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The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA
A compelling eyewitness account of the recent courtroom drama in Dover, Pennsylvania that put evolution on trial.
Journalist Gordy Slack offers a riveting, personal, and often amusing first-hand account that details six weeks of some of the most widely ranging, fascinating, and just plain surreal testimony in U.S. legal history—a battle between hard science and religious conservatives wishing to promote a new version of creationism in schools.
During the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Areas School Board trial, the members of the local school board defended their decision to require teachers to present intelligent design alongside evolution as an explanation for the origins and diversity of life on earth. The trial revealed much more than a disagreement about how to approach science education. It showed two essentially different and conflicting views of the world and the lengths some people will go to promote their own. The ruling by George W. Bush-appointed Judge John Jones III was unexpected in its stridency: Not only did he conclude that intelligent design was religion and not science and therefore had no place in a science classroom, he scolded the school board for wasting public time and money.
A sophisticated examination of the deep cultural, religious, and political tensions that continue to divide America, The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything is also journalist Gordy Slack’s personal and engaging story of the high drama and unforgettable characters on both sides of the courtroom controversy.
Gordy Slack (Oakland, CA) has been writing about science and evolutionary biology for 15 years. He is a regular commentator on KQED, an affiliate of NPR, and his articles have appeared in Mother Jones, Salon.com, Wired, California Wild, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many other publications.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 20, 2016
I almost stopped reading this book because of a couple of early grammatical errors that just about put me off of the entire book. "Marshal law" and "low and behold?" Really? But because this trial fascinates me, I forged ahead, and I'm glad I did.
The trial chronicled here is the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, in which the local school board tried to sneak the teaching of intelligent design into its science curriculum. Several concerned parents were not pleased with this, and it resulted in this epic trial pitting ID/creationism against evolution and science.
The judge's ruling never fails to hearten me, especially because Judge John Jones III is a Republican and a George W. Bush appointee. He doesn't just rule in the plaintiffs' favor; he absolutely skewers the defense, the board members who tried to introduce ID to the curriculum, and ID itself. "It is not science," he states in his ruling. My next order of business is to see if I can find his 139-page ruling online, because I think I would enjoy reading it in full. True story: a few years ago, when I first read about this trial, I found Judge Jones's address at the courthouse and send him a fan letter, thanking him for his decision.
I wasn't a fan of the author's writing style. It was a little too casual and personal, which made sense when I read that he was covering the trial for Salon.com. I stopped reading that website some time ago for that reason, along with the frequent grammatical errors I found. I'm a stickler that way. However, he redeemed himself with his proper use of "toe the line," and the book was worth it for reading about the jubilation in the law offices of Pepper Hamilton when the verdict was released and they realized they had won a resounding victory.
And this really was a victory that had profound implications all across the country. It effectively put a stop to the encroaching intelligent design movement. There are still efforts to push it, but Judge Jones's ruling will have a dampening effect for many years to come. It wasn't just a victory for the plaintiffs in Pennsylvania; it was a victory for science and those of us who love it. Cheers to Judge Jones! We all need to fight against the teaching of this non-science in the science classroom.
For a much better book on the subject, I recommend Monkey Girl by Edward Humes. It takes a much more scholarly, subjective approach to the events of the trial. I also recommend the PBS special about it, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," available at PBS.org and on YouTube. Although I was a bit disappointed in this book, the subject matter remains fascinating to me, and I enjoy reading about it.
The trial chronicled here is the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, in which the local school board tried to sneak the teaching of intelligent design into its science curriculum. Several concerned parents were not pleased with this, and it resulted in this epic trial pitting ID/creationism against evolution and science.
The judge's ruling never fails to hearten me, especially because Judge John Jones III is a Republican and a George W. Bush appointee. He doesn't just rule in the plaintiffs' favor; he absolutely skewers the defense, the board members who tried to introduce ID to the curriculum, and ID itself. "It is not science," he states in his ruling. My next order of business is to see if I can find his 139-page ruling online, because I think I would enjoy reading it in full. True story: a few years ago, when I first read about this trial, I found Judge Jones's address at the courthouse and send him a fan letter, thanking him for his decision.
I wasn't a fan of the author's writing style. It was a little too casual and personal, which made sense when I read that he was covering the trial for Salon.com. I stopped reading that website some time ago for that reason, along with the frequent grammatical errors I found. I'm a stickler that way. However, he redeemed himself with his proper use of "toe the line," and the book was worth it for reading about the jubilation in the law offices of Pepper Hamilton when the verdict was released and they realized they had won a resounding victory.
And this really was a victory that had profound implications all across the country. It effectively put a stop to the encroaching intelligent design movement. There are still efforts to push it, but Judge Jones's ruling will have a dampening effect for many years to come. It wasn't just a victory for the plaintiffs in Pennsylvania; it was a victory for science and those of us who love it. Cheers to Judge Jones! We all need to fight against the teaching of this non-science in the science classroom.
