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Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial
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Program Overview
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Through courtroom scene recreations and
interviews, NOVA explores in detail one of the latest battles in the war over
evolution, the historic 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case that paralyzed a community and determined
what is acceptable to teach in a science classroom.
The program:
traces how the issue started in the small, rural community of Dover,
Pennsylvania, and progressed to become a federal court test case for science
education. defines intelligent design (ID) and explains how the Dover School Board was the
first in the nation to require science teachers to offer ID as an alternative. chronicles the history of legal efforts involving the teaching of evolution,
beginning with the Scopes Trial in 1925 and culminating in 1987 when the
Supreme Court ruled against teaching creationism. summarizes Charles Darwin's original theory of evolution, as presented in
his seminal 1859 work, The Origin of Species. recreates portions of the trial from court records, noting that parents who
initiated the lawsuit set out to show that the board had religious motivations
for teaching ID. presents evidence for the prosecution, including transitional fossils and
genetic confirmation of Darwin's theory. reports testimony about the nature of science, including what a scientific
theory is, how science is done, and why ID is not science. presents evidence for the defense, including the idea of irreducible complexity
in structures like the bacterial flagellum, a system that provides propulsion
for some bacteria. shows a structure similar to the flagellum, but less complex, that functions in bacteria as an apparatus for transmitting disease. recounts how the prosecution found evidence showing that the text referred to
as a resource for ID, Of Pandas and People, had originally been a creationist text. presents
closing arguments and the judge's decision finding both that members of
the school board had religious motivations for introducing intelligent design
into the classroom and that ID was not a scientific theory.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after program is recorded off the air.
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