On the Origin of the Term "Intelligent Design"

Critics of intelligent design often allege that the term was invented by lawyers to get around the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Edwards v. Aguillard which struck down the teaching of creationism because it referred to a "supernatural creator." This is plainly wrong, and it can't hurt to explain, not for the first time, why it is wrong.

The terms "intelligent design" and "intelligent designer" have lengthy histories, long predating 1987. Charles Darwin himself referred to "intelligent design...