Scientists Versus the Public on Airing Scientific Dissent

I am guessing that biologist Larry Moran represents more than just his own opinion when he suggests that the upcoming Royal Society meeting might well be canceled rather than open a "can of worms." The hotly anticipated meeting, "New trends in evolutionary biology," to be held November 7-9 in London, promises a high-level discussion of "revising" the "standard theory of evolution."

Organizer Denis Noble, the distinguished Oxford University physiologist, speaks of "replacing," not merely "ex...