The Creation-evolution Debate
Historical Perspectives
Edward J. Larson(Author)
University of Georgia Press
Published on 1. May 2007
Book
Hardback
88 pages
978-0-8203-2912-3 (ISBN)
Description
Few issues besides evolution have so strained Americans' professed tradition of tolerance. Few historians besides Pulitzer Prize winner Edward J. Larson have so perceptively chronicled evolution's divisive presence on the American scene. This slim volume reviews the key aspects, current and historical, of the creation-evolution debate in the United States. Larson discusses such topics as the transatlantic response to Darwinism, the American controversy over teaching evolution in public schools, and the religious views of American scientists. He recalls the theological qualms about evolution held by some leading scientists of Darwin's time. He looks at the 2006 Dover, Pennsylvania, court decision on teaching Intelligent Design and other cases leading back to the landmark 1925 Scopes trial. Drawing on surveys that Larson conducted, he discusses attitudes of American scientists toward the existence of God and the afterlife. By looking at the changing motivations and backgrounds of the stake-holders in the creation-evolution debate - clergy, scientists, lawmakers, educators, and others - Larson promotes a more nuanced view of the question than most of us have.
This is no incidental benefit for Larson's readers; it is one of the book's driving purposes. If we cede the debate to those who would frame it simplistically rather than embrace its complexity, warns Larson, we will not advance beyond the naive regard of organized religion as the enemy of intellectual freedom or the equally myopic myth of the scientist as courageous loner willing to die for the truth.
This is no incidental benefit for Larson's readers; it is one of the book's driving purposes. If we cede the debate to those who would frame it simplistically rather than embrace its complexity, warns Larson, we will not advance beyond the naive regard of organized religion as the enemy of intellectual freedom or the equally myopic myth of the scientist as courageous loner willing to die for the truth.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Georgia
United States
Target group
Adult education
Illustrations
4 figures
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8203-2912-3 (9780820329123)
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Schweitzer Classification
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Additional editions

E-Book
01/2010
University of Georgia Press
€21.49
Available for download