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Nature 454, 581-582 (31 July 2008) | doi:10.1038/454581a; Published online 30 July 2008

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The creationist controversy

PZ Myers1

BOOK REVIEWEDOnly a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul

by Kenneth R. Miller

Viking: 2008. 256 pp. $25.95

The United States has a big problem: although we maintain a strong scientific establishment, competitive with the rest of the world in many fields, we also have some of the most backwards proponents of superstitious nonsense in both our electorate and at the highest levels of politics. It is an embarrassment to host laboratories that are at the forefront of scientific research in the same country where presidential candidates are discussing whether Earth is really 6,000 years old as some Bible scholars say, or whether they believe in evolution.