The theory describing the process of evolution it is one of the most well-founded in all of science. Then why do half of all Americans reject it? Science historian Dr. Michael Shermer will discuss the religious and political reasons why in his lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at UALR’s Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call (501) 569-3176 or e-mail mshartmann@ualr.edu.

Best-selling author of Why Darwin Matters, Shermer examines what evolution really is, how we know it happened, and how to test it.  Shermer then discusses what science is through a brief history of the evolution-creation controversy—from the Scopes’ Monkey Trial of 1925 through the creationism trials of the 1960s and 1970s, to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of 1987, to the intelligent design controversies of the 1990s and 2000s—demonstrating clearly how and why creationism and intelligent design theory are not science.

Once an evangelical Christian and a creationist, Shermer is considered one of the best-known public intellectuals defending evolutionary theory. He is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and the co-host and producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown.