By Michael L. Ferro

Michael L. Ferro is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Louisiana State University where he is studying faunal succession of saproxylic Coleoptera in coarse woody debris. He has a broad interest in scientific and social issues and has been a teaching assistant for the freshman level class Science and Society for 8 semesters.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

(Re: In the continued debate over high school science textbooks in Louisiana, whereby a local opponent of evolution, Judge Darrell White, insisted on connecting the Columbine High School massacre to the teaching of evolution through the phrase “survival of the fittest.”) – – – When we summarize things we have to be careful that we don’t lose meaning or invite misinterpretation, for instance the phrase “survival of the fittest.” This was first used as a summary of natural selection, which is one of the mechanisms of evolution, but today it is mistakenly and inaccurately used to summarize the entire theory…