George Carlton Deutsch III was a press officer of the
United States space agency
NASA. He was appointed to the position by President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, having previously worked in the
Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign "War Room" and on the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Biography
Deutsch gained notoriety in late 2005 and early 2006, when it was reported that he had instructed a NASA website designer to add the word "theory" after every occurrence of the phrase
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
.
In his memo to the website designer, Deutsch wrote that the Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion... It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator... This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue." The memo also noted that the
AP Stylebook
The ''AP Stylebook'', also known by its full name ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law'', is an American English grammar style and usage guide created by American journalists working for or connected with the Associated Pr ...
calls for the usage of the phrase "Big Bang theory".
Prior to the 2004 Bush/Cheney presidential campaign, Deutsch had been a student at
Texas A&M University. His NASA résumé falsely asserted that he had a B.A. degree in journalism, but in February 2006 a blogger at
The Scientific Activist discovered that he had never graduated. This was subsequently confirmed by Texas A&M, and Deutsch resigned from NASA.
Deutsch later returned to Texas A&M and completed his degree that year.
James E. Hansen
James Edward Hansen (born March 29, 1942) is an American adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the The Earth Institute, Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best known for his research ...
, the director of NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and several other career NASA scientists and public affairs officials had been interviewed by ''
The New York Times'' in January 2006. In these interviews, they complained about "intensifying efforts by political appointees in NASA, including Deutsch, to control more closely" the content of their public statements.
Deutsch, speaking to the ''New York Times'', gave his opinion that Hansen had exaggerated the threat of global warming. He denied lying to NASA about his college degree.
See also
*
Intelligent design
*
Teach the controversy
The "teach the controversy" campaign of the Discovery Institute seeks to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (a variant of traditional creationism) as part of its attempts to discredit the teaching of evolution in Unit ...
References
External links
Climate expert says NASA tried to silence him ''
New York Times'', January 29, 2006, Andrew C. Revkin
Gagged prophet - The Bush administration continues to ignore climate change while trying to silence government scientists ''
Houston Chronicle'', February 4, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsch, George
Intelligent design advocates
NASA people
Living people
Texas A&M University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)