Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania
    Unavailable
    40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania
    Unavailable
    40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania
    Ebook334 pages4 hours

    40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania

    By Matthew Chapman

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In this fascinating story of evolution, religion, politics, and personalities, Matthew Chapman captures the story behind the headlines in the debate over God and science in America.

    Kitzmiller v. Dover Board of Education, decided in late 2005, pitted the teaching of intelligent design (sometimes known as "creationism in a lab coat") against the teaching of evolution. Matthew Chapman, the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, spent several months covering the trial from beginning to end. Through his in-depth encounters with the participants—creationists, preachers, teachers, scientists on both sides of the issue, lawyers, theologians, the judge, and the eleven parents who resisted the fundamentalist proponents of intelligent design—Chapman tells a sometimes terrifying, often hilarious, and above all moving story of ordinary people doing battle in America over the place of religion and science in modern life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061870620
    Unavailable
    40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania

    Read more from Matthew Chapman

    Related to 40 Days and 40 Nights

    Related ebooks

    Occult & Paranormal For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The New Pride of Hollywood

      Sep 17, 2021

      The New Pride of Hollywood
      6 min read

    • Article

      Summers Of Urchins And Love

      Jul 29, 2019

      Summers Of Urchins And Love
      14 min read

    • Article

      The Best Panaceas for Heartaches

      Sep 22, 2017

      The Best Panaceas for Heartaches
      17 min read

    • Article

      Greg Snyder

      Nov 20, 2018

      Greg Snyder
      2 min read

    • Article

      This Essentially Meaningless Conflict

      Sep 22, 2017

      MARILYNNE ROBINSON’S accomplishments are impressive by any standard: she has won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the National Humanities Medal, among other honors. But perhaps a better measure o

      8 min read

    • Article

      Destroying An Idea Is A Path To Progress

      Aug 10, 2023

      Paul Nurse is a geneticist whose own heredity was entirely hidden from him until fairly recently, when he was forced to take a closer look at his birth certificate. There he uncovered a long-held family secret about his identity. He finds this irony

      4 min read

    • Article

      The 35 Best Health and Science Books to Read This Summer

      Jun 21, 2017

      Hopefully you have time carved out for some rest and relaxation this summer, but whatever will you read? We here at STAT have you covered.

      12 min read

    • Article

      The 39 Best Health And Science Books To Read This Summer

      Jun 25, 2018

      Need a new book to dive into? Check out the great health, medicine, and science reads on STAT's annual summer book list.

      14 min read

    • Article

      Just Because It’s Natural Doesn’t Mean It’s Good

      Aug 19, 2020

      What do anti-vaxxers and anti-GMO campaigners have in common? Underpinning both “antis” is a shared belief that because vaccines and GMOs are “unnatural,” they’re bad, which for many people—whatever their feelings about vaccines and GMOs—segues into

      9 min read

    • Article

      My One And Only

      Jan 27, 2020

      My One And Only
      4 min read

    • Article

      It Takes a City

      Apr 16, 2022

      It Takes a City
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Merit Trap

      Sep 1, 2018

      The Merit Trap
      21 min read

    • Article

      Evolution The Big Liee

      Oct 2, 2020

      Evolution The Big Liee
      4 min read

    • Article

      Reflections on Black History Month—and the Present for Black Scientists

      Feb 6, 2023

      Are Black scientists welcome and included in STEM fields and institutions? Senior Outreach Coordinator Tosin Fadeyi reflects on those who cleared the way for her to become a scientist, and what changes still need to happen for true equity and inclusi

      6 min read

    • Article

      How Much Do Parents Matter?

      Sep 15, 2016

      How Much Do Parents Matter?
      12 min read

    • Article

      Scientists Have No Defense Against Awe

      Jun 12, 2016

      Eileen Pollack, author of The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club, hinted at the complexity of the relationship between science and the soul in a recent essay: “We need scientists who recognize the reality of this illusion we st

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Meaning Of Intelligence

      Jun 5, 2023

      The Meaning Of Intelligence
      5 min read

    • Article

      They Had It Coming

      Apr 4, 2019

      They Had It Coming
      22 min read

    • Article

      Writers’ Circle

      Apr 8, 2020

      Writers’ Circle
      3 min read

    • Article

      On The Origin Of Species Had Been Banned?

