Lauri Lebo comes in rather late with her contribution to the books covering the Kitzmiller v. Dover "Intelligent Design" trial, but it was worth the wait. She grew up in the area and was the education reporter for one of the local papers before and during the trial. As such, she has an unmatched insider's view and goes more into the background and origins of the circumstances that led to the trial than any of the previous offerings. She was or became friends with many of the plaintiffs and even remains close to one of the creationist (former) school board members.

It's an intensely personal book at times, as she weaves her somewhat strained relationship with her father into the story. (He's a devout Christian while she's an agnostic at best.) She would like to believe in God but can bring herself to do it, while at the same time understanding the appeal of intelligent design. "Scientific proof of the existence of God?" she exclaims wistfully, early on. "Is such a thing possible? If so, it would give me what I desperately crave."

But she also covers events with journalistic thoroughness. Many threads came together in Dover: the Thomas More Law Center was looking for a test case to bolster intelligent design, while Americans United for Separation of Church and State were looking for a test case against it. Meanwhile, the Dover school board had explicitly talked about bringing creationism into the classroom, to considerable local controversy, but then backed off of that when the creationist members discovered intelligent design. However, that history would lead to the ugliest aspects of the trial.

That began in the pre-trial depositions, as the school superintendent and several board members were asked about this history. All of them denied any mention of creationism in past school board meetings, despite newspaper reports to the contrary.

The trial coverage itself doesn't begin until almost halfway through the book and takes up about a third of the overall text. It's an eyewitness account, but one from someone who wasn't just there in the courtroom day-to-day but who was up on the issues and the personalities coming in. Being familiar with the trial from following it myself as well as from the other accounts, I must confess I read this portion with great enthusiasm and almost too quickly, like a Dickens fan eager to get to the bit where Scrooge reforms.

There is both ugliness and beauty here, too: ugliness as the two newspaper reporters are subpoenaed to testify and who initially refuse because the defense attorney wants to question them about their religious beliefs. They finally give in once it's agreed that their testimony will be limited to standing by what they wrote. There's more ugliness when it becomes clear that Bill Buckingham and Alan Bonsell are shown to have lied in their depositions when they said they didn't know where the money for buying intelligent design textbooks for the school library came from, as the plaintiff's attorneys produce a check written by Buckingham for that purpose and made payable to Bonsell's father. (Bonsell and Buckingham, incidentally, did not show up in court on the day that the newspaper reporters testified that they talked of creationism during school board meetings.)

Beauty, at least to someone on the side of science, comes in two segments devastating to the defense: First, the discovery that the manuscripts for the intelligent design textbook, Of Pandas and People, went from using "creationism" to using "intelligent design" at the exact same time that the Supreme Court decided that the former could not be taught in schools. And, second, the withering cross-examination of the defense's star scientific witness, Michael Behe, who says that astrology is science and that a table full of microbiology papers and books aren't enough to explain the bacterial flagellum.

Between the trial and the verdict, Lebo takes a personal journey to a creationist museum in Texas, one that claims to have footprints of dinosaurs and men side-by-side. Perversely inspired by this experience, she gets a tattoo of the Flying Spaghetti Monster inscribed on herself.

The verdict, as you probably know, was a grand slam for the plaintiffs: the school board was guilty of "breathtaking inanity", and intelligent design was not science.

Nine days later, Lebo's father dies while ministering to men at a local prison.

The aftermath: The intelligent design movement has moved on the "teaching the controversy." The creationist school board members are voted out en masse. Dover, she references a science teacher as saying, "is the safest place in the country to teach science. ... Too many people are watching." Meanwhile, Lebo visits Buckingham in the hospital, and he calls her "friend."

There have been numerous books written about Kitzmiller v. Dover, and I've read most of them. Edward Humes' "Monkey Girl" remains what I would consider to be the reference account: dispassionate, balanced (at least as much as possible when two of the central figures are demonstrated liars), and placing the trial in historical context. The rest are personal to various degrees: "40 Days and 40 Nights", by Matthew Chapman (a descendant of Darwin), and "The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything", by Gordy Slack, are the two that I've definitely read. But if you're going to read a personal account, this is far and away the best. In fact, it covers both the personal and the historical aspects so well, I'd be inclined to say that if you read only one book about Kitzmiller, this should be the one.

The "Devil in Dover" is a near masterpiece. Author/Reporter Lauri Lebo's focus on the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial focuses on the people involved in the trial and the drama they experienced. The book covers the initial efforts to use the power of Dover's local school board to undermine the teaching of evolution and introduce competing religious beliefs through the post-trial ramifications for the people involved in the trial.

