HARRISBURG, Pa. — A school district is undermining science education by raising false doubts about evolution and offering "intelligent design" as an alternative explanation for life's origins, a biologist testified at the start of a landmark trial.

"It's the first movement to try to drive a wedge between students and the scientific process," said the first witness called yesterday by lawyers for eight families suing the Dover Area School District: Kenneth Miller, a Brown University biology professor and author of a biology textbook used in nearly half the schools in the nation — including in Dover.

Dover is believed to be the nation's first school system to require that students be exposed to the "intelligent design" concept.

The policy requires school administrators to read a statement before classes on evolution that says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps." It refers students to an intelligent-design textbook for more information.

Intelligent design holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection over time cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms. It implies that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force.

The eight families say the district policy, in effect, promotes the Bible's view of creation, violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

But the rural school district of about 3,500 students argues it is not endorsing any religious view and is merely giving ninth-grade biology classes a glimpse of differences over evolution.

"This case is about free inquiry in education, not about a religious agenda," said Patrick Gillen of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., in his opening statement. The center, which lobbies for the religious freedom of Christians, is defending the school district.

"Dover's modest curriculum change embodies the essence of liberal education," Gillen said.

The non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge John Jones is expected to take five weeks.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs began their case by arguing that intelligent design is a religious concept inserted in the school district's curriculum by the school board.

"They did everything you would do if you wanted to incorporate a religious point of view in science class and cared nothing about its scientific validity," attorney Eric Rothschild said.

The statement to be read to Dover students states that "because Darwin's theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact."

Miller said the statement is "tremendously damaging," falsely undermining the scientific status of evolution.

"What that tells students is that science can't be relied upon ... " he said.

"There is no controversy within science over the core proposition of evolutionary theory," he added.

On the other hand, he said, "Intelligent design is not a testable theory in any sense, and as such it is not accepted by the scientific community."

He also challenged the accuracy of "Of Pandas and People," the intelligent-design textbook to which Dover students are referred. Miller said the book omits discussion of what causes extinction. Since nearly all original species are extinct, he said, any intelligent design creator would not have been very intelligent.

During cross-examination, Robert Muise, another attorney for the law center, repeatedly asked Miller whether he questioned the completeness of Darwin's theory.

"Would you agree that Darwin's theory is not the absolute truth?" Muise asked.

"We don't regard any scientific theory as the absolute truth," Miller said.

Material from The Washington Post

is included in this report.