For a much better book on the subject, I recommend Monkey Girl by Edward Humes. It takes a much more scholarly, subjective approach to the events of the trial. I also recommend the PBS special about it, "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," available at PBS.org and on YouTube. Although I was a bit disappointed in this book, the subject matter remains fascinating to me, and I enjoy reading about it.
May 15, 2024
I am appalled that, in this trial, the pro-evolution side wanted to show the judge that :
"naturalistic science (also known today as "just plein science") is not the same as atheism."
For one, of course it is the same. Or, to say the least, the difference is the same nonsense as plain-scientists who believe in evolution but keep praying on the side.
For two, what is this big problem with atheism? It look as if an atheist is a lost soul, even for plain-scientists.
Ho America, what have you become..........
"naturalistic science (also known today as "just plein science") is not the same as atheism."
For one, of course it is the same. Or, to say the least, the difference is the same nonsense as plain-scientists who believe in evolution but keep praying on the side.
For two, what is this big problem with atheism? It look as if an atheist is a lost soul, even for plain-scientists.
Ho America, what have you become..........
February 2, 2008
This is the history of a 2005 court case in Pennsylvania involving the introduction of intelligent design (ID) to a local high school's science curriculum. The author is a journalist and science writer who covered the case first-hand.
I really liked this. The prose is enjoyable and the pace is swift. Best of all, the author's experience as a science writer enables him to explain the complicated biological evidence presented during the trial in an approachable and easily understood way.
This book is good for anyone who has heard about the recent challenges the new brand of creationism, labeled "intelligent design", has made against evolutionary biology specifically and methodological materialism generally, but has not read much on the controversy. ID claims to address the gaps in the evolutionary record by scientific means, but when put to the test, as it was during this trial, ID fails miserably.
As science, ID is poor at best. It is essentially a negative hypothesis that is neither falsifiable or provides conclusions that can be independently tested. Furthermore, it points to a supernatural source as a primary cause of life. The supernatural, obviously, is beyond the realm of science for the reasons stated above. Upon closer examination, the proponents of ID really seem to be making arguments from incredulity and subjective conclusions (e.g. "It looks like something designed this, therefore something did.")
The book also illustrates how, over the course of the trial, the religious roots of ID and the religious motivation in bringing it to the school were laid bare. This claim was denied by those who introduced the ID curriculum despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. However, several witnesses exposed how the founders of the ID movement have made it clear at the outset of the movement that their motivation was to introduce the Christian interpretation of the origin of life (i.e. creationism) into schools to discredit the materialist world view promoted by Darwinism.
This is a great book if you are interested about learning about this particular theater of the culture war.
I really liked this. The prose is enjoyable and the pace is swift. Best of all, the author's experience as a science writer enables him to explain the complicated biological evidence presented during the trial in an approachable and easily understood way.
This book is good for anyone who has heard about the recent challenges the new brand of creationism, labeled "intelligent design", has made against evolutionary biology specifically and methodological materialism generally, but has not read much on the controversy. ID claims to address the gaps in the evolutionary record by scientific means, but when put to the test, as it was during this trial, ID fails miserably.
As science, ID is poor at best. It is essentially a negative hypothesis that is neither falsifiable or provides conclusions that can be independently tested. Furthermore, it points to a supernatural source as a primary cause of life. The supernatural, obviously, is beyond the realm of science for the reasons stated above. Upon closer examination, the proponents of ID really seem to be making arguments from incredulity and subjective conclusions (e.g. "It looks like something designed this, therefore something did.")
The book also illustrates how, over the course of the trial, the religious roots of ID and the religious motivation in bringing it to the school were laid bare. This claim was denied by those who introduced the ID curriculum despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. However, several witnesses exposed how the founders of the ID movement have made it clear at the outset of the movement that their motivation was to introduce the Christian interpretation of the origin of life (i.e. creationism) into schools to discredit the materialist world view promoted by Darwinism.
This is a great book if you are interested about learning about this particular theater of the culture war.
March 28, 2009
Several times I found myself liking then hating the author, so he must have struck a chord with me. First I have become interested in ID over the last 10 years so I am always interested in a fresh perspective. I bought this book knowing I might not agree with the author but that was intentional. To start with I was very pleased when Mr. Slack admitted his prejudice in this affair, that he is an atheist and even if evolution was proved incorrect he would still have "faith" that there is a naturalistic explanation for everything, we just haven't found it yet.
The setting of the book is the Dover School Board trial in 2005, where members of the board were sued after introducing a one page statement to be read at the beginning of freshman biology to the effect that evolution does not answer all the questions about the origin of life and that students may find more information in the reference section of the library, specifically in "Of Pandas and People".
