Books
Science, religion, and all that jazz
Summer for ,he Gods. Edward J.
Larsen. Basic Books, New York,
1997.318 pp. $25.00 (ISBN 0-45607509-6 cloth).
"The modern world is the child of
daubt and inquiry, as the ancient
world was the child offear and faith"
(p. 72). This statement was uttered
by Clarence Darrow, counsel for the
defense of Joh n Scopes during the
"' mo nkey tria' " that pur Dayron,
T ennessee, on the wocld 's map in
rarher qucscionable fashion in 1925.
Similar words could have been ul tered on manr o ther occasions during human hi story, indudingin 1996,
when the Tennessee legis lature [ricd
a nee mo re co gag educators and evolutionary biologists throughout thc
state. H istorian and law professor
Edward J. La rso n's book on Olle of
the many "trials of the century" is
therefore much more rhan a lively,
informative piece of hisrorical reeonstruction and criricism: It is as
relevant to presenr controversies as
it wou ld have been in rhe 1920s.
The trouble -with discussing the
Scopes trial is that everybody thinks '
[hey know what happened, but they
u5ua1ly don 't. The image of rhe epic
barde berween Darrow and prosecuto r William Jen nings Beyan ha s been
shaped much more by its dramatization in the movie fnherit the Wind
man by what actua ll y happened in
Dayton du rin g the period that
Darrow referred CO as a "Summer for
the Gods." And, perhaps, understandably so. The depictions of the
key characters by Speneer Tracy,
Gene Kelly, Frederich March, and
Tony Randall are eaptivaring and
unforgettable. In dramarizations of
such ep ic events, however, rhe story
not only becomes less accurate hut
acquires all the flavar of a myth. And
mythol ogy is on ly the shadow oE
rrurh . In some sense, the modern
perception of the Scopes trial is akin
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co the understanding of the other
famous debate on evolution, that
berween Thomas Huxley and Bishop
Wilbeforce in 1866, immediarely after the publication of Darwin's On
the Origin cf Spedes. Evolutionists
ding to the "myth" rh at Huxley defeated Wilbeforce in Oxford and rhat
truth prevailed over bigorry (Caudill
1997); similarly, Darrow is thought
to have humiliated Bryan, thereby
giving evolution a long-Iasting victory that went beyond the mere fact
that Scopes was actually convicted.
In - so~ ways, ie is nuc that evolu tion was vlcroeious. Evolution is now
the accepted worfdview among profess ional biologists. Thc victory was
due not ooly to evo lut ion's intrinsic
scientifie merits, bur also co the enthusiasm sparked in you ng biologisrs in every co unr ry by the drama
of ,he Oxford .nd Daymn deba'es.
Technically, however, neither side
actually won either debatc. And rhat
is because debates canno t be won:
Thc supporters of each school of
thought leave the d ebate feeling [hat
their hero earried the day.
But debates play anarher role.
Rather than unc overin g the trurh,
they provide a uniqu e opportunity
to educate the usua lly silent majority
of people who are not alread y com-
mitred to one point of view. In fact,
rhe anti-evolutionist crusader Frank
Norris wrote to Bryan before the
trial: "Ir is rhe greatest opporrunity
to edueate the public, and will ae complish more than ten years eampaigning" (p. 123). Such is the nature of public debates, whi ch are
conducted more bycampaigning and
discursive teehnique than by logie
aod factual evidence. Creationists
have learned and exploired this as peet of debates wirh geear success;
unfortunately, evo lution sc ienrists
have yet to do so (Futuyma 1995).
Indeed, scientisrs who engage in
debating creationists oe oega ni l.ing
campus events to raise awareness of
the scientific status of evolution (for
examplc, the University of Tennessee's
Darwin Day; see http://fp.bio.utk.edul
darwin ) are generally chided hy their
colleagues foe "wasting time." While
debating creationi st Duane Gish
(1997), Skep'ic Society president
Michael Shermer asserred that nuth
has long been ascerrained in the scientific arena; now, it is a matter of
convincingthe publie. And the stakes
are much high er than most evolutionists think. It is important ro remember that most scientific fundin g
eomes from federal agencies and that
their budgets aresubject to rhe whims
BioScience Vol. 48 No. 5
of politicians and, byextension) pub- Evolution is in direct and irrevoHe opinion. It is for rhis reason that cable confhct wirh the Bible. Howthe National Science Foundation in- eve r, the positive endorse ment of
tentionall y deletes the ward "evolu- Larson's book by both Provine and
tion " frorn layma n abstracrs of Johnson dernon strates that Summer
funded proposals (which are public fur tbe Gods is indeed remarkably
balanced. The author's objectivity.
record).
