Eugenie Carol Scott (born October 24, 1945) is an American

physical anthropologist Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...

, a former university professor and educator who has been active in opposing the teaching of

young Earth creationism Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...

and

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

in schools. She coined the term " Gish gallop" to describe a fallacious rhetorical technique which consists in overwhelming an interlocutor with as many individually-weak arguments as possible, in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument. From 1986 to 2014, Scott served as the Executive Director of the

National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of controversies surrounding ...

, a nonprofit science education organization supporting teaching of evolutionary science. Since 2013, Scott has been listed on their advisory council. Scott holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. A

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

, her research has been in human medical anthropology and skeletal biology. Scott serves on the Board of Trustees of

Americans United for Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for the disassociation of religion and religious organizations from government. The separation of church ...

. Scott is a member of the Board of Advisers for the publication, ''Scientific American''. She is also a Fellow of the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the US non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "pro ...

(CSI) and GWUP.

Early life and education

Scott grew up in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and first became interested in anthropology after reading her sister's anthropology textbook.What inspired me to take up science?
Eugenie Scott Scott received BS and MS degrees from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wisc ...

, followed by a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from the University of Missouri. She joined the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

as a physical anthropologist in 1974, and shortly thereafter attended a debate between her mentor James A. Gavan and the

young Earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...

Duane Gish Duane Tolbert Gish (February 17, 1921 – March 5, 2013) was an American biochemist and a prominent member of the creationist movement. A young Earth creationist, Gish was a former vice-president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR ...

, which piqued her interest in the

creation–evolution controversy Recurring cultural, political, and theological rejection of evolution by religious groups (sometimes termed the creation–evolution controversy, the creation vs. evolution debate or the origins debate) exists regarding the origins of the Ea ...

. She also taught at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

and at

California State University, Hayward California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post ...

. Her research work focused on

medical anthropology Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applie ...

, and skeletal biology.

Career

In 1980, Scott worked to prevent creationism from being taught in the public schools of

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

. Scott was appointed the executive director of the

in 1987, the year in which requiring the teaching of

creation science Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of Young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without ove ...

in American public schools was deemed illegal by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in '' Edwards v. Aguillard''. Scott announced that she would be retiring from this position by the end of 2013, doing so on 6 January 2014. Her place was taken by

Ann Reid Ann Reid is an American scientist. Since 2014, she is the executive director of the National Center for Science Education. Education Reid graduated from Bard College at Simon's Rock in environmental science, obtained a master's degree in Internati ...

Worldview

Scott was brought up in

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known ...

by her mother and grandmother but later switched to a

congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

under the influence of her sister; she describes her background as liberal Protestant.A Conversation with Eugenie Scott
Science and Theology News Scott is now a

secular humanist Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...

and describes herself as a

nontheist Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject o ...

. In 2003, the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' reported that, "Scott describes herself as atheist but does not discount the importance of spirituality." In 2003 she was one of the signatories to the third

humanist manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as Humanist Manifesto I), the ''Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and ''Humanism and I ...

, ''

Humanism and Its Aspirations ''Humanism and Its Aspirations'' (subtitled ''Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933'') is the most recent of the '' Humanist Manifestos'', published in 2003 by the American Humanist Association (AHA). The newest o ...

''.

Authorship

Scott is an expert on

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

and

. Her book ''Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction'' was published by Greenwood Press in 2004 and then in paperback by the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

in 2005. Niles Eldredge wrote the foreword in the first edition. A second edition of the book was published in 2008 and in paperback in 2009. The foreword to this edition was written by

John E. Jones III John Edward Jones III (born June 13, 1955) is the 30th President at Dickinson College and a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Early life and education Jones was bor ...

, who was the presiding judge in the Kitzmiller v. Dover court case. She co-edited with

Glenn Branch Glenn Branch is the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education. He is a prominent critic of creationism and intelligent design and an activist against campaigns of suppressing teaching of evolution and climate change in school e ...

the 2006 anthology '' Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools''. In 2006 Jon D. Miller, Scott and Shinji Okamoto had a brief article published in ''Science'' entitled "Public Acceptance of Evolution", an analysis of polling on the acceptance of evolution from the last 20 years in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and compared to other countries.

