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Humans

Tracing the fuzzy boundaries of science

By Amanda Gefter

19 May 2010

IN DECEMBER 2005, Judge John Jones III had a difficult decision to make. For 40 days he had listened to the testimonies of biologists, sociologists, philosophers and parents as they argued for and against the teaching of intelligent design in public schools in Dover, Pennsylvania.

It was obvious that the proponents of ID were trying to push a religious agenda into government-funded schools, violating the separation of church and state. Nonetheless, Judge Jones’s task was not simple. He had to rule on whether or not ID is science, and distinguishing science from pseudoscience is harder than it might seem.

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