An important yet subtle concept that defines the limits within which individual teachers have latitude to teach specific subject matter. Contrary to popular opinion, it does not entitle one to teach whatever one feels like, but rather to explore different ways of presenting a given subject matter.

The idea that intellectual activities are undemocratic. This is a populist political ideology, rooted in the American (but not European) concept of democracy.

An all-encompassing term to indicate several attitudes that share a cultural criticism of intellectual activities.

A form of anti-intellectualism which holds that reason is cold and dull, and that skeptical inquiry threatens authority (usually, of the Church).

A mathematical theory explaining how apparently complex and unpredictable behavior can originate from relatively simple dynamics that can be described by a few short equations. It has applications especially in physics, but also in biology.

A measure of the amount of information necessary to describe a given system or phenomenon. Notice that long sequences of random numbers are highly complex, so that complexity per se is not sufficient to generate the patterns typical of biological structures.

A more general theory of complexity (compared to chaos), which studies the relationships between the number of parts making up a system (e.g., an airport, or a living organism) and the complexity of its behavior.

A term indicating the process by which different lines of evidence converge toward the same answer to a given question. It is the best assurance that a scientific hypothesis is, in fact, correct.

The connection between the left and right hemisphere of the brains in a normal human being.

A set of beliefs that the universe and everything in it was especially created from nothing by a supernatural being (there are many versions of creationism, depending on the religious beliefs of their proponents).

An often abused term that in education theory refers to a loosely defined set of skills that teachers should encourage in their students. They include the ability to rationally examine arguments and evidence and to reach conclusions based on them.

An interpretation of the Bible according to which each "day" referred to in the traditional six-day account of creation is comparable to a geological age, so it literally took tens of millions of years to create stars, planets, and life on Earth -- in convenient agreement with the evidence from astronomy and geology.

The idea that all knowledge is relative, that different cultural traditions are equivalent, and that, therefore, science should not enjoy any privileged status as a particularly effective method of inquiry.

Referring to the method of reasoning in which one starts out with premises that are known or assumed to be true, and logically derives some consequences from such premises. This is the method proposed by Aristotle with his famous syllogisms (e.g., All men are mortal {first premise}; Socrates is a man {second premise}; therefore Socrates is mortal {conclusion}). Notice that, contrary to popular belief, the type of reasoning used by the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes was not deduction, but a form of induction known as "induction to the best inference."

The belief that God does exist, but he only created the universe and has not intervened in its affairs ever since.

Somebody who believes that God created the universe and its laws but then refrained from any further direct intervention in his creation.

Abbreviation for Deoxy-ribo-Nucleic-Acid, the chemical compound that carries most of the genetic information in the living world. A similar molecule also used by living organisms is RNA, Ribo-Nucleic-Acid (DNA is just like RNA, but it lacks an oxygen group).

The characteristic of certain relatively simple systems (e.g., convection cells in the atmosphere) to generate complex patterns of behavior. It is the subject of study of both chaos and complexity theories.

A political and ideological movement, which had its heyday before World War II, aiming at the genetic improvement of the human race.

A type of Christian religious fundamentalism that emphasizes witnessing one's faith to other people.

Technically, the natural process by which life changes and diversifies. The hallmark of an evolutionary process is that it causes changes in the frequencies of the genes in a population of living organisms.

In science, an observation, or the result of an experimental manipulation.

A basic right guaranteed by the U.S. and other democratic constitutions. While strictly speaking it refers to one's ability to articulate one's own opinions in speech or writing, it is often extrapolated -- especially in the U.S. -- to include other forms of influencing people's opinions (e.g., the ability to contribute money to political campaigns or to advertise certain products).

A conception of the geological record and the Bible according to which there is a large temporal gap between the first and second chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, suggesting the existence of a pre-Adamic Earth that was destroyed and replaced by a second creation, when God started over and (re?)made Adam and Eve.

The idea that the Earth is at the center of the universe, believed by most (though not all) ancient thinkers until Copernicus and Galilei provided decisive arguments and empirical evidence against it during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The idea that highly unusual hypotheses should be backed up by a large amount of evidence. Carl Sagan summarized it as, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

A human mental construct that is used to provide a reasonable, preliminary, causal explanation of a set of facts.

A variant of creationism based on the idea that the existence of a supernatural deity is betrayed by the complexity (design-like) of the universe.

