Editor's Note: In the past few months, the case of Forrest M. Mims III has received considerable publicity. Mims, a veteran science writer from Seguin, Texas, was commissioned by Scientific American to write a column called "The Amateur Scientist," but the magazine revoked his assignment when the editors learned that Mims is an evangelical Christian who does not believe in evolution. Mims has accused Scientific American of religious discrimination; the magazine denies the charge.
The Opinion section of the Feb. 18, 1991, issue of The Scientist contained an essay by Mims in which he elaborated on his allegations against Scientific American. Accompanying Mims's article was an essay by Arthur L. Caplan, professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In his essay, Caplan contended that Scientific American had to deny Mims authorship of the column because the magazine needed...
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