ABSTRACT
Creation science is an offshoot of creationism, a loose set of cultural-religious beliefs that holds that the physical universe and life within it appeared suddenly and have not changed substantially since their creation. In its most sophisticated form, "intelligent design," creation science usually dispenses with the "young earth" claim of its precursors and accepts the geological age of Earth and various principles of evolution. Opponents of creation science generally regard it as nothing more than thinly veiled effort to make the biblical account of creation look more scientifically respectable. As a legal dispute in the United States, the evolution-creationist controversy first came to prominence in 1925 with the much-celebrated "monkey" trial of John Scopes. School boards and localities occasionally undertake rearguard efforts to circumvent court rulings and keep creation science viable as an alternative to evolution. Some creationists have extrapolated from the genealogical record of Genesis that this event, and creation of the universe and Earth, occurred approximately 7,000 years ago.
