Darwin Goes Digital

The BBC reported today that Darwin's complete works are now being published online. Cambridge University, the force behind this project, plans to make over 500,000 pages of the evolutionary theorist's notes, complete with audio files, available to all.

Hopefully, this effort will promote dialogue about Darwin's theories, which remain controversial today. Though evidence strongly supports the Theory of Evolution, there is still strong resistance to this theory in some states because of many people's beliefs that it contradicts Christian teachings.

While the U.S. Supreme Court banned the teaching of creationism in public schools in 1987 on the grounds of separation of church and state, conservative educators have managed to work religious views into the curriculum through what they call "intelligent design," which others have taken to calling "creationism lite." In places like Dover, Pennsylvania, there are laws that insist this theory be taught alongside Darwinism. A Gallup poll reported that 37% of Americans favor teaching creationism instead of evolution. It comes as little wonder, then, that despite numerous archaeological findings that suggest otherwise, an astounding 45% also believe that God created man in present form. How depressing.

Besides the actual content of his works, there are other issues that arise with the online publication of Darwin's works. I wonder, how long will it be before all print works are made available online?