Math & Cultural

Eugenie Scott: Science Denialism

Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7:00–8:15 pm
Berkeley City College Auditorium: 2050 Center Street, between Shattuck Ave. & Milvia St., in Berkeley (near the Downtown Berkeley BART station)

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Berkeley City College cordially invite you to attend a lecture by Dr. Eugenie Scott on “Science Denialism," which is part of the series Not on the Test: The Pleasures and Uses of Mathematics.  This lecture series is dedicated to engaging the public through speakers on mathematics whose expertise, passion, and ability to explain what they do with math can be understood by all.

Both evolution and global warming are “controversial issues” in education, but are not controversial in the world of science.  There is remarkable similarity in the techniques that are used by both camps to promote their views.  The scientific issues are presented as “not being settled,” or that there is considerable debate among scientists over the validity of claims.  Dr. Scott's presentation will explore and expand on these issues.

Dr. Eugenie Scott served as the executive director of the National Center for Science Education from 1987 to 2014. She is the author of Evolution vs Creationism: An Introduction, co-editor (with Glenn Branch) of Not In Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong For Our Schools, and the author of many articles in science journals. She has served as President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and has received national recognition for her NCSE activities, including awards from scientific societies, educational societies, skeptics groups, and humanist groups.

She has been honored with the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the National Science Board Public Service Award, the AIBS Outstanding Service Award, the Geological Society of America Public Service Award, the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, the California Science Teachers Association Distinguished Service Award, and the National Association of Biology Teachers Honorary Membership award, "the association's highest honor."

In 2009, Scientific American named Dr. Scott "one of 10 outstanding leaders involved in research, business or policy pursuits that have advanced science and technology." She holds nine honorary degrees, and was awarded the University Medal from the University of California-San Francisco.

Please RSVP at http://eugeniescott.bpt.me to reserve your seat and be issued a ticket to the lecture.

Please note:  You must present a printed or electronic ticket at the doors to guarantee your seat in the auditorium.  Seating is limited and first come, first served.  Doors open at 6:00 pm.

Want to join the Archimedes Society?

To reserve premium seats in advance and attend a pre-event reception, we invite you to join the Archimedes Society, MSRI's supporting membership of individual donors.  To join the Archimedes Society, please visit https://tinyurl.com/msri-arch.  Please indicate the total number of tickets in the "Comments" field.  Archimedes Society members may bring one guest.  Please RSVP by Monday, March 10 to reserve seating and attend the pre-event reception.  Food and drinks will be provided at the reception.

The generous support of the Simons Foundation has made possible the "Not on the Test" MSRI-BCC lecture series.

        Not on the Test: The Pleasures and Uses of Mathematics

        9/11/13 - Tony DeRose: "Math in the Movies"

        10/9/13 - Keith Devlin: "Video Games for Mathematics"

        11/6/13 - Inez Fung: "Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions"

        2/12/14 - Ge Wang: "Music, Computing, People"

        3/12/14 - Eugenie Scott: "Science Denialism"

        4/9/14 - Philip Sabes: "Brain-Machine Interfaces"