WASHINGTON – Evolutionary biologist Richard Sternberg editor of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington published a paper in 2004 making the case for "intelligent design" by a well regarded Cambridge-educated scientist, a view that holds that the machinery of life is so complex as to require the hand, subtle or not, of an intelligent creator. Within hours of publication, senior scientists at the Smithsonian Institution, which has helped fund and run the journal, lashed out at Sternberg as a shoddy scientist and a closet Bible thumper.

"They were saying I accepted money under the table, that I was a crypto-priest, that I was a sleeper-cell operative for the creationists," said Sternberg, 42, who is a Smithsonian research associate.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which was established to protect federal employees from reprisals, examined e-mail traffic from these scientists and noted that "retaliation came in many forms ... misinformation was disseminated through the Smithsonian Institution and to outside sources" and reports to Sternberg "The allegations against you were later determined to be false".

Sternberg holds two PhDs in evolutionary biology, his graduate work has drawn praise from his former professors, and in 2000 he gained a coveted research associate appointment at the Smithsonian Institution. Not long after that, Smithsonian scientists asked Sternberg to become the unpaid editor of Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, a scientific journal affiliated with the Smithsonian.

Three years later, Sternberg agreed to consider a paper by Stephen C. Meyer, a Cambridge University-educated philosopher of science who argues that evolutionary theory cannot account for the vast profusion of multicellular species and forms in what is known as the Cambrian "explosion," which occurred about 530 million years ago. Scientists still puzzle at this great proliferation of life. But Meyer's paper went several long steps further, arguing that an intelligent agent – God, according to many who espouse intelligent design – was the best explanation for the rapid appearance of higher life-forms.

"I am not convinced by intelligent design but they have brought a lot of difficult questions to the fore," Sternberg said. "Science only moves forward on controversy."

Special Counsel accused the National Center for Science Education, an Oakland, Calif.-based think tank that defends the teaching of evolution, of orchestrating attacks on Sternberg.

the biological society issued a statement disavowing Meyer's article, Sternberg was advised not to attend.
"I was told that feelings were running so high, they could not guarantee me that they could keep order," Sternberg said.
A former professor of Sternberg's says the researcher has an intellectual penchant for going against the system. Sternberg does not deny it. "I loathe careerism and the herd mentality," he said. "I really think that objective truth can be discovered and that popular opinion and consensus thinking does more to obscure than to reveal."