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Description
For well over a century, the United States has witnessed a prolonged debate over organic evolution and teaching of the theory in the nation’s public schools. The controversy that began with the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species had by the 1920s expanded to include theologians, politicians, and educators. The Scopes trial of 1925 provided the growing antievolution movement with significant publicity and led to a decline in the teaching of evolution in public schools.
George E. Webb details how efforts to improve science education in the wake of Sputnik resurrected antievolution sentiment and led to the emergence of “creation science” as the most recent expression of that sentiment.
Creationists continue to demand “balanced treatment” of theories of creation and evolution in public schools, even though their efforts have been declared unconstitutional in a series of federal court cases. Their battles have been much more successful at the grassroots level, garnering support from local politicians and educators. Webb attributes the success of creationists primarily to the lack of scientific literacy among the American public.
Although a number of published studies have dealt with specific aspects of the debate, The Evolution Controversy in America represents the first complete historical survey of the topic. In it Webb provides an analysis of one of the most intriguing debates in the history of American thought.
George E. Webb is professor of history at Tennessee Technological University.
Webb has given us a well-written, concise overview, intelligent and sensible. The book will be useful for students and teachers for some time to come. -- American Historical Review
If one wishes to understand one of the most long-lived of all of America's cultural clashes, this is the book to read. -- Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Publication Date
1994
Publisher
University Press of Kentucky
Place of Publication
Lexington, KY
ISBN
9780813190495
eISBN
9780813148489
Keywords
Evolution, Creationism, Antievolutionism, Religion and science
Disciplines
Religion
Recommended Citation
Webb, George E., "The Evolution Controversy in America" (1994). Religious Thought, Theology, and Philosophy of Religion. 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_theology/1
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