Emerging from the cave

Reported on his story about the good guys in Dayton, Tennessee, 80 years ago, John Scopes was on trial for teaching evolution in public schools ("Evolution on Trial"), Steve Kemper I especially want to talk to Kurt Wise, a science professor at Bryan College in Dayton. After all, Wise holds a PhD in paleontology from Harvard University and studied with the late and respected paleontologist Stephen J. Gould, a fierce foe of creationism. Wise believed God created the world 6,000 years ago.

But he wouldn't grant an interview. "The only chance I had to talk to him was to accompany his class on a field trip to Saltpeter Cave, a grassy cove," Kemper said. So I found themselves crawling around with a group of children in a muddy cave that they believed was formed in a matter of hours. "I think you'll agree that commenting intelligently on this record deserves a rant from Kemper." Kdspe

"When Kemper asked 92-year-old Dayton resident Eloise Reed if she believed in evolution or the Bible Description of the origin of life, she would look at him doubtfully "Why, the Bible!" "She replied:

She is not alone in Dayton, which prides itself on its status as a defender of the faith. One hotel has a golden monkey lounge and Dayton residents can get license plates, It said they were citizens of "Monktown"

Let Jeffrey Krueger tell the story of Conquering Polio ("Conquering Polio"), which, he said, was " Its clear and powerful arc. Like the subject of the 1994 book "Apollo 13 near disaster" co-authored by Kruger, Jonas Salk's relentless attack on this devastating disease is "There's a ticking clock going on," Klug said. "Every year the vaccine isn't perfected, another 50,000 or more children get sick or die." Or how must the people in the Salk lab feel when June rolls around, a vaccine isn’t ready yet, and another summer is lost? So what must have been the feeling in April 1955 and that summer when it was announced that vaccination, and all the vaccines that followed, would save? ”

This year’s photography competition generated no fewer than 27,000 entries. We were overwhelmed not only by the number of submissions, but also by their quality. What an amazing place for photography from Smithsonian readers As I wrote, we have narrowed down the entries in each category to less than 100 in the last week of February and we plan to select 10 finalists in each category by the end of March. Announcement on our website on April 1st. We plan to announce the grand prize winner and winners of the 5 categories in the July issue.

Well done, everyone! " "