Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution
"Larson...ably illuminates the legal and constitutional issues...yet he is admirably aware that what transpires in state houses and law courts usually reflects larger social forces." ---The New Republic"The main contribution of the book is that it traces clearly the legal controversies surrounding evolution and creationism in American high schools, but readers will also enjoy a vivid retelling of personal credos, political machinations, pedagogical developments, and other historical circumstances surrounding the vicissitudes of 'public science' in the schools."---Science"The publication in 1985 of an important study of the persistent controversy over the theory of evolution by Edward J. Larson received scant attention in several major historical journals....Whatever the reasons for this oversight, Larson, fortuneatly, has expanded the original edition....Larson's study is written in clear, crisp prose that makes complex legal issues easily comprehensible to the nonspecialist....Few will be so naive as to believe that the court decisions of the 1980s have laid to rest the creationist-evolutionist debate." ---Isis"The merging of several disciplines in a single scholar proves unusually rewarding to the treatment of creationism in American education. Whatever the outcome of the current cases...the need for a scholarly assessment of antecedents and prospects in this area has never been clearer." ---Journal ofLaw and Religion