.

€ Are there facts that don't support evolution?

All known scientific evidence supports evolution.
Charles Darwin rolled the dice when he proposed the
idea of natural selection. One hundred and fifty years
later there's a mountain of evidence to support his
theory . It has withstood the rigors of the process of
scientific inquiry , which examines evidence to test a
theory. New discoveries over the past 150 years have
all supported the validity of the theory of evolution,
including radioactive decay, an expanded fossil record,
DNA and the process of genetic replication, and the
evidence in the human genome. Anyone of these could
have called into question the inferences of evolution.
Instead, they all confirmed them. Certainly, there are
still evolutionary unknowns, as there are with all
comprehensive scientific theories, from the theory of
gravity to quantum mechanics.

Still, opponents of evolution contend that evolution
has not been proved. For example, they point to gaps in
the fossil record as "proof' that transitional forms of
species don't exist. Hence, evolution can't account for
the development of life on Earth. In the 150 years
since Darwin, new evidence has closed key gaps in the
fossil record to support his theory . Some examples
are: dinosaurs as precursors to birds, ( a recent find
of dinosaurs with feather-like structures was in the
news), and the story of whales as land-dwelling mammals
moving back into the ocean, which we profiled in Show
2, "Great Transformations."

€ Why would you only present this theory and not the
theory of Creationism as well?

Science is about something happened, not about
whodunnit.

The Evolution project reports on the issues of
evolution from the perspective of science journalism.
By any standard, long-standing definition of science,
the theory of evolution is the best, most accurate
scientific explanation we have for evidence of the past
and present variety and nature of life in the world.
The theory of evolution continues to be tested, with
newly discovered data that support it.

By any standard definition of science, Creationism is
not science. It is part of a religious belief system,
and therefore, is not presented in this science series
or its initiatives.

€ How does the Evolution project handle Creationism?

Creationism is presented throughout the project as a
part of our efforts to further a public dialogue. We
devote an entire episode of the broadcast series to the
issue of spiritual faith as it relates to evolution.
The project's view is that science and spiritual faith
are compatible, because science, which focuses on the
natural world, draws no conclusions about religious
beliefs. In fact, a March 2000 Yankelovich poll shows
that 70% of Americans see no incompatibility between a
belief in God and evolutionary theory . However, we
understand that many people are struggling to reconcile
their deep and abiding spiritual beliefs with this
science. Program 7, "What About God?" highlights this
theme.

€ You say that the series is about science journalism,
yet you dedicate an hour to God. How do you explain
that?

While this is a series about the science of evolution,
we recognize that the science of evolution has social,
cultural, and political implications. And the series
would be incomplete if we didn't address them. We
therefore have dedicated the last hour to the question
"what about God?". In that show, we track the personal
stories of students in American classrooms as they
struggle to reconcile their religious belief with
scientific understanding. We also treat the
intersection of evolution and religion in Program 1,
"Darwin's Dangerous Idea." In that show, we explore the
historical landscape of 19th century England in which
Charles Darwin was publishing his controversial theory,
and examine the personal story of one scientist who has
reconciled evolution with his very traditional
religious beliefs.

€ How would you address the Intelligent Design
movement's efforts to propose scientific evidence that
"disproves" Darwinism?

As science journalists, we have looked into the
assertions of the Intelligent Design critics. In our
judgment, they are not valid. It is clear that the
accretion of scientific understanding in all areas of
science over the past 150 years supports Darwin's
simple explanation of the mechanism of evolution -
variation and natural selection. In our series, we do
not address the issue of ultimate cause, because it
lies outside of the realm of science. The Intelligent
Design movement (along with Creationism) is a belief
system, not a field of scientific inquiry . As such, it
is inappropriate for a series examining current
scientific thinking.

€ Why isn't the Intelligent Design perspective included
in Program 7, "What About God?" You just include Ken
Ham, a young earth Creationist who does not represent
the current scientific thinking about the accuracy of
Darwin's theory.

In this film we're not trying to cover the landscape of
different religious belief systems. Rather, we are
looking at how belief and scientific inquiry can be in
conflict through the lens of the students' personal
struggles. In addition, in the course of our
production, we invited several Intelligent Design
advocates, including the Discovery Institute and
Phillip Johnson, to participate in our project and to
deliver their perspective. They declined. But we did
include the many points of view of the Wheaton College
students and the LaFayette, Indiana high school
students as well. There are many forms of Creationism,
but they are not science. Our effort was to explore the
personal stories of people who were raised with deep
religious beliefs as they struggled with the
implications of evolutionary science.

€ Why are you advocating the teaching of evolution in
schools with your educational outreach project?

In keeping with PBS's commitment to education, the
Evolution project is trying to improve the
effectiveness of teaching tools in America's high
schools. America's science literacy, which is crucial
to its continued economic well-being, is alarmingly low
in comparison to other developed nations. So Evolution
is providing critically-needed tools to educators about
a core tenet of biology. Evolution is taught in the
educational standards documents of 75% of all states as
recommended by the National Academy of Science, the
National Science Teacher's Association, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the
National Association of Biology Teachers, and more.

Teachers are hungry for interesting, interactive, and
relevant resources to aid in teaching, and with
Evolution we're hoping to help educators achieve state
and national standards, and help students develop an
appropriate understanding of this important theory.
There are approximately thirty thousand high school
biology teachers in the US, each reaching one million
students each year. We expect these tools to have an
effective life span of 10 years. Therefore, the
potential impact of the educational outreach is ten
million students.

€ Would you produce a series on any subject if there
were a group willing to bankroll the project? What if
Sun Yung Moon came to you with money to do a project on
Creationism?

As science journalists, we would not cover a subject
that did not have a legitimate basis in science. Nor
would we cover a subject unless the scientific value of
the knowledge could be demonstrated. However, in the
realm of popular culture, covering the religious aspect
of the controversy might be appropriate, if its
implications were strong enough. As always, any series
produced under the aegis of WGBH, for PBS, would have
to be consistent with established editorial and
production standards; reflect the current state of
knowledge of the discipline it reports on; and not
contain an editorial conflict of interest. By public
television standards, the potential of just one
compromise would render the project infeasible.

€ Why did WGBH and CBSP team. up for this project?

Clear Blue Sky Productions was interested in doing a
film on evolution. WGBH was also looking at doing a
series on the subject. When we met to discuss possible
science documentary projects, it was clear that the
goals of both producers matched. We both wanted the
highest possible editorial and production standards for
every aspect of the Evolution project. And we both
believed that PBS was the most appropriate home for
such a project.

The topic of evolution was a natural subject for WGBH,
given the documentaries produced by WGBH's Science Unit
(which also produces the critically acclaimed NOVA
series). And it was a natural follow-up for both WGBH
and Clear Blue Sky Productions, which recently joined
forces on NOVA's "Cracking the Code of Life." CBSP's
1999 production "Me & Isaac Newton," a feature-length
documentary about science and scientists directed by
Michael Apted, won the prestigious Earthwatch Institute
Film Award.

What began as a mutual desire to do a documentary
series on evolution has blossomed into our developing a
groundbreaking, multi-faceted project on evolution.

**Any further questions about WGBH, CBSP, editorial
control, funding, and Paul Allen should be directed to
WGBH.