"Because I was the one on campus with a box of creationist literature, I was responsible for organizing the responses," she recalls. She forged an alliance between scientists and mainstream clergy who did not want biblical literalist theory presented as science. The victory was sweet. "The combination of preachers and professors stopped the creationist effort in Lexington," says Scott.
That controversy led Scott to seek out other people around the country who were dealing with similar issues. Scott contacted Wayne Moyer, then head of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), and Stanley Weinberg, a former NABT president and author of a high school biology textbook, who had experienced firsthand the ire of creationists. That was in 1980, when the Institute for Creation Science promoted sample legislation, known as Ellwanger bills, in at least 26 state legislatures, and biology teachers were discussing ways to oppose it.
By the time Weinberg ...
