The Hundred Years' Trial: Law, Evolution, and the Long Shadow of Scopes V. Tennessee

A new account of the enduring cultural, legal, and scientific legacy of the 1925 Scopes Trial.

In The Hundred Years' Trial, Alexander and Harold Gouzoules explore the century-long impacts of the historic 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial," starting with the development of evolutionary theory and charting the resulting cultural and legal conflicts over evolution in the United States. Through a blend of legal history, scientific exploration, and cultural analysis, the authors reexamine how this landmark trial remains a pivotal moment in shaping modern debates on science, religion, and education.

The Scopes Trial became a symbol of a larger culture clash, where questions of academic freedom, the role of religion in public life, and the boundaries of state intervention are fiercely debated. This book uncovers the complex layers of this conflict, offering readers a broader perspective that extends beyond the courtroom drama. In tracing the legacies of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the authors analyze how the trial's outcomes reverberated through later Supreme Court cases and shaped public policies and educational standards well into the twenty-first century. The authors further illustrate how the dialogue surrounding evolution has contributed to contentious debates--not merely over the acceptance of evolutionary theory itself, but regarding emergent claims and interpretations that continue to generate public and legal scrutiny.

One hundred years later, the tensions between science and religious belief that were so brightly illuminated by Scopes are not only still with us, but also increasingly relevant to the perpetual cultural issues in the American political consciousness: abortion, climate change, and vaccines. The Hundred Years' Trial is vital for understanding not only how we arrived at our current political moment, but also where we go next in communicating science to a skeptical public.

Alexander Gouzoules is a legal scholar and associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. Harold Gouzoules is an evolutionary biologist and a professor in the department of psychology at Emory University.