Summer for the Gods

The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion

De: Edward J. Larson

Narrado por: Brian Troxell

The Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the Scopes Trial and the battle over evolution and creation in America's schools

In the summer of 1925, the sleepy hamlet of Dayton, Tennessee, became the setting for one of the 20th century's most contentious courtroom dramas, pitting William Jennings Bryan and the anti-Darwinists against a teacher named John Scopes, represented by Clarence Darrow and the ACLU, in a famous debate over science, religion, and their place in public education. That trial marked the start of a battle that continues to this day - in cities and states throughout the country.

Edward Larson's classic Summer for the Gods - winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History - is the single most authoritative account of this pivotal event. An afterword assesses the state of the battle between creationism and evolution, and points the way to how it might potentially be resolved.

©2017 Edward J. Larson (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Edward Larson tells the true story of the Scopes trial brilliantly, and the truth is a lot more interesting than the myth that was presented to the public in Inherit the Wind." (Philip Johnson, University of California-Berkeley and author of Darwin on Trial)

"Experts will learn much about the background and details of the Scopes trial; the general reader will be drawn into the trial as never before. Inherit the Wind, step aside!" (Will Provine, Cornell University)

"Forget the Lindberg kidnapping trial, the Manson trial, or even the O.J. trial. The real trial of the century was the Scopes Trial, and, although much has been written about it, nothing comes close to the definitive history written by Edward J. Larson." (Skeptic)

Still Timely

The legal fight over the teaching of evolution, beautifully described in “Summer for the Gods,” is as timely today as when the book was first published in 1997. For that matter, it could be as timely as when the Scopes trial took place in 1925. The debate over academic freedom and who has the right to determine a school’s curriculum continues, whether the issue is evolution or critical race theory, as author Larson makes clear in a 2016 afterword. Larson spends much of the book debunking myths—William Jennings Bryan was not a buffoon, as in “Inherit the Wind;” Scopes was not out to be a crusader, the ACLU played a huge and often ignored role. Larson's analysis is balanced, explaining clearly the arguments made by all sides. The narration by Brian Troxell was unobtrusive, well done.

Still timely is an appropriate title for this review

This book does a great job representing the debate and continued debate laid forth on the Scopes trial still an issue today.

Controversy Never Ending

The event explained from a historical perspective. No shortage of interesting tidbits and controversy. Good.

An unexpected contemplation of Liberty

I was no expecting the authors dive into the social question of Majority Rule V Individual Liberty. I was unaware of the context of this trail, being only informed by the standard narrative.

A little biased toward evolution

The author is a great writer, but at points his bias toward the evolution side is evident. In his mind evolution = science. In the epilogue this becomes much more obvious when he doesn’t point out that intelligent design proponents complain that science should allow for any explanation that fits the evidence; ruling divine intervention as non admisible a priori is not scientific. The evidence should be followed where it leads. Second, saying that intelligent design proponents do not publish in peer review journals as though they had no scientific qualifications to do so is unfair. Journals will not publish those articles because of bias against intelligent design, and any editor that does would be promptly punished for it. Reports of dismissal and denial of tenure to intelligent design scientists have made news, yet Larson says nothing about this (Guillermo Gonzalez being just one of them). Notice that most intelligent design proponents are not fundamentalists, nor are they all Christian. However, proponents of the model are scientists with PhDs from accredited institutions. They should be allowed a voice.