A DANGEROUS IDEA
The Scopes Trial, The Original Fight Over Science in Schools
The dawn of the 20th century: it’s the age of modern science. We’ve got pasteurization, vaccinations, genetics. We’ve got evolution. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is mainstream science; in 1895, his books are on the American Library Association’s “List of Books for Girls and Women and Their Clubs,” for heaven’s sake!
But by 1925, the idea of evolution has also become, to a vocal segment of the population, a devilish atrocity—A DANGEROUS IDEA. It was one thing for evolution to be something that few ordinary people paid attention to. Quite another for teenagers in the newly invented public high schools to be learning about it. When it came to exposing impressionable young minds to the science of evolution, a whole lot of adults evolved—into exceptionally agitated organisms.
This story about the famous Scopes “monkey” trial of 1925 is worth sharing anytime. But now, especially, how it resonates! Ridicule of science and scientists. Efforts to shield students from facts. A campaign to make schools centers of a particular theology. Charismatic, entertaining leaders. Falsehoods masquerading as truths. A media circus. Book banning. And, of course, John T. Scopes and his students.
Religious fundamentalists pushed the science of evolution underground in America’s schools for nearly 50 years. What do young people risk losing today?
Release date: January 14, 2025
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Ages 11 and up
ISBN 978-1-5476-1221-5
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REVIEWS
“Through accessible language, strong and unhurried pacing, and the deft incorporation of human interest in the story, Levy crafts a compelling narrative. . . . highly recommended”
“A compelling, well-researched account . . . meticulous.”
“riveting”
“A welcome, timely resource”
“At first glance, the time period . . . seems far removed from our own. But the issues of the trial remain with us today. . . . [A] fine, thoroughly researched book.”
“The past feels astonishingly present in Debbie Levy’s comprehensive and conversational A Dangerous Idea . . . . [W]hen history repeats itself, we should all pay attention.”
DISTINCTIONS
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection