   | Dangerous idea : the Scopes trial, the original fight over science in schools Author: Levy, Debbie | |
| Price: $24.48 | ||
Summary:
In 1925, when Tennesse lawmakers banned the teaching of evolution in public schools, teacher John Scopes challenged the law--and set off a gripping circus of a legal battle. Two masterminds faced off in court in a blistering debate over creationism and natural selection.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (11/15/24)
School Library Journal (+) (01/01/25)
Booklist (+) (00/11/24)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/01/25)
The Hornbook (+) (00/01/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 10/14/2024 "There was never before, and has never been, another day in court like it," asserts Levy (Change Is in the Air) in this riveting work about The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. Following his first year of teaching in May 1925, Dayton, Tenn., educator John Thomas Scopes (1900-1970)-who’d been filling in for the school’s biology teacher-is informed by the chairman of the Rhea County school board, two lawyers, the school superintendent, and a nearby business owner that he’s been charged with breaking the law for teaching his students about human evolution. "Since when was teaching a unit in biology class a crime?" Levy writes in conversational prose. "Since seven weeks earlier," following the instating of House Bill 185, or the Butler Act, which forbid "the teaching of any theory that denies the story of Divine Creation." Archival b&w photos alongside divisive and thorough text depicts the court case and its impact, resulting in a look at two combatting schools of thought-fundamentalist vs. science-backed rhetoric-and the figures who became the face of them. A timeline and sources conclude. Ages 10-14. (Jan.) - Copyright 2024
School Library Journal - 01/01/2025 Gr 4–7—In May of 1925, the school board members and leading businessmen of Dayton, TN, hatched a plan to attract visitors, new business, and media attention to their small town. They induced John Scopes, a high school science teacher, to face charges of teaching evolution in defiance of Tennessee's recently passed prohibition against teaching "any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible." Thus, the ACLU finally had a test case to challenge the constitutionality of the anti-evolution laws that were cropping up in state legislatures across the U.S. By July, the media circus and popular culture phenomenon that would be known as the Scopes Monkey Trial was in full swing, with crusading civil liberties and labor attorney Clarence Darrow on the defense team and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan leading the prosecution. Through accessible language, strong and unhurried pacing, and the deft incorporation of human interest into the story, Levy crafts a compelling narrative from what might otherwise be a dry treatise on science and the law. Background information—on evolutionary theory, the roles of religion and science in government and society, and the lives and careers of the key players in the trial—grounds the events that occurred over eight days in the Rhea County courthouse to the larger history of America. An epilogue provides a persuasive argument that the legacy of the Scopes Monkey Trial lives on in our current political struggles and constitutional challenges. Chapter-by-chapter source notes and a selected bibliography are included, along with an index. VERDICT This engaging history relates the story of the first significant battle in America's ongoing "culture wars" and is highly recommended for junior high and high school collections.—Kelly Kingrey-Edwards - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
