大象传媒

Members of the controversial Intelligent Design movement are coming to Shropshire to make what they call 'an honest assessment' of Charles Darwin's legacy. They will debate whether all the claims made in Darwin's name are supported by science.

One of the organisers, Adrian Burns, disputes some of the claims made by听 neo-Darwinists: "We want to use the science itself, and therefore bring in notable national and international scientists to appreciate the work Darwin did, and to counter some of the claims subsequently made in his name and to challenge some of the difficulties within his theory."

Stephen Meyer

Several scientists are scheduled to speak in a personal capacity at the Honest to Darwin conference to be held at the Prostar Stadium in Shrewsbury between 23 and 28 February.

Among them will be Stephen Meyer from the Discovery Institute in Seattle, USA. He's a leading critic of neo-Darwinism and will discuss the workings of cells which he claims bear the hallmarks of design rather than chance.

Martin Charlesworth

Historian Martin Charlesworth from Shrewsbury's Barnabas Community Church will also be speaking at the conference: "This is a great opportunity to hear an interesting perspective on the legacy of Darwin using science itself to challenge the popular philosophy behind the theory of evolution."

Mr Charlesworth suggested Intelligent Design was anti-Darwin in the sense that they accepted some of his theories, but not all of them: "Genetics cannot explain how highly complex human beings came about from certain molecular structures."