The plaintiffs are the parents, teachers, and attorneys who took a stand to defend public school students' constitutional and ethical right to be taught science in the science classroom rather than having it suppressed and possibly seeing it supplanted with discredited religious notions.

The defendants' story is also told; it primarily includes those who took over the school board to begin to implement such a process along with their legal counsel and a few of the key experts testifying on their behalf. Lebo also does an excellent job of reporting the testimony of the Dover School Board members in regards to their almost perfect ignorance of not only scientific methodology and the theory of evolution they rejected in spite of their ignorance, but even near total ignorance of their own religious ideas they proposed be included in Dover's science classrooms. Lebo does a near-genius job of providing a nuanced perspective of the defendants in spite of behavior from them that begs caricature, a classy job by Ms. Lebo to resist such temptation.

Part of Lebo's perspective, apart from being the local newspaper reporter for the trial, is that she's the daughter of a socially conservative Christian who owns the local Dover AM Christian radio station. Her father is a good man who unconditionally loves his daughter in spite of her doubt and unconditionally loves others in need. She's also a member of this small community where like all small towns, anonymity is impossible when taking stands and therefore tensions run high as relationships are strained. For those that grew up fundie and eventually were able to move beyond fundamentalist/evangelicalism's primitive, prejudicial notions, this aspect of the story will resonate. Other reasons the book is such a great read is the very personal perspective Lebo brings to the Dover Trial as the local newspaper reporter of record on the trial coupled to her distinguished and currently rare journalism skills as they pertain to reporting on the science/creationism controversy.

The rare aspect of her reporting is her not falling for a fallacy of balance angle like her newspapers' editors promote be used. Instead Lebo reports the facts in an honest framework; which is why her reportage is so consistent with the outcome of the ruling. We don't get "he said, she said" style reporting that her newspaper's editors believe was needed to achieve a "fair and balanced" story. We instead get "he/she said" backed with validated facts that either supports or invalidates the claims being made by the characters in the book. Bravo to Ms. Lebo for adhering to such high standards!

Some have criticized this book for not sufficiently reporting the scientific evidence that easily and overwhelmingly discredits creationism/ID along with providing the evidence that has caused the theory of evolution to become an unchallenged, peer-accepted theory given the overwhelming weight of evidence supporting the general hypotheses, along with a failure to adequately report the details of the arguments made by creationists and how those arguments have been falsified by empirical evidence. I would argue that would have detracted from the human drama Ms. Lebo discusses given that is a book or two length treatise in itself.

For a primer on the controversy one can do no better than read Judge Jones' ruling and opinion, which can be found at Wikipedia by searching for "Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District". The trial transcripts of the testimony by several of the witnesses also provide convincing evidence and extremely compelling reading of how easy the ruling was for the judge while presenting the evidence for evolution and the absurdity of the creationist/ID argument, especially the transcripts from the plaintiffs' witnesses: Barbara Forrest, Rob Pennock, and Kenneth Miller and the key transcripts for the defense: Dr. Michael Behe - the only remotely credible scientific witness in Dover's defense and how he's exposed as a fraud along with the Dover School Board members who implemented the new policy. If the reader would like to become better informed on the evidence for evolution, the best book to start with is U. of Chicago biology professor Dr. Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution Is True. For a treatise on the ID movement one can do no better than Dr. Barbara Forrest's Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design.

One excellent example of how the trial transcripts can't provide the reader with the total perspective of this debate is Ms. Lebo's reportage on how the plaintiffs and defendants acted in court when the technical aspects of the arguments were being presented. Lebo presents absolutely priceless material on who was actively engaged and listening, who was not, along with how the opinions of the creationists changed or did not change after hearing actual scientists present their evidence and case while having their scientific experts exposed as frauds. One debate about the nature of social conservatism and their adherents' near-total lack of intellectual honesty and almost total ignorance regarding science is whether they are virulently ignorant and/or just plain delusional; Lebo provides compelling raw material to help fuel such reasoned inquiry though limits herself to reporting the event, leaving the conclusion to the reader and relevant experts.

My criticism of the book is the lack of content responding to the apparently benign nature of the School Board's final requests for a minor change to the curriculum relative to the curriculum being taught. I think most Americans have this sense that evolution is being taught in their classrooms so what's the big deal if science teachers have to also incorporate a few minor challenges to such. Open-mindedness is a trait most Americans claim for themselves and claim to reward in others.

