Dr. Ralph Winter submitted and presented a paper at the annual meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation in early August of 2002. The theme of the meeting is “Christian Pioneers in Science.” The plenary speakers are a professor of nuclear engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a professor of physics at the University of California in Berkeley. In the Call for Papers that the program chairs send out, they write, “We welcome contributed papers and poster presentations on all topics related to Science and Christianity, though special consideration will be given to historical papers dealing substantively with important Christian scientists from the past.” Emphasis will be given as well to symposia and panels that the commissioners organize and to papers and posters which young scientists, graduate students, and advance undergraduate students submit, with the hope of encouraging future Christian pioneers in science. They go on to say that papers ought to be based on work in one’s area of expertise, and where this is not obvious, presenters may be asked to show suitable documentation. This Call for Papers is designed to be copied and widely posted; presenters in addition to planning their own participation are urged to personally invite non-members and students to submit proposals and to attend.

Under the “Requirements and Guidelines for Abstracts,” one bullet point states that abstracts should emphasize the new and important parts of a presentation and include as much detail of the work as possible within the limit of 250 words. The abstract and presentation must be intelligible and clear to non-specialists. Authors are permitted to present only one paper, though they may be one of multiple authors on a paper. “Limitations on program space may require some individuals submitting requests for an oral paper to present posters; the chairs will notify such persons as soon as possible.” Oral papers that are contributed will be allotted a time of 20 minutes with 5 more minutes for discussion. A separate time and space is for poster presentations. Authors of poster exhibits will have detailed instructions given to them upon their abstracts being accepted.