Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul Paperback – February 19, 2008

What does Pennsylvania heartland, fossils, and urban think tanks have in common? The answer is one of the most titanic struggles over evolution in the early twenty-first century. "Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul" by investigative journalist Edward Humes tells the engaging and sometimes bizarre story of how the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board dealt a powerful blow to the cause of Intelligent Design, the most recent creationist counter to evolution, through its ham-handed attempt to inject the Biblical account of Genesis into American science classes.The story began in October 2004 when the Dover Area School District changed its curriculum in biology to require that intelligent design be introduced as a counter to the scientific theory of evolution and mandated that the book, "Of Pandas and People," be available for use in the school as a reference. In response, eleven parents of students in the school filed a lawsuit and argued that intelligent design was essentially a form of creationism, and that in insisting on its inclusion in the curriculum the school board had violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), Pepper Hamilton LLP, and the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) supported the plaintiffs and the conservative Thomas More Center represented the board, with the Discovery Institute involved as well. Brought before the court of Judge John E. Jones III, a conservative appointee to the bench in 2002 by George W. Bush, the trial turned into a showcase for the evolution/creationism debate that has existed since the Scopes trial of the 1920s.The trial took place between September 26 and November 4, 2005. In the end, Judge Jones issued a 139 page ruling in favor of the plaintiffs declaring that the plaintiffs were correct in their position that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents." Accordingly, he found that it violated the establishment clause of the first amendment of the Constitution. As the judge declared in his opinion, issued on December 20, 2005: "The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory."As this was underway, the entire school board was turned out of office in the election of November 2005 and replaced with new board members who opposed the teaching of intelligent design in a science class. Accordingly, the new board decided not to appeal the court's ruling. It did not, therefore, become a test case, ultimately before the U.S. Supreme Court.Monkey Girl--a title chosen to reflect one the insults hurled at the daughter of Tammy Kitzmiller, the chief plaintiff in the case--is a fine work of investigative journalism. It is not a work of scholarly history, but it is a well-researched and written account of one the most important episodes in the longstanding running fight of the forces of science and religion over the nature of life. Edward Humes, a well-published and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, has contributed a fascinating portrait of a critically important aspect of the debate over evolution. He does an excellent job drawing out portraits of actors on both sides, setting scenes, and narrating arcs in to the conduct of the story.The decision to add intelligent design to the science curriculum in Dover was really the result of efforts by board members William Buckingham and Alan Bonsell, assisted by other members who were supportive of the effort. Three members refused to go along with the decision--Noel Wenrich, Carol Brown, and Jeff Brown--and all resigned. Buckingham, who is credited with leading the effort, believed that the U.S. was declining in part because it had turned away from God. Evolution being taught in the schools was part of that process. He viewed this effort as one step in opposition to that drift. But he was also a medically-retired policeman who was addicted to painkillers and had a hair-trigger temper. He definitely intimidated those who disagreed with him to get his way on this issue.A moment at the trial, played for all it was worth by the author, summarized the comedy of errors that the Dover school board embraced in their decision to pursue intelligent design.Heather Geesey, a board member who went along with Buckingham, testified toward the end of the proceedings. She admitted that she only supported this to help Buckingham and Bonsall, that she had not read "Of Pandas and People," that she had not looked up any information on intelligent design, and she demonstrated a singular disinterest in any aspect of what she was mandating that the school district teach to students. After several frustrating responses to questions of Geesey by the prosecution, the examining attorney pursued a final question, whereupon Judge Jones told counsel not to bother by saying, "I don't know what you could possibly hope to achieve."One might use this comment in responding to the entire episode. What was the Dover school board seeking to accomplish by forcing intelligent design into the science classrooms? What was the proponents of intelligent design seeking to accomplish by advocating something they insist is not a religious position on human origins, but rather an alternative scientific theory? It seems that one of Judge Jones's final statements in his ruling is apropos here: "ID's backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the controversy, but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard. The goal of the IDM is not to encourage critical thought, but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID."This is an important and fascinating book, well worth the time and energy it takes to read and ponder it.

I had already read Gordy Slack's entertaining, 'The Battle Over The Meaning of Everything', account of Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District court case, and wasn't sure I could read another book on the same subject - especially as the title didn't immediately appeal to me. But 'Monkey Girl' had such good reviews, I got a copy of this as well, and feeling now as if I was beginning to become a fringe loony on the subject, began reading it. I am so glad that I did. I have been totally engrossed from prologue to epilogue. In fact, when I got to the epilogue I almost put it down, thinking I had the whole picture by now - but of course I couldn't - and continued reading, learning more about the extraordinary effects of this trial right to the very end. It really is the book to read. So balanced and wise. Reveals the breadth and depth of the whole episode and how undermining ID is to science and truth. Chapter 6 is an outstandingly excellent disertation on Darwin and evolution.The movement to get ID taught in schools is ushering in the dark ages. If it is allowed to become part of the education system it will send us back to the cave. I have a particular interest, having been brought up in a fundamentalist evangelical sect and being now a born again Darwinian - but I had no idea until I read this book and Gordy Slack's, how terrifyingly the forces of fundamentalism are ranged against any form of scientific truth. The book reveals how all the witnesses for the defendent (i.e. Christian fundamentalists) lied under oath and continue to lie now, by giving completely false accounts of the trial and besmirching the character of the judge.It is very important for people who have the understanding of what Darwin revealed to be aware of how his discoveries are being so corrupted throughout well-meaning western civilisations. Even here in the UK, ID is being promoted in the education system, and Tony Blair is in favour of it being taught. Most proponents, as the trial showed, know nothing about ID and even less about evolution.I was brought up to believe that Charles Darwin was an evil monster. It wasn't until I was in my late thirties that I was brave enough to read 'On The Origin of Species', and discovered this humble, thoughtful man who inadvertently did more to change the way we think about ourselves than anyone since Jesus.But just as Jesus' words have been twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Darwin is being maligned and lied about more than ever, by Christian fundamentalists. How interesting if the two of them could meet and compare situations!

