Some resources on "Intelligent Design"
Given the current controversy over the teaching of "Intelligent Design" in public school science classrooms, I decided to post a page of useful references. I've found the talkorigins.org site very useful. It's a usegroup site that deals with a variety of issues, but mostly with various aspects of the creationism vs. evolution "controversy." It mostly does so in a way that supports the evolutionary point of view, and does so by carefully documenting its sources. But it also gives links to sites that support creationist and intelligent design points of view. Especially useful is the talkorigins.org archive, which is searchable by keyword or browse-able by subject. If you'd like to see some commentary on intelligent design proponent's claims about blood clotting, for example, go to the search page of the archives and type 'blood clotting' into the search box. Another useful part of the site is an index of creationist claims and responses to them. Finally, the 'frequently asked questions' section of the talkorigins.org site is very good - check it out.
One of the best and most timely sources of information about the evolution/creation (including ID "theory") controversy is the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). The NCSE is especially concerned with the controversy as it applies to public education, and their website's section on evolution / creation news is a great source information on recent developments.
Virtually all major scientific societies have issued
statements about evolution and the teaching of evolution, and many of these
contain statements about "scientific creationism" and "intelligent design.
You can find links to many of these statements on the NCSE website here.
For some of the sites that approach the larger controversy
between evolution and creationism from a perspective more sympathetic to
creationism, click here.
Something that everyone interested in this most recent incarnation of the evolution / creation controversy should know about is what has come to be called the "wedge" strategy. The strategy was developed by members of the Discovery Institute (the leading proponent of "scientific creationism" and now of "intelligent design" theory"), and was elucidated in an internal memorandum that was leaked to the Internet in 1999. The Discovery Institute later admitted to its authenticity, and it has become known as the "wedge document." It makes for very interesting reading, and demonstrates pretty convincingly that ID proponents are motivated by a fundamentally religious agenda rather than by a desire to promote sound science, as they claim. You can read the entire text of the wedge strategy document by clicking here.
A number of reviews and responses to Michael Behe's 1996 book, "Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution" have been published, and some are available in online versions. For one list of these, click here. The reviews by Jerry Coyne, Kenneth Miller, H. Allen Orr, Clare Stevens, and Robison are especially nice.
A couple of others: