Selected Product:
| The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America
Hardcover
Author: Lauri Lebo
Publisher: New Press
Release Date: 2008-05-13
ISBN-10: 1595582088
ISBN-13: 9781595582089
List Price: $24.95
Average Customer Rating:
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The page-turning story behind the 2005 intelligent design case in Dover, Pennsylvania—the case that made front-page news around the world.
"What happened in Dover is a tiny sliver, a broken shard of glass mirroring what plays out across the country. A war of fundamentalist Christian values versus secularism. A battle between evangelical fanaticism and tolerance."—from The Devil in Dover
In December 2004, following the Dover area school board's decision to teach intelligent design in ninth-grade biology classrooms, eleven parents sued, sparking a federal constitutional challenge. Lauri Lebo, a small-town reporter who covered the trial, knows not just the legal case and science, but the people on all sides of the divisive battle.
In The Devil in Dover, Lebo traces the compelling backstory of this pivotal case described by some as a perfect storm of religious intolerance, First Amendment violations, and an assault on American science education. In a community divided across unexpected lines, the so-called activist judge, a George Bush-appointed Republican, eventually condemned the school board's decision as one of "breathtaking inanity."
Lebo follows the story through its surprising twists, pondering whether this was a national war playing out in a small town or a small-town political battle playing out on the national stage. As a "local girl" with a fundamentalist Christian father, Lebo provides an account that is both fascinating and moving, as she thoughtfully probes one of America's most divisive cultural conflicts—and the responsibility journalists have when covering such a controversial story.
And in the Details
| Customer Rating: | The Devil in Dover was one of at least half a dozen books to have been written after Judge Jones handed judgment to the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District. The plaintiffs there had sued the school to restrain it from pushing through Intelligent Design as an alternative theory of science. More specifically, to stop the school from compelling its biology teachers to recite a one minute statement to that effect. Of the books mentioned, many were written by journalists and science writers who covered the trial. Lebo was one of them. Gordy Slack who wrote "The Battle over the Meaning of Everything", Edward Humes who wrote "Monkey Girl", and Matthew Chapman, a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, wrote 40 Days and 40 Nights. In addition, two experts who testified for the plaintiffs, Barbara Forrest and Kenneth Miller also wrote. Forrest up-dated her book "Creationism's Trojan Horse", co-written with Paul Gross; and Miller wrote a scientic exposition in "Only a Theory" on Darwinian theory of evolution.
Of the books written about the trial, I personally prefer Gordy Slack's for his wit and style. Humes is a close second. Chapman appears voluminous (I was reading from the hardcover edition) and is organised differently from the other two. Lebo's book is the most concise. She also covered it from the human angle, setting out more interviews with the persons involved from both sides. She also related her own uneasy realtionship with her Christian father. Gordy Slack too had a Christian father who could not understand his son's atheism. I would recommend all these books and also the 139-page judgment of Judge Jones. The Kitzmiller case had exposed the attempt by the proponents of Intelligent Design to pass it off as a scientific theory in court while using it as a weapon of creationism outside the court. They duly fell between the two stools. |
Lebo's pen has music and power
| Customer Rating: | Lebo's narrative both public and personal of Kitzmiller v. Dover has a polish that is rarely found in a book written by a journalist. While journalists by definition are writers and can make a short topical piece sing, it seems that many tend to have a rather leaden voice in a more complex and multilayered story.
Lebo is a rare exception. Her story of the clumsy machinations of the board members that ignore basic American legal and moral principles for religious reasons is well drawn and insightful. Not only does she act as the reporter, but shows the very human quality of all of the participants -- including herself.
Lebo's book is not only a gripping story, but can also serve as an example of superior writing. She is an ornament to the profession. |
If you have time to read only one book about Dover...this is the one to read
| Customer Rating: | As would be expected with a story such as Kitzmiller v. Dover, there are a number of accounts that have been published. I've read several, including extensive magazine articles. With all due respect to the other authors, they were written by those who swept in to cover the story and then moved on to the next project. Lauri Lebo, on the other hand, lived in the area, covered the Dover school board and the trial for a local newspaper and knew many of the key individuals as well as their religious communities. The result is that you get the "human side" of the story.
The book doesn't go into much detail on the scientific issues. However, the reality is that you're not really dealing with scientific issues when discussing Intelligent Design. The real questions in the case involved the obvious First Amendment issue as well as press-related topics. Other reviews of this book have questioned Lebo's "objectivity", but the case caused tensions within her own family and complicated matters with other individuals and her employer. She is candid about all of this and it adds to the quality of the book.
In summary, if you have only enough time to read one book about the Dover incident, this is the one to read. Then go read Judge Jones' decision online. |
much insight about the players
| Customer Rating: | | Yet another book on the Dover Intelligent Design case, and this may be the best of breed. Edward Humes' Monkey Girl has more on the science and strategy, but this book is tops on the effect of the case on the town. It's also by far the most explicit in exploring the perjury of the fundamentalist faction and the weak-kneed school superintendent. They come off as immoral and wilfully ignorant, not a pretty sight. Recommended for everyone interested in either science education or the malign intent of the Religious Right. |
Fascinating page-turner
| Customer Rating: | I read this book over the weekend and was impressed with Lauri Lebo's storytelling ability, detailed research, and array of footnotes, but what impressed me most was her empathy for those about whom she wrote. She tried to understand what motivated different points of view, even if she didn't always agree with those viewpoints.
As another reviewer mentioned, Ms. Lebo's relationship with her father was "complicated," but her love and respect for him were clearly evident. (I don't know which book the reviewer called "Darwin Researcher" read, but it certainly wasn't this one.) My relationship with my 91-year-old, deeply religious mother is also "complicated"; I share Ms. Lebo's dilemma.
I can't thank Ms. Lebo enough for writing this book and helping me to understand what happened in Dover. Too often, I and other friends in the secular community are only too willing to write off profoundly religious people as "loonies," which is patently unfair. The world is big enough for all of us. |
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