There are few trials that can be held up as epoch-making but the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial in the US in 2005 can be held up as such an example. It became the latest battleground between science and religion and shows how pre age 16 school education became caught up in a war that has been going on for centuries.The author Edward Humes, manages to present this highly complex case in such a way the general reader is not left in a daze over what the evidence is or what the scientific terms that are inevitably employed in such a trail, means. The trial proceedings run to many hundreds of pages of evidence and the judgement to 139 pages. Both of these are intimidating documents to the general reader and this book makes for a first rate précis. That this is done without breaking what is a gripping narrative speaks highly for the quality of the writing throughout this book.The book itself details the events leading up to the trial and the attempts made by the Dover School Board to introduce religion in the guise of Intelligent Design, into the science class. It also shows how they tried to cover up what they were doing and exposes the lies they told in their original depositions that were presented to court. The background to the trial is well presented with detailed and clear expositions what constitutes the theory of evolution and what constitutes intelligent design which is not a scientific theory. The deeper background in the shape of the Kansas Evolution Hearings and the Scopes trial are also given their due. Particularly impressive is the manner in which the trial proceedings are covered in a way that makes them accessible with the major arguments being presented on both sides. Humes adds to the picture as well by detailing the media circus that surrounded certain aspects the trial and how this was exploited during the course of the trial.This book is amazing fair to all parties involved in particular those expert witnesses on the defence team that it would be all too easy to bash. Seldom has Michele Behe been given an image that shows him as both vulnerable and a somewhat unprepossessing spokesman for ID. We learn something of his background and see at what point he chose to depart from science and pursue intelligent design. The major fall guy in the case, William Buckingham, is again presented with the human failings that played their part in his downfall.The Discovery Institute and the Thomas More Law Centre however fare much less well. It is obvious from the start they have an agenda to push and it is clear they have a deceptive method to push it. Humes has spent a great deal of time researching the method used in addition to what came out at the trial and the picture that emerges is of a duplicitous religious organisation with a hard-line politico-religious agenda that has nothing to do with science. It is very clearly by the end of book and the reader is left in no doubt that the Discovery Institute is the principal villain throughout this process.Faring worst of all was the Dover School Board which proved to be an incoherent shambles in court. The mass ignorance concerning everything they brought into courtroom has been ably demonstrated by Hume. It emerges that the school board was ignorant both of the theory of evolution and intelligent design. None of them had read so much as one book on either subject at hand and none of them had consulted a single scientist whilst taking it upon themselves to redesign the science curriculum. Without actually stating it Humes manages to get his reader to question the mandate under which such a school board is allowed to operate and whether it is in the best interests of education in general.The hero of this book turns out to the prosecution lawyer, Eric Rothschild. Critically, Rothschild had a passion for science which meant the support he was given by the prosecution experts could be used to the best effect. His destruction of Michael Behe as a credible defence witness is superbly well chronicled and explained. What we have here is the benefit of an expert commentary whilst having the feeling we are actually in the courtroom during the trial. This above all else makes the book compelling.The judge, John E Jones III, is presented by Humes as an open minded and intelligent person, as keen to learn what exists at the heart of the issue as anyone else. It contrasts strongly with so much of the pre-trial literature being put out by the religious right that Jones was a man who would bow to the bidding of creationists and not upset the man who gave him his job, one George W. Bush. Throughout the book Jones the trial judge is given the role the reader assumes in that both have to make appraisal of the evidence presented. It is of course just another of the ways Humes manages to draw his reader into the narrative, but it is expertly done.Jones judgement has become famous in its right with his description of the actions of the Dover School Board as "breathtakingly inane" resounding in the mind long after the details have faded. This book will not be comfortable reading for creationists, but read it they should. It is high time they realised that pursuit of a highly divisive religious agenda that flies so deeply in the face of current scientific evidence is a doomed strategy. At the end of the book it is fair to say concerning the division between science and religion that belief is one thing, baseless stupidity is something quite different and not to be encouraged.In the decades ahead, this trial will be seen as THE one that defined what constituted science as opposed to religion and the position it occupies in US law. In this respect in it affect the lives of everyone who lives in the US and should for that reason be required reading.