"the Atlas Of Creation Has Caused Great Excitement In French Schools"

On 12 November, 2008, the Roman Catholic daily La Croix, which has been published in France ever since 1880, considered the changes in France brought about by the Atlas of Creation. The paper, which enjoys a circulation of some 100,000, emphasized that the Atlas of Creation “is a first in the teaching of science in France.” Under the headline “The Rise in Objections to the Theory of Evolution,” it then described how the Ministry of Education has organized a seminar aimed at finding a solution (!) to the rising number of objections to the theory that have come with people reading the Atlas of Creation: 

In January 2007, an educational book created great excitement in French schools. A devout Turk by the name of Harun Yahya... The Atlas of Creation... A totally creationist work inspired by holy scripture that totally denies the evolution of living things. 

This work, a first in the teaching of science in France, provoked a great outcry among teachers, and the Ministry of Education reacted very swiftly. It told rectors to confiscate copies of the book.

With the aim of responding to this [The arrival in France of the Atlas of Creation] the Ministry of Education is organizing a seminar… National Education Inspector General Annie Mamecier sates: "This seminar has three aims:... (One) Is to provide new arguments for teachers exposed to troubling questions from their students...”

Hervé Le Guyader, a professor of biology from University of Paris VII, expresses his unease as follows: "No students taking Master’s degrees in biology today take classes in evolutionary biology. This is a most abnormal state of affairs.”

(Historian of science and author) Jacques Arnould: "The fact is that the number of cases of high school or university students rejecting the theory of evolution in France or Belgium is increasing day by day...”