We learn how badly the case was botched by the Board's defense team (with a lot of help from board members who lied under oath) and how the Judge then ruled beyond the fact that the Board was doing this to impose their religious view, which they were, but that Intelligent Design was not science. I agree with the author and the judge on the first point but have trouble with the second, and there is where the authors pointed prejudice most bothered me.
there is a real interesting part where we meet a fellow journalist from Italy covering the case. His perspective was most illuminating in that while he did believe in natural selection but also thought that the evangelical movement in the US was doing so much good in protecting the country and even the world from the slide into humanism that he sees in his own country that you feel is routing for the IDers
Slack, by the way believes Christians of all types are destroying the world and evangelicals are just the worst of the group.
Oh well, it is a good book for conversation starters, but best be with friends who can debate without rancor.
The setting of the book is the Dover School Board trial in 2005, where members of the board were sued after introducing a one page statement to be read at the beginning of freshman biology to the effect that evolution does not answer all the questions about the origin of life and that students may find more information in the reference section of the library, specifically in "Of Pandas and People".
We learn how badly the case was botched by the Board's defense team (with a lot of help from board members who lied under oath) and how the Judge then ruled beyond the fact that the Board was doing this to impose their religious view, which they were, but that Intelligent Design was not science. I agree with the author and the judge on the first point but have trouble with the second, and there is where the authors pointed prejudice most bothered me.
there is a real interesting part where we meet a fellow journalist from Italy covering the case. His perspective was most illuminating in that while he did believe in natural selection but also thought that the evangelical movement in the US was doing so much good in protecting the country and even the world from the slide into humanism that he sees in his own country that you feel is routing for the IDers
Slack, by the way believes Christians of all types are destroying the world and evangelicals are just the worst of the group.
Oh well, it is a good book for conversation starters, but best be with friends who can debate without rancor.
June 24, 2009
I found this a fascinating read, though like the high school kids Slack interviewed, I wonder what all the fuss is about. As the Italian journalist he meets says, “I don’t believe in ID theory as science, but it doesn’t matter. The crucial point is that science alone shouldn’t be able to decide the meaning of education or tell people what to think about the origin of life.”
Like many of the scientists for the prosecution, I am a Christian who believes in evolution—I don’t see that they’re mutually exclusive. Studying evolution in school shouldn’t be taboo, just as studying Intelligent Design shouldn’t be, as long as it’s treated as a theoretical subject and not an absolute. My husband went to a Catholic high school where he not only studied evolution but also religions other than Christianity. Accepting God is a matter of faith—I see examples of His influence every day—no one needs to prove it to me.
I thought Slack’s writing was interesting, witty and fair. I like that he admits his bias up front. Oh, and one more thing—he doesn’t say what happened to those 60 copies of “Of Pandas and People” but my hope is they remained in the school library. Banning them would be sort of like banning Huckleberry Finn or Harry Potter. I say, give the kids an opportunity to make up their own minds.
Like many of the scientists for the prosecution, I am a Christian who believes in evolution—I don’t see that they’re mutually exclusive. Studying evolution in school shouldn’t be taboo, just as studying Intelligent Design shouldn’t be, as long as it’s treated as a theoretical subject and not an absolute. My husband went to a Catholic high school where he not only studied evolution but also religions other than Christianity. Accepting God is a matter of faith—I see examples of His influence every day—no one needs to prove it to me.
I thought Slack’s writing was interesting, witty and fair. I like that he admits his bias up front. Oh, and one more thing—he doesn’t say what happened to those 60 copies of “Of Pandas and People” but my hope is they remained in the school library. Banning them would be sort of like banning Huckleberry Finn or Harry Potter. I say, give the kids an opportunity to make up their own minds.
November 13, 2007
Good discussion of the issues around the attempt to get Intelligent Design (Creationism) into the school systems.
Interesting quote about a girl attending the school with regard to the statement the school board had required to be read to all biology students.
' Natalie is a serious girl with blond hair just ong enough for a ponytail, blue eyes, and freckles. As we introduce ourselves, she looks from one of us to the next as if we're from various foreign worlds. She's not heard of Harper's or Salon.com, let alone Il Foglio. Soon enough, though, she relaxes and starts to tell us about herself. She is a freshman, and in addition to running cross country she is also a cheerleader. She stopped going to church with her family a couple of years ago, though she still sometimes accompanies friends. "Believe it or not," she says, leaning toward us, "kids I know don't really care much whether we're read a statement about design or whatever during biology class. What's the difference?" she laughs. "Nobody's really listening anyway." '
Interesting quote about a girl attending the school with regard to the statement the school board had required to be read to all biology students.
