A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools
by Debbie Levy
Middle School, High School    Bloomsbury    256 pp.
1/25    9781547612215    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781547612222    $13.99

Levy takes readers back one hundred years to the sleepy town of Dayton, Tennessee, and the historic Scopes trial. At first glance, the time period—before television, the internet, and other modern sources of infotainment—seems far removed from our own. But as Levy suggests, and then explains in detail in an insightful epilogue, the issues of the trial—racism, disinformation, journalistic integrity, a distrust of science, control over school curricula, and the separation of church and state—remain with us today. She begins with a group of community leaders who want to publicize Dayton and believe a high-profile trial will accomplish the goal. They ask high school teacher John T. Scopes to admit he taught evolution in his biology class and thus violated a recently passed law. And the circus begins. The ACLU challenges the charges, and eminent lawyer Clarence Darrow joins the defense, opposing thrice-unsuccessful presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan and the prosecution. Using a breezy, conversational tone laced with subtle humor, Levy discusses the principal players and their motivations, Darwin’s findings, the legal arguments of each team, the media frenzy, and the trial itself. Archival photographs, newspaper clippings, and political cartoons bolster the detailed text. This fine, thoroughly researched book concludes with a timeline, source notes, an extensive bibliography, and an (unseen) index.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.