| Abstract | dc.description.abstract | The scientific study of evolution in Chile has
experienced periods of diversification and stasis, depending
upon the social and political context at different times. In
the eighteenth century, most of the natural history research
consisted of systematics and taxonomy and, as in most of
South America, this task was performed mainly by natural
historian theologists. Later, the immigration of European
scientists to Chile after independence from Spain in 1810
improved substantially its knowledge of the local biota and
stimulated the diversification of naturalists in the country.
Research in modern biology and the teaching of genetics in
Chile can be traced back to Giovanni Noe, an Italian
zoologist who had a profound impact in the first third of
the twentieth century. In the 1960s–70s, Danko Brncic, a
population geneticist educated in the tradition of Dobzhansky
and the modern synthesis, led the most important diversification
process in the study of evolutionary biology in the
country. However, the military coup in 1973 brought this
radiation to a sudden stop and produced a stasis period
associated with the subsequent 17-year dictatorship. Evolutionary
biology recovered its status after the re-establishment
of democracy, and it is currently experiencing an exciting and
renewed diversification period that has led to the foundation
of the Chilean Society of Evolutionary Biology, the only
scientific society for the study of evolution in Latin America.
One of the missions of the Society is to bridge the gap
between scientists and science educators in order to improve
the teaching of evolution at different levels both in secular and religious schools. Even though the Roman Catholic
Church has been a pivotal institution in the development of
Chilean society, debate on evolutionism—creationism issues
has been largely absent both in public and academic
discussions. The influence of religion on science education
has been sporadic, and mostly related to omission rather than
tergiversation of scientific information in biology textbooks.
Currently, schools are obliged by law to teach the basics of
evolution in K-12 and K-16 levels (or their local equivalents).
Because of this, there is little at present that suggests an
organized creationist or intelligent design movement surge in
the near future. Nevertheless, the high percentage of
religiosity in Chile, together with the observation that the
moral values of Chilean society are among the most
conservative in the world, provide good reasons to remain
vigilant. | en_US |