The idea (as opposed to irreducible complexity) that biological structures are indeed complex, but that this complexity is built gradually by natural selection in a fashion similar to a ratchet: even though there is no plan, more complex structures evolve from simpler ones by accumulation of intermediate steps that are either advantageous or neutral to the organism's survival.

Referring to the method of reasoning in which one starts with a series of observations and generalizes them to make predictions about as yet unobserved cases. Although induction is the basis of all science, it can yield mistaken conclusions: one could be too hasty in generalizing from an apparent pattern and make unfounded predictions. This is a fundamental reason why scientific conclusions are always tentative.

A variant of creationism based on the idea that the existence of a supernatural deity is betrayed by the complexity (design-like) of the universe.

A term proposed by ID supporter Michael Behe to indicate the possibility that some biological structure could not have evolved because none of the intermediate steps would have been functional. Since only the full structure would work, it must have been designed by an intelligent agent. Biologists claim that no examples of irreducible complexity in the natural world have actually been found.

A general statement reflecting the expectation that certain patterns of events will always occur if and whenever certain conditions are met.

A very difficult concept to define. One way to think of it is a property of matter characterized by the processes of metabolism (transformation of raw material into energy used for growth) and reproduction.

The idea that the Bible can be read literally, as is. Interestingly, supporters of this position often describe it as a literal "interpretation" of the Scripture, perhaps without realizing that an interpretation cannot be literal.

an error in logical thinking as defined by the study of logic or philosophical practice. It consists in drawing a conclusion from certain premises in a way that is unwarranted by the laws of logic.

A philosophical school arguing that the only statements that are meaningful are those that can be validated, either mathematically or empirically.

The fundamental mechanism of cell division and reduction in the number of chromosomes that makes it possible for species to reproduce sexually.

The idea or fear that one set of morals is no better than another.

A philosophical principle according to which one should not make more assumptions than are necessary to explain the facts at hand.

The biblically-based belief that our planet is millions of years old, in agreement with modern estimates from geology.

The biblically-based belief that our planet is millions of years old, in agreement with modern estimates from geology.

The idea that all knowledge is relative, that different cultural traditions are equivalent, and that, therefore, science should not enjoy any privileged status as a particularly effective method of inquiry.

A paleontological theory proposed by Stephen Gould and Niels Eldredge in 1972, according to which evolution on a geological scale is characterized by "sudden" (i.e., of a duration of tens to hundreds thousand years) bursts of diversification of living organisms (punctuation events), separated by long periods of stasis during which little happens.

Biological molecules often used in biotechnology to cut pieces of DNA. While they are very useful to molecular biologists, their natural function in bacteria is to protect the cell from viral attacks: these enzymes recognize the viral DNA or RNA as foreign and cut it to pieces, thereby destroying the virus. The bacterium's own DNA is spared, a cunning example of natural selection.

The fundamentalist belief that science can do no wrong and will ultimately answer any question worth answering while in the process saving humankind as a bonus.

The process of origin of new species. It can occur in a variety of ways, which usually involve some degree of reproductive isolation between different populations of the same species. With time, the two populations diverge enough genetically that they cannot interbreed any longer, and are therefore considered different species.

According to ID proponent William Dembski, a measure of how well a certain structure matches a given function. Specification has to be added to complexity to generate biological structures that are adapted to live in a certain environment. While scientists would agree with this general picture, they do not see any reason why the coupling of specification and complexity requires an intelligent designer and cannot be achieved by natural means, such as through the biological process of natural selection.

A novel theory in physics that attempts to explain the fundamental structure of the universe in terms of "strings" of energy which, by vibrating at different frequencies, originate all the known physical particles.

Greek word representing Aristotle's idea that living beings have an innate natural tendency toward a particular end. It is not clear to what extent Aristotle meant this to be a property put in place by a supernatural entity as opposed to being a natural characteristic of life.

The title of Charles Darwin's 1859 book that presented the first coherent picture of the modern theory of evolution.

The idea that evolution does occur, but it is guided by God.

A more mature, more complex, and wider-ranging human mental construct than a hypothesis.

The idea that to think requires hard work, so why bother?

The concept that thought has no value unless it is of practical importance, yielding a disdain for theoretical inquiry and for intellectual pursuit per se. This attitude is rooted in rampant capitalism, where the Protestant work ethic and material success are more esteemed than esoterica.

The biblically-based belief that our planet is only a few thousand years old.

The biblically-based belief that our planet is only a few thousand years old.