Tbe fact that the creation-evolu- altbough commendable, is also aption debate was an educationa l~ not propriate because the purpose of the
a scientific, matter was perfecrly dear book is not to resolve a scientific
(at least tO scientists) as early as the dispute (tha t was settled long ago)
tim e of the Scopes trial. Larson re- but to present a historical explicalates the involvement of such per- tion of the ca se in its proper social
sonalities as Columbia University context. This he is able to achieve in
president Nicholas Butler, according a scholarly, extremely well-docuto whom "Thc Legislature and the mented, engrossing narrative that is
Governor ofTennessee have ... made it accessible to a general audience.
Larson disp lays the Scopes trial as
impossible for a scholar to be a
teacher in that State without becorn- a tapestry of incerwoven threads,
iog 3t the same time a law-breaker" somerimes difficult to tease apart.
(p. 111). Princeton president John There was not onl y science versus
Hibben echoed that [he anti-evolu- religion, but also the "intellectual "
tion law was "outrageous" and the North versus the "eonse rvati ve"
tria l "a bsurd. " Ya le president James Sou th. as weil as a shade of racism
Angell commented that " the edu- (the Klan took it upon itself to decated man mu st recognize and knit fend anti -evoluti o ni sm), the whole
into h.is view of life the undeniable mixed explosivel y with local (damphysical basis oftheworld " (p. 112). aged) pride from the still -fresh
George Bernard Shaw deplored whar wo unds of the Civil War. Larson's
he refe rred to as rhe "monstrous reconstruetion of the atmosphere that
defen se of fundamentalism. " Albert reigned throughout the nation, the
Einstein added that "any restrietion southern states, a nd, in particular, in
of academic freedom heaps coals of Dayton is illuminating. But he also
shame upon the community" (p. points out th at the most important
aspect of the batde was between two
112).
As it was then, it remains today: visions of dernocr acy: Bryan's
an issue of academic freedorn, an a11- majoritarianisrn versus Darrow's
imporram issue for any educator. defense (sponsored by the American
And, it is an issue that is not going Civil Liberty Union [ACLU]) 01 mi·
away, because even as I am prepar- nority rights. This cension remains
ing to submit this review for puhlica- coday, as a major test of th e health of
tion , the Washington State Senate is a ffee soeiety. As Arthur Hays, coa utaking up yet another measure " not thor with H. L. Mencken of several
to teach evolution as fact. " As banned books and, at the time, the
Randall aptly put it, "sometimes we most irrfluential lawyer on the exwonder jf anyone ever learns any- ecutive comrnittee of the ACLU put
it: "We should bear. in mind rhat
th in g" (p. 246).
Interestingl y, the book's cover there may be no greater oppression
blurbs include endorsemenrs by both than by th e rule of majority" (p. 68).
Philip Johnson and Will Provine.
MA SS IM O PIGLIUCCI
John son is a creationist who has
Departmellts ur Butany alld
written extensivcly against DarwinEcology & Evolutiollar)' Biology
ism and evolutionism; Provine, himUnivarsity
Te1lllessee
self Cl veteran of debates with creKnoxvj(/e, TN 37996-1100
ationisrs, is a disrinct and foremost
voice urging evolution scientists to
engage creationists at every turn. No- References eited
ticeably, both Provine and Johnson Caudill E. 1997. Darwinian Mrths. Knoxville (TN): Universicy of Tennessee Pre~s.
agree on what is actually a minority
Futurma D. 1 995. Science on Tr ial.
opinion among bmh scien tists and
Sunderland (MA): Sinaue r.
Christians (a lbeit one characterized She rmer M. 1997. How to Debace a Creby an internall y consistent logic):
ationist. Ahadena (CA): Millennium Press.
or
May 1998
STILL WAITINGFOR RAIN
Rain without Tbunder: Tbc Ideology
of tbc Animal Rights Movemcnc. Gary
L. Francione. Temple University Press,
Philadelphia, \996. 269 pp. $24.95
(ISBN \-56639·461-9 paper).
Thc central argument of Gary L.
Francione's new book , although in
many ways a laudable and important contribution to the debate over
the extent of our ethical obligations
toward other animals, is deeply
flawed by black-and-whitc thinking.
But flawed or not, it is an argument
that deserves careful attention.
Francione begins with the observation that despite several centuries
of concern for animal weliare, our
treatment of animals has actually
worsened. In the second half of ehe
twentieth century, intensive farming
practices and the increased use of
a nim al experimentation in biomedical research have significand y altered the scope and nature of our
interference in the lives of animals.
The worsened condition of animals, Francione argues, is due in no
small part to an anima l rights movement that is divided and confused.
One aspect of the rnovement focuses
primarilyon animal welfare; its adherents endeavor to work alongside
the research and agrihusiness industries to ensure rhat the ongoing practices of both are carried out as humanely as possible. The other aspec r
of the movement focuses more directly on anima I rights and, most
imponant, on the basic fight of animals to not have their lives iorerfered with by humans.
The mainstream of th e animal
fights moveme nt has concerned itself wirh animal welfare, ra ther than
with animal rights, and ha s moderated itself to work with industry to
effect whatever short-term changes
it can. The problem, according to
francione, is that the se efforts are
easily co-opted by the more power-
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