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

had the lowest acceptance of evolution in the survey, with the United States having the next-lowest, though the authors saw a positive in the higher percentage of Americans who are unsure about evolution, and therefore "reachable" for evolution.

Media appearances

David Berlinski David Berlinski (born 1942) is an American author who has written books about mathematics and the history of science as well as fiction. An opponent of evolution, he is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Cultur ...

, a fellow at the Discovery Institute, describes Scott as an opponent "who is often sent out to defend Darwin". Scott prefers to see herself as "Darwin's

golden retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

". Scott has been profiled in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'', '' The Scientist'', the ''

'', and the ''Stanford Medical Magazine''.Ain't it the truth? Two plus two equals four — spread the word

Joel Stein Joel Stein (born July 23, 1971) is an American journalist who wrote for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He wrote a column and occasional articles for ''Time'' for 19 years until 2017. Early life Stein grew up in Edison, New Jersey, the son of a sale ...

, ''Stanford Medicine Magazine'' She has had been interviewed for

Science & Theology News ''Science & Theology News'' was a monthly international newspaper of the Templeton Foundation that focused on science and religion and dialogue between them, specifically the point of view that both are worthwhile and compatible endeavors. Har ...

, CSICOP, Church & State and Point of Inquiry. She has commentary published by ''

'',

Metanexus Institute The Metanexus Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to explore scientific and philosophical questions. The institute has organized the exchange of ideas through conferences, and published books. History With the help of Peter ...

. Scott has taken part in numerous debates on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

and

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

. In 2004, Scott represented the National Center for Science Education on the Showtime television show '' Penn & Teller: Bullshit!'', on the episode titled "Creationism", where she offered philosophical views about the creationist and intelligent design movements.

''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District''

In 2005, Scott and other NCSE staff served as scientific and educational consultants for the plaintiffs in the ''

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'', 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design ...

'' case regarding the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Judge John Jones ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Scott said that "we won decisively" and "in triplicate," and "we had the better case." About the merits of the case, she said, "Within evolutionary biology, we argue about the details... and the mechanisms," but "we don't argue about whether living things descended with modification from common ancestors, which is what biological evolution is all about.... The Dover School Board wanted students to doubt whether evolution had taken place."

Awards

2009 The Stephen J Gould Prize awarded by the

Society for the Study of Evolution The Society for the Study of Evolution is a professional organization of evolutionary biologists. It was formed in the United States in 1946 to promote evolution and the integration of various fields of science concerned with evolution and to organ ...

"to recognize individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould." 2009 The Fellows Medal awarded by the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

. The award is the Academy's highest honor, awarded in recognition of a recipient's notable contributions to one or more of the natural sciences. 2010 The Public Welfare Medal awarded by the

U.S. National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

"in recognition of distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." It is the most prestigious honor conferred by the Academy. 2012 The Richard Dawkins Award presented by the Atheist Alliance of America "to individuals it judges to have raised the public consciousness of atheism" 2018 The Pojeta Award from the

Paleontological Society The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...

. The award recognizes "exceptional professional or public service by individuals or groups in the field of paleontology above and beyond that of existing formal roles or responsibilities" 2019 Fellow for the German Skeptic group Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften GWUP

Personal life

Scott and her husband, lawyer Thomas C. Sager, have one daughter and reside in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. Scott is a backyard

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

with two beehives, and is interested in

colony collapse disorder Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. While s ...

and an advocate of amateur beekeeping.

Bibliography

* Also: Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. *

References

External links

Eugenie Scott
from the

Eugenie Scott on Teaching Evolution
Books and Ideas
Eugenie Scott's Talk: "The Right to Teach Evolution"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Eugenie 1945 births 20th-century American scientists 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American scientists 21st-century American anthropologists 21st-century American women scientists American atheists American former Protestants American humanists American skeptics American women anthropologists California State University, East Bay faculty Critics of creationism Living people People from Berkeley, California Science activists Science communicators Scientists from the San Francisco Bay Area Secular humanists American social commentators Social critics University of Missouri alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni