Pursuing Science and Faith in Kansas
Website of Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
108 Thompson Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
e-mail keithbmill@gmail.com
office phone: (785) 532-2250
Public Science Education and the Science/Faith Dialogue
I am very involved at both the state and national levels
in the advocacy for quality public science education and public science
literacy. Much of my efforts have focused on the historical
sciences and particularly evolutionary science. The public "Creation/Evolution"
debate has been destructive to both the public understanding of science
and to the discussion of important theological issues within the Christian
community. The widespread perception of a "warfare of science and
faith" is an historically false caricature. Christian theologians
and scientists, including evangelicals, since the time of Darwin have seen
no necessary conflict between orthodox theology and an evolutionary understanding
of the history of life. Modern science is not a threat to Christian
faith, and people need not feel forced into a choice between evolution
and Creation.
Challenges to modern evolutionary science are often rooted
in fundamental misperceptions of the nature of science itself. There
is a widespread perception that the focus of science on natural cause-and-effect
explanations is a thinly disguised effort to promote a godless worldview,
rather than an inherent methodological limitation. Furthermore,
many people view "theories" as merely unsubstantiated guesses, rather
than as the unifying concepts that give our observations coherence and
meaning. Science for many is simply an encyclopedic accumulation
of unchanging observational "facts." But science is a dynamic
process with the continual construction and revision of theories based
on new discoveries. It is that dynamic process which makes science
so inherently exciting. Lastly, much of the popular critique of evolutionary
theory is based on completely false views of its theoretical content and
observational foundation. As educators we need to improve how we
teach both the content and methodological foundation of science.
I believe that it is critical that the science/faith dialogue
be based on a solid and accurate grasp of the conclusions of the historical
sciences and of the best theological scholarship.
For a brief discussion of the NATURE OF SCIENCE click HERE.Book Release
I have edited a book entitled "Perspectives on an
Evolving Creation" that has been published by Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co. This volume brings together a wide variety of specialists
who each address evolution from the perspective of his or her own discipline.
There is a good balance between scientific and theological issues, with
multiple voices representing a range of Christian theological traditions.
For more information about this book see my book
announcement.
Speaking Events '14 and '15
- KATS Kamp
- April 11, 2014
- Annual Meeting of Kansas Association of Teachers in Science
- Rock Springs Conference Center, Junction City, KS
- Talk Title: "Responding to Climate Change Questions and Challenges"
- Go to the KATS website
- KATS Kamp
- April 11, 2014
- Co-Presented with Mark Weiss, Ian Miller, Ruth Douglas Miller, Bret DePaola, and John Wu
- Annual Meeting of Kansas Association of Teachers in Science
- Rock Springs Conference Center, Junction City, KS
- Talk Title: "Programming Using the RaspberryPi: Enabling Innovation in STEM Fields"
- Go to the KATS website
- Provacateurs & Peacemakers
- "Go See It" Lecture Series
- July 17, 2014
- Flint Hills Discovery Center, Manhattan, KS
- Talk Title: "Fossils of the Flint Hills"
- American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting
- July 25-28, 2014
- McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Talk Title: "Doubt in Science and Faith"
- For information visit the ASA website
- University for Man (UFM)
- February 14, 21, and 28, 2015
- Manhattan, KS
- Talk Title: "The Causes and Record of Global Climate Change"
- Provacateurs & Peacemakers
- March 13, 2015
- Overald Park, KS
- Talk Title: "Climate Processes & Feedback Systems, and the Evidence for Modern Anthropogenic Climate Change"
- For information visit the Provacateurs & Peacemakers website
- KATS Kamp
- April 10, 2015
- Co-presentor: Mark Weiss
- Rock Springs Conference Center, Junction City, KS
- Talk Title: "Presentation of RaspberryPi Computer Competition Projects"
- Go to the KATS website
- Science and Faith Conference
- April 18, 2015
- Andover, MN
- Talk Title: "The Meaning of Fossils and the Discovery of Earth History"
- American Scientific Affiliation Annual Meeting
- July 24-27, 2015
- Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK
- Talk Title: "The Present Impact of Global Climate Change: Creation's Call to Action"
Local Meetings of Interest
- Manhattan Science Cafe:
Informal presentations and discussion of scientific topics of public interest in an informal setting at a local coffee shop.
- Manhattan Chapter of ASA:
Local gatherings to discuss topics at the intersection of science and the Christian faith.
Local Church Fellowship Affiliation
I am an active member of the Manhattan Mennonite Church in Manhattan, KS.
Personal Web Resources
Audio/Video Presentations
Education
Geology Research
- Short-term cyclicity within cyclothems of the mid-continent
Pennsylvanian and Permian
- Environmental and climatic significance of Permian
paleosols
- Models for sea level and climate change in the mid-continent
Pennsylvanian and Permian
- Impact of sedimentation events and short-term sea
level fluctuations on the development and morphology of chaetetid
mounds
- High resolution cyclic and event stratigraphy
- Taphonomy and paleoecology of benthic faunas
Past Courses Taught
Historical Geology, Sedimentation & Stratigraphy, Oceanography, Environmental Geology
Recent Courses Taught
- Geol 103: Introductory Geology Lab
- Geol 120: Age of Dinosaurs
For a description of some excercises used in this class see:
Miller, K.B., 20012, Countering common misconceptions of evolution in the paleontology classroom. IN, M.M. Yacobucci, and R. Lockwood (eds.), Teaching Paleontology in the 21st Century, Paleontological Society Special Publication, v. 12, p. 109-122.
- Geol 125: Natural Disasters
- DAS 333: Origins: Earth, Life, and Humanity
For a description of the development of this course see:
Miller, K.B. and Totten, I., 2009, Developing and implementing an inerdisciplinary origins course at a state university, Journal of College Science Teaching, v. 38, no. 4, p. 24-29.
- Geol 704: Carbonate Paleoenvironments
- Geol 540: Geologic Record of Climate change
- Geol 581: Principles of Paleontology
YouTube Teaching Videos
Seismic Waves: a class demonstration of the properties of P and S seismic waves
Magma Viscosity: a demonstration of the effect of viscosity on the aount of gas trapped within rising magma, and the resulting type of eruption
Relative and Absolute Humidity: a simple demonstration to illustrate the wather concepts of relative and absolute humidity and dew point
Selected Publications
To view an abbreviated bibliography of my publications
click HERE.
Web Resources on Kansas Geology and Ecology
Geology of the Flint Hills: Three part video of presentation on Flint Hills geological and paleontological history made as part of the Konza Prairie docent training.
Professional Memberships
Science/Theology Annotated Bibliography
Annotated
Bibliography: I maintain a sporadically updated list of some
of my often recommended readings on science and Christianity. If
you have any suggestions for adding to this list please send me an e-mail
message.
Other Links
- IPCC Reports: The reports of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change can be accessed here.
- Climate
Change: A Christian Challenge and Opportunity: A presentation
by John Houghton to the National Association of Evangelicals in 2005.
- Real Climate:
Discussion of climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public.
- Grist:
Responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming.
- World Wildlife
Fund: WWF is the world's largest privately funded conservation organization.
Dedicated to the preservation of endangered species and to wisely
addressing global environmental threats.
- Konza Prairie
Homepage learn about one of the last remaining areas of virgin tall
grass prairie. Owned by the Nature Conservancy and managed by Kansas
State University.
- Environmental
Ethics: web server providing access to internet resources on environmental
ethics and philosophy
- Evangelicals
for Social Action: links to various evangelical activist organisations.
- US Evangelical
Environmental Network: initiated by World Vision and ESA to respond
faithfully to the biblical mandate for caring stewardship of God's creation.
- InterVarsity Christian Fellowship:
includes resources for Christian graduate students and faculty.
- Pew:
links to many Christian academic societies. A great place to begin networking
with other Christian scholars - particularly designed for graduate
students.
- Templeton Foundation: information
on lectures and conferences on religion and science supported by the
foundation.
- The BioLogos Forum: BioLogos was founded by Francis Collins and addresses the escalating culture war between science and faith, promoting dialog and exploring the harmony between the two.
- Center for Theology
and the Natural Sciences: based in Berkeley, and directed by
physicist/theologian Robert Russell.
- Dialogue
on Science, Ethics, and Religion: part of AAAS effort to
promote communicatrion between the scientific and religious communities.
See especially link to "Van Till and Dembski on Intelligent Design."
- National
Science Teachers Association: evolution resources for teachers.
- National Center
for Science Education: advocate for the teaching of evolution
in public schools.
- Kansas Citizens for
Science: an organization of scientists, educators and citizens committed
to working for quality science education in the Kansas public schools.
- TalkOrigins
Archive: a source of many useful FAQs and references on evolution,
and an archive of posts to an open forum on creation and evolution.
- TalkDesign:
an open forum and resource on Intelligent Design.
- Berkeley
Evolution website: resources and links on evolution.
- Understanding
Science: a new educational resource from the University of California
at Berkeley.
- Coalition on the Public
Understanding of Science: COPUS brings together scientific and educational
organizations with a common purpose to improve public science literacy.
- Darwin Exhibit:
American Museum of Natural History website for Darwin exhibit. Includes
video featuring scientists from a wide range of fields explaining the
role of evolutionary theory.
- Smithsonian Human Origins Program: an online resource responding to the quesstion - What does it mean to be human? Based on the new exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History.
- Paleontology Portal:
Outreach tool for educators, the general public and the media. Includes
a variety of resources including "PaleoPeople" which is interviews with
paleontologists.
- ASA's Creation-Evolution
resources page gives links to articles published in the ASA's
journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, relevant
to the subject.
- Berea Science
and Christianity website: includes an extended essay on science
and the Bible as it relates to the Creation accounts, and several links
to other resources. Written by Dr. Robert Schneider at Berea College,
KY.
- Science & Theology: Exploring
the Nexus: This site by David Vinson, a clinical researcher in
medicine, provides a good source for thoughtful resources in both Christian
theology and evolutionary science.
- Evangelicals,
Evolution, and Academics: A blog series from Steve Martin's
blog Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution.
- An Evolving Creation:
A website by high school biology teacher Jeremy Mohn. Includes
links and a blog on teaching evolution.
- Evolutionary Christianity: website for the ministry of Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow.
This site includes contributions from individuals representing a wide range of theological perspectives discussing faith and science.
- PBS Evolution series:
educational resources for the EVOLUTION video seires, includes discussion
on theology and evolution.
- CounterBalance
Website: a very extensive website covering a wide range of issues
at the science/religion interface from a wide range of perspectives.
- Clergy Letter
Project: clergy representing a wide range of Christian traditions
and denominations who see God's hand in the process of evolution. Site
includes links, resources and reference material.
- Catechism
of Creation: Episcopal catechism focusing on the theology
of Creation, Creation and science, and Creation care, with Bible studies
and additional resources.
- Evolution
on the Web: reference material for a biology course on
Evolution at Indiana University of PA.
Website Updated: January 20, 2015
For something completely different you can link to my wife's
home page:
Ruth Douglas
Miller, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
My 18 year old son Ian Miller has a webpage called the pxlweavr related to his interest in writing Apps for the i-Pod, and creating devices opperated by the RaspberryPi and Arduino computer board..