Trial and Error: The American Controversy over Creation and Evolution

The debate over teaching evolution in the public schools remains one of the most emotionally-charged controversies in twentieth-century America. Now available in a revised and updated edition, Edward J. Larson's highly-acclaimed study—which ranges from before the Scopes trial of 1925 to the creationism disputes of the 1980s—offers the first comprehensive account of the educational and legal battles erupting from this persistent confrontation.
Larson traces the origins of the dispute back to the late nineteenth century, a period marked by the scientific acceptance of evolution, the rise of a distinct fundamentalist branch within Protestant Christianity, and the spread of public secondary education. He argues that the ever-increasing interaction between these factors led to a series of legal confrontations, all of the same nature, from the 1920s to the present day.
Analyzing the developments in teaching evolution and the statutes and court cases spawned by them, Larson concludes that public science education has never deviated too far from public opinion. Thus, strong regional opposition in the 1920s to Darwinism resulted in bans on evolutionary teaching, while the Supreme Court's overturning of those bans in 1968 came only when wider popular acceptance of the theory of evolution had occurred. While finding that legislators have responded more readily to public opinion than judges, Larson reveals that even the courts have operated within the boundaries set by public sentiment and have generally refused to rule on the scientific merits of either side's argument.
Lucid and provocative, this study offers a much-needed historical perspective on a debate that has resisted a final resolution for more than half a century. This edition contains a new chapter which treats the ramifications of the controversy in the 1980s.

A study over the debate over teaching evolution in the public schools.

Trial and Error traces the coverage or lack thereof, of evolution in textbooks used in American public schools from the mid-1800s to the present. While the teaching of Darwinian evolution was common and not controversial in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, the debates between evolutionists and creationists, those who argue that the Biblical theory of origins deserves equal treatment, have flared throughout the twentieth century—first in the 1920s, most famously in the Scopes trial; again in the 1960s, when the regional legislation banning the teaching of evolution was overturned, notably in Arkansas and Louisiana; and throughout the 1980s with various controversies over science textbooks, including California. Larson proposes to bring the subject up to the present through a discussion of recent trends, including the "intelligent design" movement, led by Phillip Johnson, a revised form of anti-evolutionism that gained popularity on college campuses; the impact of Michael Behe's versions of evolution; and debates over what counts as evidence for and against evolution—all of which have influenced debates over science standards, particularly at state and local levels. This new chapter will chronicle anti-evolution actions in Kansas and elsewhere and counter-actions by the National Academy of Science and other anti-creationist groups. This updated classic work presents a balanced historical interpretation of legal and educational debates over evolutionism, and will appeal to those interested in the fields of history, religion, science, and law.

Edward J. Larson, former Associate Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, teaches History and Law at the University of Georgia.