c. 1931: Scopes Myth
(Rise of Evolution) (Evolution Challenged)
Scopes trial becomes Scopes myth. A popular-yet-inaccurate
history of the 1920s called Only Yesterday promotes a cartoonlike tale of the
Scopes trial. The trial is reduced to a simplistic battle between scientific
rationalism and blind, dogmatic faith. In addition, author Frederick Lewis Allen
mistakenly judges that Scopes was a decisive defeat for fundamentalism. The true
details of what took place in Dayton increasingly become obscure. Many Americans'
view of "the monkey trial" is shaped by satire rather than sound history.
c. 1940: Neo-Darwinism
(Rise of Evolution)
Neo-Darwinism adds new facts to Darwin's theory. By the early
1940s, the science of genetics has offered profound new insights into evolution.
Scientists now understand that random genetic mutations can cause changes in the
traits of organisms, and that such inherited changes are then spread throughout a
population by the mechanism Darwin called natural selection. "Neo-Darwinism" is
an updated theory of evolution combining modern genetics with Darwin's 19th century
theory. And a broad new model of the evolutionary process, termed the "evolutionary
synthesis," becomes the foundation of biology. Most scientists maintain this model
provides a sufficient explanation for data on the fossil record and the diversity
of living things.
c. 1942: Evolution Shunned
(Battle in the Schools)
Evolution shunned in U.S. schools. With textbooks effectively
censored by commercial concerns and many anti-evolutionist rulings and regulations
in place, the teaching of evolution hits a low point. In high school science
classes, particularly in the South, one of the greatest obstacles to teaching
evolution may be self-censorship. Many teachers and administrators fear offending
parents and community leaders. One concerned scientist later estimates that less
than half of all high school science teachers in the early 1940s taught anything
about evolution.
c. 1945: DDT
(Rise of Evolution)
DDT resistance is evidence of rapid evolution. In the first of
many cases to come, a powerful insecticide spurs the evolution of insects resistant
to its onslaught. DDT is widely used in the early 1940s, primarily to battle the
mosquito that spreads malaria. Just as Darwinian theory would predict, those
insects with traits that allow them to survive increase in numbers. Soon, DDT
resistance in insects is widespread. The same type of phenomenon soon will be
seen with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
1947-48: Supreme Court on Religion
(Battle in the Schools)
Supreme Court bans religion in public schools. For much of
American history, the constitutional limit on the establishment of religion was
interpreted to mean only that government should not give explicit preference to
any denomination. But in 1947, the Supreme Court rules that neither a state nor
the federal government "can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions,
or prefer one religion over another." A subsequent case in 1948, McCullum v.
Board of Education, bans religious instruction in public schools.
-> Go to 1950
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