A comparison of peoples’ views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower. Among the factors contributing to America’s low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say. ‘American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,’ said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University. Evolving Issue Darwin argued that useless limbs and leftover organs are evidence of evolution. The researchers combined data from public surveys on evolution collected from 32 European countries, the United States and Japan between 1985 and 2005. Adults in each country were asked whether they thought the statement ‘Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,’ was true, false, or if they were unsure. The study found that over the past 20 years: * The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. […]