Thursday, May 8, 2014

Review: Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution


Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution
Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution by Edward Caudill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



In this useful history of the Intelligent Design movement, Edward Caudill explores "creationism not just as a science-religion issue, but as a political movement that skillfully engage[s] the press with a campaign grounded in American myths." Caudill shows how the Scopes Trial in set the stage for the conflict between creationists and science as it has played out ever since.

In spite of the lack of evidence to support their claims, creationists/intelligent designers, have been highly successful in following William Jennings Bryan's model of appealing to an underlying anti-intellectualism rampant in the United States along with a strong sense of support for traditional values and wisdom.

While Charles Darrow clearly "won" the trial on debating and factual terms Scopes was still convicted and Bryan's intellectual followers have succeeded in keeping creationism, in the guise of intelligent design, at the forefront of the national conversation. Opinion polls consistently show that nearly 50% of Americans, and a far larger percentage of Conservatives/Republicans, still do not believe in the clearly established science behind evolution.

The release of this book is especially well timed due to the recent Bill Nye-Ken Hamm evolution debate and the continued assault on science education in our schools. Highly recommended - essential reading to anyone teaching science at the high school or collegiate level!




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