The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Gordy Slack is a science writer whose articles have appeared in Mother Jones, Wired, The Scientist, and Salon.com. He is a former senior editor of California Wild, the science and natural history magazine published by the California Academy of Sciences, and a frequent contributor to San Francisco's KQED radio. His writing often focuses on evolutionary biology and the relationship between science and religion.

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Praise For The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything

"The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything is magnificent?by far the best depiction I have seen of America's culture war that pits religious concepts of the supernatural against the materialism of science. Slack's non-polemical narrative skillfully reveals the ins and outs of creationism, intelligent design, evolutionary biology, and the nature of modern science in clear and compelling prose. Slack's own story of trying to understand his father's religious position stands as a poignant microcosm of the larger debate?adding a personal touch that helps bring into focus the frustration and sadness that is often present, but usually not acknowledged, as the culture war rages on."
?Niles Eldredge, curator, division of paleontology; curator, Darwin exhibition, The American Museum of Natural History

"Gordy Slack's beautifully written The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything should be on absolutely everyone's must read list. Although Slack does not conceal his own evolutionary commitments, he is balanced and fair, showing above all that this is a cultural battle and not simply one of science versus religion. The book is a terrific read."
?Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and director of the program in the history and philosophy of science, Florida State University, Tallahassee

"The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything is a well-told tale of the clash of two cultures?scientific evolution and intelligent design creationism?in a federal court of law. Gordy Slack is a gifted storyteller. If the conversation between science and religion is of interest to you, get this book. The Battle is a pleasure to read."
?Francisco J. Ayala, university professor and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine

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The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything

"For six weeks in 2005, a courtroom in Pennsylvania became a forum for intense debates about the most fundamental matters: science, faith, and what we should teach our children about them. Gordy Slack takes us inside that courtroom, where his personal and intellectual engagement with the subject serves him exceedingly well. He has written a lively, lucid account of a fascinating trial."
?Margaret Talbot, staff writer, "Darwin in the Dock," The New Yorker

The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything is a compelling eyewitness account of the recent courtroom drama in Dover, Pennsylvania, that put evolution and intelligent design 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 trial, members of the local school board defended their effort to require teachers to present intelligent design alongside evolution as an explanation for the origins and diversity of life on Earth. The trial revealed two essentially different and conflicting views of the world and the lengths to which true believers on each side will go to promote their own. The controversial ruling by George W. Bush-appointed Judge John Jones III was full of surprises and had a profound influence on America's educational landscape.

Gordy Slack's engaging story of high drama and unforgettable characters is a sophisticated examination of the deep cultural, religious, and political faultlines that divide America. But it is also a personal account of how those same divisions cleaved his own family in two.