The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything (PDF)

A compelling eyewitness account of the recent courtroom drama inDover, Pennsylvania that put evolution on trial.Journalist Gordy Slack offers a riveting, personal, and oftenamusing first-hand account that details six weeks of some of themost widely ranging, fascinating, and just plain surreal testimonyin U.S. legal history--a battle between hard science andreligious conservatives wishing to promote a new version ofcreationism in schools.During the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Areas School Board trial, the members of the local school board defended their decision torequire teachers to present intelligent design alongsideevolution as an explanation for the origins and diversity of lifeon earth. The trial revealed much more than a disagreement abouthow to approach science education. It showed two essentiallydifferent and conflicting views of the world and the lengths somepeople will go to promote their own. The ruling by George W.Bush-appointed Judge John Jones III was unexpected in itsstridency: Not only did he conclude that intelligent design wasreligion and not science and therefore had no place in a scienceclassroom, he scolded the school board for wasting public time andmoney.A sophisticated examination of the deep cultural, religious, andpolitical tensions that continue to divide America, The Battle Overthe Meaning of Everything is also journalist Gordy Slack'spersonal and engaging story of the high drama and unforgettablecharacters on both sides of the courtroom controversy.Gordy Slack (Oakland, CA) has been writing about science andevolutionary biology for 15 years. He is a regular commentator onKQED, an affiliate of NPR, and his articles have appeared in MotherJones, Salon.com, Wired, California Wild, the San FranciscoChronicle, and many other publications.