Creation science
Creation science is an effort within the creationist movement to develop and present empirical arguments supporting the biblical account of origins as described in Genesis, including the supernatural creation of the universe, Earth, and distinct kinds of life in six literal days approximately 6,000 years ago, followed by a global flood that reshaped the planet's geology.[1][2] Proponents contend that evidence from cosmology, thermodynamics, biology, paleontology, and probability theory demonstrates the inadequacy of evolutionary and uniformitarian models, favoring instead sudden creation events and decay processes consistent with a recent origin.[1] Pioneered by hydraulic engineer Henry M. Morris through works like The Genesis Flood (1961) co-authored with theologian John C. Whitcomb, creation science gained institutional form with the establishment of the Creation Research Society in 1963 and the Institute for Creation Research in 1970, aiming to conduct research and education framing creation as a viable scientific alternative to evolution.[3][4] Key claims include the second law of thermodynamics implying a non-eternal universe, gaps in the fossil record lacking transitional forms, and geological features better explained by rapid sedimentation during a worldwide deluge than by slow uniform processes.[1] Organizations affiliated with the movement operate museums, publish journals, and advocate for balanced treatment in education, asserting that their model integrates observable data without presupposing unguided naturalism.[5] Despite these assertions, creation science faces near-universal rejection by the scientific community, which classifies it as pseudoscience for invoking unverifiable supernatural causation, lacking predictive power and falsifiability, and failing to produce peer-reviewed research accepted in mainstream journals that withstands empirical scrutiny.[6][7] Empirical data such as radiometric dating indicating an Earth age of 4.5 billion years, genetic and morphological evidence for common descent, and the absence of global flood strata contradict its foundational tenets, leading courts like in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) to rule it religiously motivated rather than scientific.[8] Proponents counter that institutional biases against non-materialist explanations suppress consideration of their evidence, though this has not altered the consensus grounded in reproducible observations and methodological rigor.[9][6]