Eugenie Scott

Eugenie Carol Scott (born October 24, 1945) is an American physical anthropologist who has been active in opposing the teaching of young Earth creationism and intelligent design in schools. She coined the term "Gish gallop" to describe a fallacious rhetorical technique of overwhelming an interlocutor with as many individually weak arguments as possible, in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument.

From 1986 to 2014, Scott served as the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit science education organization supporting teaching of evolutionary science. Since 2013, Scott has been listed on their advisory council.

Scott serves on the Board of Trustees of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Scott is a member of the Board of Advisers for the publication, Scientific American. She is also a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and GWUP.

Early life and education

Scott was born in 1945 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She grew up in Wisconsin and first became interested in anthropology after reading her sister's anthropology textbook. She was raised in Christian Science but later joined a Congregational church. She developed an interest in creationism in 1971 while a graduate student, and became fascinated with creation science literature. Her thesis at Missouri was titled, "Dental Evolution in Pre-Columbian Coastal Peru". The event made her realize that creationism was "a movement that could have really serious consequences for science and science education". doing so on 6 January 2014. Her place was taken by Ann Reid.

Worldview

Scott is a secular humanist and describes herself as a nontheist. In 2003, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that, "Scott describes herself as atheist but does not discount the importance of spirituality." In 2003, she was one of the signatories to the third humanist manifesto, Humanism and Its Aspirations.

Authorship

Scott is an expert on creationism and intelligent design. Her book Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction was published by Greenwood Press in 2004 and then in paperback by the University of California Press in 2005. Niles Eldredge wrote the foreword in the first edition. A second edition of the book was published in 2008 and in paperback in 2009. The foreword to this edition was written by John E. Jones III, who was the presiding judge in the Kitzmiller v. Dover court case.

She co-edited with Glenn Branch the 2006 anthology Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools.

In 2006 Jon D. Miller, Scott and Shinji Okamoto had a brief article published in Science entitled "Public Acceptance of Evolution", an analysis of polling on the acceptance of evolution from the last 20 years in the United States and compared to other countries. Turkey had the lowest acceptance of evolution in the survey, with the United States having the next-lowest, though the authors saw a positive in the higher percentage of Americans who are unsure about evolution, and therefore "reachable" for evolution.

Media appearances

Scott described herself as "Darwin's golden retriever".

Scott has been profiled in The New York Times, The Scientist, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Stanford Medical Magazine. She has been interviewed for Science & Theology News, CSICOP, Church & State, and Point of Inquiry. Her commentary has been published by Science & Theology News, and Metanexus Institute.

Scott has taken part in numerous debates on MSNBC and Fox News.

In 2004, Scott represented the National Center for Science Education on the Showtime television show Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, on the episode titled "Creationism", where she offered philosophical views about the creationist and intelligent design movements.

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

In 2005, Scott and other NCSE staff served as scientific and educational consultants for the plaintiffs in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case regarding the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Judge John Jones ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Scott said that "we won decisively" and "in triplicate", and "we had the better case."

CSTA's highest honor, the citation commemorates Scott "in recognition of your many contributions to science education, your leadership and service, and your positive impact on the quality of science teaching in California."

Recognizes "individuals whose sustained and exemplary efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science and its importance in biology, education, and everyday life in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould."

"For championing the teaching of evolution in the United States and for providing leadership to the National Center for Science Education."

The award recognizes "exceptional professional or public service by individuals or groups in the field of paleontology above and beyond that of existing formal roles or responsibilities"

"Under her leadership, NCSE fought against 'intelligent design' and climate change denial in public schools."

As of 2023 Scott has been the recipient of 10 honorary degrees.

Personal life

Scott's husband, Thomas C. Sager, is a lawyer. They have one daughter and reside in Berkeley, California.

Scott is a backyard beekeeper with two beehives, and is interested in colony collapse disorder and an advocate of amateur beekeeping.