Evolution
Creationists (religious belief in direct creation by God) or "Intelligent Design" advocates will bring out a small number of people with some scientific training who will question evolution. The number of such people is very small and they have no credibility whatsoever in the broad professional scientific community. In order to underscore the absurdity of this small group being given any credibility, the National Center for Science Education created Project Steve. They allowed scientists named Steve (or cognates such a Stephan, Stefan and Stephanie) to sign a statement in support of evolution. That statement starts:
"Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry."
As of April 22, 2005, 563 scientists named Steve (or cognates) have signed this statement.(9) This is up from 513 on November 8, 2004. About two thirds of these are biologists. If roughly one percent of the population of scientists are Steves by the NCSE standard, this implies that over 56,000 scientists explicitly support evolution compared to the minuscule number who question evolution.(10) As we noted in the beginning, scientific theory is confirmed by evidence as evaluated by the preponderance of scientists. We have very solid knowledge concerning the evaluation made by those scientists.
References:
(1) PBS - Adaptive Radiation: Darwin's Finches
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_02.html
and:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/image_pop/l_016_02.html
(2) Charles Darwin - The Voyage of the Beagle (1845)
(3) Theobald, Douglas L. "29+ Evidences Macroevolution: The Scientific Case for Common Descent." The Talk.Origins Archive. Vers. 2.83. 2004. 12 Jan, 2004. Pages 41-45. Web pdf available: http://www.talkorigins.org/pdf/comdesc.pdf.
or html main http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/
detailed section
:http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section1.html#morphological_intermediates_ex2
(4) PBS List of known Human ancestors with facial images:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/evolution/indext.html
(5) Theobald sections 4.4 and 4.5. See 3 above.
(6) Theobald section 2.2
(7) Humans Evolved from Ape-like Ancestors
http://www.aetheronline.com/mario/Eye-Openers/tails_in_humans.htm
(8) Principle of Evolution - Purdue University Indianapolis
http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/2k4ch16evol.html
(9) NCSE Steve-o-meter - web current total as of last additional signature to Project Steve.
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/meter.html
(10) NCSE - Project Steve: FAQs - http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/5945_the_faqs_2_16_2003.asp