' Natalie is a serious girl with blond hair just ong enough for a ponytail, blue eyes, and freckles. As we introduce ourselves, she looks from one of us to the next as if we're from various foreign worlds. She's not heard of Harper's or Salon.com, let alone Il Foglio. Soon enough, though, she relaxes and starts to tell us about herself. She is a freshman, and in addition to running cross country she is also a cheerleader. She stopped going to church with her family a couple of years ago, though she still sometimes accompanies friends. "Believe it or not," she says, leaning toward us, "kids I know don't really care much whether we're read a statement about design or whatever during biology class. What's the difference?" she laughs. "Nobody's really listening anyway." '
December 26, 2016
A school board in Dover, PA pushes the science teachers to teach Creationism, but in the guise of “Intelligent Design.” The board members can’t even really explain ID--they’re buffoons straight out of central casting, and so begins the most lopsided win against fundamentalism in the courts, presided over a charming conservative judge. There are four books written about the Dover Intelligent Design trial. The story of the trial and the controversies can hold anyone’s attention. This is the least developed of the four books, but it’s still a serviceable account of the trial. The other accounts emphasize the crazy characters and the historical context in more detail. Slack’s innovation is to call our attention to the class distinctions between “Old Dover” and “New Dover”. As well, his personal angle examines his father, a once noted Jewish scientist who converts to evangelical Christianity. The book give us a satisfying account of the trial, the other institutions and characters involved.
July 7, 2009
This was another book group read, and I finished it the last two days before last night's meeting. I really am glad I read it. I put down Galileo's Daughter partly because I didn't have the stamina to deal with the religion vs science thing from way back, just such a long sad story, but I was fulfilled by the depth of treatment of the issue in this book. I particularly liked that Gordy Slack framed it with his relationship with his father, who believes differently than he does, and the importance of staying respectful in that relationship in spite of the sadness of never being able to agree. I also liked the way he kept coming up against his own beliefs and testing them as much as he could as the trial testimony continued, trying to stay open and be fair. Anyway, darn good read in my opinion.
June 5, 2011
An straightforward account of the Dover, Pennsylvania trial in which ID was challenged as a scientific theory worthy of being taught in schools. It shed light on some of the background of the two sides, but in reducing the 40 days of testimony to 200 pages it didn't really provide anything new that wasn't already in newspaper and television accounts. There were 136 pages of the judges ruling alone in the actual trial. Interesting, if somewhat glossed over narative.
August 3, 2015
So poorly edited as to be distracting. I counted three typos on one page at one point! "Low and behold!" Names misspelled all over the place...an editor's nightmare to read.
It was weird reading this ten years after the fact, because the ID debate has lost so much of its teeth. And the author's position is pretty smug, although he never claims to be objective. It saddens me that there are people who truly believe ID is real, so he was preaching to the choir, I guess.
It was weird reading this ten years after the fact, because the ID debate has lost so much of its teeth. And the author's position is pretty smug, although he never claims to be objective. It saddens me that there are people who truly believe ID is real, so he was preaching to the choir, I guess.
July 30, 2008
This book is a clearly written analysis of a 2005 trial that resulted when a Pennsylvania school decided to put intelligent design into their science curriculum. The author raises important questions about how this type of decision would impact all of science, society, government, and the environment, and it's informative as to the arguments on both sides.
June 28, 2009
Can't say this was very enlightening, or enjoyable. It really kind of dragged and I had a lot of trouble really caring about the outcome. Kind of a tempest in a teapot kind of a read to me. Maybe I missed something. I'll be interested to see what the rest of the book club thought of it. I'm glad I finished it and am on to the next book.
March 17, 2011
Journalist's account of what happened before, during, after the Dover trial in which parents sued BoE for introducing intelligent design into biology classroom. Very well researched, tries to remain as objective as possible and still makes these (particular) creationists look like idiots.
December 26, 2008
Another book written about the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial. This one is different from the others in that it focuses more on the personalities of the plaintiffs, defendents, and lawyers. But other than that it does not cover the trial as well.
March 5, 2009
Interesting description over the Dover, PA court case as to whether Intelligent Design should be taught in school. Western Washington University had this as its campus book this year - with a visit from the author. Good debate
Want to read
August 6, 2007A history of the Dover Trial.
May 10, 2013
For my LJ review check out the following:
LJ Xpress Reviews
LJ Xpress Reviews
January 16, 2008
Turned out to be interesting till about halfway through. Skipped to the end to see what happened.
October 19, 2009
I liked this book b/c it wrestled with some issues relating to the author's personal and family conflicts with the ID movement; not as engagingly written as "Monkey Girl," however.
March 15, 2016
fun read covering the ID v. Materialism legal battle in Dover
Merged review:
fun read covering the ID v. Materialism legal battle in Dover
Merged review:
fun read covering the ID v. Materialism legal battle in Dover
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews