EARTH Magazine: Creationism Comes to the County Fair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Megan Sever (msever@earthmagazine.org)

7/1/2014

Alexandria, Va. — County fairs are opportunities to bring in those handsome Holsteins competing for Best Bessie, to sample foods that don’t normally belong on sticks and definitely shouldn’t be deep-fried, and to enjoy carnival rides and games with unfavorable odds. They’re also opportunities to get the attention of a lot of people. Just ask the exhibitors who rent space to hawk their wares — everything from kitchen knives to leaf-free gutters. And in some locations, those exhibitors include creationists asking, “Why do thousands of scientists believe Darwin was wrong?”

County fairs have proved good places for creationists to reach captive audiences. How can scientists counter this county fair push with messages of their own? Read about one science supporter’s attempt to offer a more scientific alternative in the July issue of EARTH Magazine: http://bit.ly/TpMXIY.

For more stories about the science of our planet, check out EARTH Magazine online or subscribe at www.earthmagazine.org. The July issue, now available on the digital newsstand, features stories on parasites spreading across the warming Arctic, traveling through the high terrain of Tajikistan, and researchers finding new evidence of clustering of earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault, plus much, much more.  

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Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy and environment news with EARTH magazine online at:http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of 49 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.