      Nov 4, 2021

      John is a retired science research leader at the Natural History Museum, London in marine biodiversity, ecology and evolution, and regent’s lecturer at the University of California. His book, The Fall Of Roman Britain And Why We Speak English, will b

      5 min read

    Reviews for 40 Days and 40 Nights

    4/5

    51 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      An easy to read, enjoyable document of the Dover Intelligent Design trial, from the pen of one of Darwin's own descendants. Sometimes one can glimpse through the gentle humor just how perplexed the author is with the strange and weird world of American fundamentalism; most times, he's treating his subject with genuine affection as he interviews the principles on both sides of the case. His discussion of the case itself takes a different angle than that of the other writers who've covered the subject, a little less technical, but still interesting even for a biologist, because he tackles it more from the human angle, examining the various characters involved and getting up close and personal with the people of the town. His insights are often right on, though he does have the unfortunate conclusion that we need to teach intelligent design (in a proper way, to show its weakness), which betrays a lack of understanding of what is possible in the American school system. In England, where he went to school, it would probably be possible to have such a rationale discussion in science classes; in the US, you would immediately oopen up your classroom to chaos and religious proselytizing, and any teacher who tried to teach it correctly would be dubbed "un-American", "atheist", and "Communist" (as should have been readily evident from the events he witnessed in Dover. Still, it is a well written record of an important event, and should be enjoyable reading for those who are interested in the human side of the issue.
    • 4/5
      A very amusing summary of the Intelligent Design trial in Dover PA. Far more interesting than reading the trial transcripts, although the juicier sections are included here. The author points out weaknesses in the testimony on both sides, and avoids demonizing the participants he does not agree with (well, all but one, and she seemed to be richly deserving). I tore through this in less than one day, ignoring the 6 books in my "currently reading" pile. I would give this 5 stars for readability, but the overall subject is so topical that this book will not be one for the ages.
    • 3/5
      Chapman, who is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, here writes about the 2005 Dover PA trial regarding the school board's championing of Intelligent Design. He covers the trial with an old-fashioned reporter's flair. The cast of characters was so huge as to be hard to keep track of, though that's hardly Chapman's fault. Interesting throughout, except where he draws parallels to the Scopes trial- that part didn't work as well for me, I kept getting lost. What I really liked was Chapman's even-handed treatment of people he disagrees with. There were plenty of funny moments, but nary a mean-spirited one.
    • 3/5
      Half-flippant, half-sweet overview of the Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District court case, in which the school board attempted to introduce so-called Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution. When I first started reading it, I got violently ill and couldn't stop throwing up for 24 hours. (I don't believe it was related to the book.) On a second try, I liked it a lot more. It's pleasant and it can be funny. [author: Matthew Chapman] is a filmmaker by trade, He does a good enough job with expository writing, but it's a wholly different art form and now and then he seems out of his league. Still, I liked reading it.
    • 4/5
      An easy to read, enjoyable document of the Dover Intelligent Design trial, from the pen of one of Darwin's own descendants. Sometimes one can glimpse through the gentle humor just how perplexed the author is with the strange and weird world of American fundamentalism; most times, he's treating his subject with genuine affection as he interviews the principles on both sides of the case. His discussion of the case itself takes a different angle than that of the other writers who've covered the subject, a little less technical, but still interesting even for a biologist, because he tackles it more from the human angle, examining the various characters involved and getting up close and personal with the people of the town. His insights are often right on, though he does have the unfortunate conclusion that we need to teach intelligent design (in a proper way, to show its weakness), which betrays a lack of understanding of what is possible in the American school system. In England, where he went to school, it would probably be possible to have such a rationale discussion in science classes; in the US, you would immediately oopen up your classroom to chaos and religious proselytizing, and any teacher who tried to teach it correctly would be dubbed "un-American", "atheist", and "Communist" (as should have been readily evident from the events he witnessed in Dover. Still, it is a well written record of an important event, and should be enjoyable reading for those who are interested in the human side of the issue.
    • 5/5
      Incredible. A MUST read.Great-great-great grandson of Charles Darwin reports on the Dover, PA trial of Evolution vs. Intelligent Design.Funny, bright, well-written and researched.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. I thought Chapman presented the individuals involved in a fairly objective light. He helped bring out the character of those involved and this helped make them seem more human and not just names on either side of the issue. While his own views are obvious, I do believe he tried to point out the shortcomings of both sides. I think it’s a great read to get an idea of what happened in Dover in 2004 and how it serves as a microcosm of what is happening in other places.
    • 4/5
      A witty and personal account of the Dover, Pennsylvania Intelligent Design trial. Not exhaustive in detail, but quirky and a good, fun read.