The War Against (Teaching) Evolution in the Public Schools

Description

When Darwin first developed his theory of evolution specifically the descent of man from one celled organisms he knew that it would be a “hard sell”. He did not know just how hard a sell it would be! After 150 years, thebattle continues. What is it about the theory of evolution that drives some people crazy? It is, of course, the implication that humans are not God’s special creation. During the 20th century, impressive Supreme Court battles have been waged to keep the theory of evolution, the very spine of biological science, in public education and to keep that scientific principal free of “religious” challenges, as is represented by “creation science” and “intelligent design”. This PowerPoint presentation is the story of those Supreme Court cases, specifically two cases, one from the beginning and the other at the end of the 20th century. The landmark Scopes Trial, made into the book and movie, Inherit The Wind, is the first trial and the last is the Dover, PA. case, made into a book, The Devil In Dover; Dogma Vs. Darwin. And then there were trials in between, but none have terminated the war but all have clarified the issues.

Instructor: Geoff Kashdan

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