William V. Mayer

Forward to Fundamentals.

B OLOGISTS CONSTANTLY REFER TO CYCLEScycles of carbon dioxide, of water, of nitrogen, of oxygen. Quite obviously there are educational cycles as well. As a longtime observer of the educational scene, I have seen several of these cycles in education during my own working life; I have seen vocational education disappear, to be replaced by career education. Homework disappeared, to be replaced by individualized instruction. We have gone from self-contained classrooms to specialized classrooms, and back to self-contained classrooms. We have gone from scattered, small schools to consolidated schools, and are now considering scattered, small schools once again. We have seen the all-purpose teacher transmuted into a specialist who is now exhorted to become transdisciplinary once again.

Evolution and the Law.

THE SCOPES TRIAL, the Epperson case, and others give us the indication that the story of evolution and the law has been a series of court cases. Indeed, these have received much publicity; but other facets of the law have been used-perhaps to greater effect for the opponents of science. The independent status of many governmental agencies allows them to promulgate rules or regulations that, in terms of their designated interest, have the force of law. The California State Board of Education, for example, is appointed by the governor and is virtually autonomous in dealing with public education (four-year colleges excepted) in that state. Its ability to change paragraphs in its commissioned Science Framework for California Public Schools and subsequently to interpret such changes as demanding the inclusion of Biblical material in textbooks is one example of the independence of such a group. Another is the boards ability to bypass the recommendations of its own commission regarding textbooks and insist that the approved books be rewritten to its own standards. (See ABT 34 [7]: 411.) Such agencies have great power; and, because they are not directly responsible to either the public or the legislature, they create a situation wherein a few willful men can control the agency and direct it to do their bidding. Such groups have the ability, in effect, to create laws without going through legislative process.

20 Years of Progress 1946-1965: A Presidential View.

William V. Mayer William V. Mayer (1920-1989) was professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, CO 80302 and editor-inchief of Bookwatch. He held an A.B. in zoology from the University of California and a Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University. Mayer served as associate director and director of Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in Colorado Springs, CO, and was a past president and honorary member of NABT. The chairman of NABTs 50th anniversary committee and editor of Scientific Integrity, he authored more than 300 books, articles and reviews on biology and biological education.

Biology: Study of the Living or the Dead?

A BIOLOGY LABORATORY without living organisms is as anachronistic as a physics laboratory without electricity or a chemistry laboratory without running water. It is unfortunate to find in many schools that laboratory exercises in biology, which is defined as the study of life, are confined to the dissection of pickled specimens. How does the continuing use of dead organisms give any student either an understanding of or a respect for life? If a biology course focuses primarily upon morphology and systematics, then a strong case can be made for the absolute necessity of dissecting organisms to ascertain their structures and to delineate those of systematic importance. Because both morphology and systematics per se have been reduced in modern biology programs, however, the necessity for dissection has been commensurately diminished. Just as it is impossible to study life by studying death, the science of biology should not be turned into a science of necrology by the failure of schools to provide for the use of living organisms.

If I Had 6 Years...

Editors Note: Bill G. Aldridge, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, has proposed a radical restructuring of science in grades seven through twelve. Under that proposal, science offerings would be expanded so that every student would complete six years each of biology, chemistry and physics. This would be done by scheduling seven hours of science a week for the six years; all three subjects would then share those seven hours. In this article, William V. Mayer describes his ideas for a six-year science curriculum. Mayer, who died in 1989, was a past president and honorary member of NABT and a former director of Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. At the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.