From: cary@afone.as.arizona.edu (Cary Kittrell) Subject: Re: Do Mathematicians oppose Evolution? Date: 7 Nov 2000 18:14:11 -0500 Newsgroups: sci.math,talk.origins Summary: [missing] In article <3A077794.E7E150D6@san.rr.com> Richard Uhrich writes: > Larson is the Richard B. Russell Professor of History and Law at the > University of Georgia, and won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in history for > book "Summer for the Gods" (Basic Books, Harper Collins, 1997), an > account of the infamous Scopes evolution trial. Witham is an author > and religion reporter for the Washington Times newspaper. > > Last year, the pair announced results of a study which replicated > surveys made in 1913 and 1933 by sociologist James H. Leuba that > measured attitudes within the scientific community concerning the > existence of a deity. Leuba had reported a decline in personal belief > among scientists in a "God in intellectual and affective communication > with humankind" from 27.7% in the 1913 study to only 15% by 1933. > "Disbelief" rose from 52.7% to 68%, and "doubt or agnosticism" fell > slightly from 20.9% to 17%. The 1998 Larson-Witham study which > replicated Leuba's work found "Personal belief" in a deity at only 7%, > while "Personal disbelief" had risen to 72.2%, and "Doubt or > Agnosticism" to 20.8%. > > The survey measured attitudes among members of the prestigious > National Academy of Sciences. Witham and Larson noted: > > "Disbelief in God and immortality among NAS biological scientists was > 65.2% and 69.0% respectively, and among NAS physical scientists it was > 79.0% and 76.3%. Most of the rest were agnostics on both issues, with > few believers. We found the highest percentage of belief among NAS > mathematicians (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). Biological > scientists had the lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in > immortality), with physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in > God, 7.5% in immortality)."