Reviews

Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign Against Evolution by Edward Caudill

scarlettsims's review

4.0

It's virtually impossible to live in America in the 21st century and not be aware of the conflict between Creationism and evolution. Caudill gives an extremely informative and sometimes infuriating history of the Intelligent Design movement, starting with the Scopes Trial and leading up to the present. It's clear that Caudill doesn't agree with the standpoint of the Creationists, but he does give them a lot of credit for building a movement and creating a controversy where none (at least no scientific controversy) exists.

This is a scholarly work and not for a general audience. Caudill explores the politics and motivations of Creationists while assuming that the reader is familiar with the science. He doesn't feel the need to defend evolution; if you're interested in the evidence for that you can find any number of books on the topic. Caudill is writing about the growth of a movement, not to discredit or argue for either side.

Caudill has written a readable and enlightening guide for those interested in the intersection of politics, religion, and education, or for people who are already familiar with the arguments given by each side in this "debate" and want to know more about its history.

I received my copy of this book free from NetGalley.