In recent years, a number of people have tried to take a dispassionate, objective look at the creation-evolution debate. These writers aren't trying to figure out who's right. They're trying to understand the history of the issue, why the debate has raged as long as it has, and what kind of people take up each side of the debate. These books probably won't help you figure out who's right, but they may help you understand the debate itself.
THE
BATTLE OF BEGINNINGS
Ratzsch, Del
c. 1996, InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0-8308-1529-5
In this book, Ratzsch tries to look past the C/E debate and figure out why neither
side seems to be making much headway against the other. His conclusion is that
most of the time, the two sides wind up talking past each other because they're
starting from very different views of the world and how it works. He makes some
good points, but personally I think he's too harsh on scientists and perhaps
a bit too sympathetic to creationists.
THE
CREATION CONTROVERSY: SCIENCE OR SCRIPTURE IN THE SCHOOLS*
Nelkin, Dorothy
c. 1982, W. W. Norton
ISBN: 0-393-01635
A look at the creationist organizations and their influence on schools and state
legislatures, in the context of the Arkansas and Louisiana creationism laws
passed in 1981.
THE
CREATIONISTS: THE EVOLUTION OF SCIENTIFIC CREATIONISM
Numbers, Ronald L.
c.1992, Univ. of California
ISBN: 0-520-08393-8
This is a very well researched and expertly written history of the modern American creationism movement. Numbers carefully traces the history of each major creationist strain, and documents the agreements and disagreements between different groups: old-earthers, young-earthers, day-age theorists, and so on.
DARWINISM
AND THE DIVINE IN AMERICA
Roberts, Jon
c.1988, Univ. of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0-299-11590-9
A study of the impact of Darwinism on nineteenth-century American religion and theology.
GOD'S
OWN SCIENTISTS: CREATIONISTS IN A SECULAR WORLD
Toumey, Christopher P.
c.1994, Rutgers Univ. Press
ISBN: 0-8135-2044-4
Christopher Toumey is a PhD anthropologist who specializes in the anthropology of science. This book is his attempt to "get inside the heads" of modern creationists, to understand why they believe what they believe and continue to fight against evolutionary theory. Toumey is himself a strong Catholic, so he's not hostile to religion. He really wants to understand.
SIX
DAYS OR FOREVER? TENNESSEE V. JOHN THOMAS SCOPES
Ginger, Ray
c.1958, Quadrangle Books
ISBN:
An examination of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial and some of its implications.
SUMMER
FOR THE GODS
Larson, Edward J.
c.1997, BasicBooks
ISBN: 0-465-07509-6
A new look at the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, in which John Scopes of Dayton, Tennessee was prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution in his school biology class.
TRIAL
AND ERROR: THE AMERICAN CONTROVERSY OVER CREATION AND EVOLUTION*
Larson, Edward J.
c.1985, Oxford Univ. Press
ISBN: 0-19-503666-2
Larson's first creation/evolution book. Another look at the history of creationism in America, from the nineteenth century through the creationism trials of the early 1980s.
