Review: Teaching Evolution in a Creation Nation by Adam Laats and Harvey Siegel

Abstract

Teaching Evolution in a Creation Nation . By Adam Laats and Harvey Siegel. 2016. University of Chicago Press. (ISBN 022633130X). 138 pp. Kindle Edition. $20.00 (Amazon). I am an enthusiast of books about evolution and creationism. From Ed Larson's Pulitzer Prize–winning Summer for the Gods to Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion , I snap these volumes up whenever they become available. While the topic fascinates me, the unfortunate result of reading many books about the contention between creationism and evolution is that after some time there is substantial repetition. In every book on the topic, there is invariably a discussion of the Scopes trial, an explanation of the nature of science, an argument for how evolution meets the criteria for science but creationism does not. This book is no exception to that rule, but Laats and Siegel manage to make this oft-discussed topic feel new and interesting. The book is split into approximate thirds, with the first dealing with the historical aspects of evolution education. The second concentrates on philosophical matters, and the final third deals …