Evolution Statement - The American Society of Naturalists

Born out of the publication The American Naturalist, a "popular illustrated magazine of Natural History" - The Society of Naturalists was initiated in 1881 and gathered for the first time in 1883. In 1886 the name was changed to The American Society of Naturalists.

At a meeting in 1908,

"...evolution was declared the one most general and interesting topic common to all the natural sciences. The society adopts it as its focus. The ASN defines itself as "the association of working naturalists or biologists for discussing and correlating the broader problems of organic evolution." The masthead of The American Naturalist now reads, "A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Advancement of the Biological Sciences with Special Reference to the Factors of Evolution."

Today the purpose of the Society is "...to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences."

Statement on Evolution and Education

Darwin ’s great insight that the vast diversity of life on earth arose over time from a common ancestor revolutionized scientific understanding, with substantial benefit to our economy and our well being. Today, evolutionary principles are the foundation of all of modern biology and have led to major advances in fields as diverse as molecular biology, developmental biology, genetics, behavior, and paleontology. Understanding evolution also allows us to identify genes underlying human illness, combat infectious diseases, mitigate impacts of invasive species, and control pathogens and pests of our crops and livestock. The importance of evolution to science and society is outlined in “Evolution, Science, and Society,” a document representing the broad consensus of eight major scientific societies, in which the American Society of Naturalists played an important role. Evolution is at the heart of the mission of the American Society of Naturalists to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. Evolution is supported by overwhelming scientific evidence from many disciplines. Like all scientific theories, evolutionary theory generates explicit hypotheses about the world around us, and these hypotheses are then tested against the facts through observation and experimentation. Hypotheses supported by results from multiple lines of inquiry are used to extend the theory, whereas hypotheses not supported by facts are discarded. This scientific process has yielded a robust, empirically supported theory of evolution, which continues to be developed and rigorously tested.

(Note that the American Society of Naturalists has accepted evolution as a central tenet for the understanding of biology for 100 years! Why is the general public so far behind?)