However the reality, which is under-reported in this book, is that most public school students are not sufficiently taught the theory of evolution, not even close. I believe this is a primary factor for most Americans rejecting the theory; anti-science arguments are almost always composed at least partially as an argument from ignorance. These people are simply not aware of the overwhelming physical evidence and our ability to utilize the principles of evolution as a key factor in technical innovation, especially in the health care and food industries.

While Ms. Lebo briefly covers this topic, I believe it's not sufficient enough to be convincing or provide an accurate perspective of the dearth of material covered in most public school science curriculums. I think having a discussion of the evidence college entry-level biology teachers believe should be covered in high school would be a good start. In addition, a review of how insufficient evolution is taught due to local Christianist pressure would have helped drive the point home to the reader to not consider the question a mere binary one. Most people do not know for example that only 25% of state school boards require human evolution even be taught at the high school level, let alone elementary school level where it should begin. Providing several pages arguing for the necessity of sufficient coverage throughout the elementary through high school to insure a retention of understanding would help compel more readers to take a look at the quality and volume of their own community's curriculum rather than merely asking whether evolution is taught or not taught. It would have also better personalized the issue for the reader, just like Lebo personalized her story that dramatically enhanced her book and its impact.

The Devil in Dover is another view of the most important and one hopes final (no such luck, I am sure) trial about the New Creationism, ID. This book contains some excellent blow by blow coverage of the trial. Some other books have covered this event as well or better, while others (some brilliantly sarcastic) have covered the entire topic or reviewed the historical battle between Bible-goggery and science, but this book offers a very personal view, as if you are sitting in the courtroom listening to every word. It may be too much of a personal thing, being a heady blend of biography and trial coverage, but it seems to work well for this author.

The most chilling statement comes near the end of the book, after the Creationists had been destroyed on the stand by the revelations of consistent lies, underhanded dealings, and complete ignorance of their own chosen subject matter. The author says: "I wish I believed that those who so confidently marched Dover into a federal courtroom represented a rare and isolated breed of American, that what happened could only have played out in Dover. But the truth is, this could have happened just about anywhere."

This is sadly very true. The War Against Science continues, day after day, in small backwater after backwater. Ignorance always rears its ugly head.

In The Devil in Dover, Lauri Lebo does a very good job of presenting the impact of the Kitzmiller et al v. Dover Area School District trial on the people of Dover, PA, including herself. I believe she is effective because she takes a journalistic and personal approach to look at the human side of the trial. Her qualifications and strengths don't allow her to prepare a book that breaks down and comments on the scientific strengths and weaknesses of each side in the intellectual design versus evolution debate, but that is our gain. Instead Ms. Lebo breaks down and comments on the impact on human lives. How communities breakdown and form coalitions based on beliefs, which is often not supported by knowledge of the underlying basis of their position (e.g., though it shouldn't, it amazed me that none of the Dover School Board members knew anything about intelligent design though they supported it completely). As we read, we can begin to appreciate that the same breakdown is probably avoided by a mere thread within our own communities and that we are all probably just a small push away from Dover.

I strongly recommend watching the Nova DVD "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" in conjunction with reading this book. The DVD and the book complement each other perfectly and make each other whole. The book and the DVD allow you to see that all parties involved on both sides include people we can easily recognize as our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and, just like Ms. Lebo, our family. While Ms. Lebo excellently captures the human side, the DVD provides a visually stimulating presentation of the science side as you get to see the scientist (or a surrrogate) on both sides explain their arguments.

Ms. Lebo presents a nice example on the extremist nature of the battle in an example that does not involve ID or evolution. At the York County Fairie Fest, a Pastor Grove stood outside the festival with signs informing children that the fairies were going to hell. A local person named Larry Sanders stood next to him dressed as Jesus telling the children that Jesus loved fairies. What pushes people like Pastor Grove to scare children in such a manner is incomprehensible to me but thank you to people like Larry Sanders for taking on the fight.

Thank you also to the good citizens and parents of Dover who also took on the good fight against intelligent design. As Ms. Lebo points out, the next round probably will involve the term "sudden emergence". Your strength though hopefully will make the next battle easier for people to enlist and quicker to resolve.

For Lauri Lebo, it was personal. She grew up in Dover, PA. Her father, whose radio station was on the brink of bankruptcy, became a born-again Christian when a local Christian group came in with cash to broadcast from the station. (This will cause a permanent rift between her and her father). She knew the people in the tightknit borough, as towns in the commonwealth are called. She is also a journalist, so her story of the trial is also professional. She will be vigilant about maintaining her journalistic integrity against the impulse of her personal convictions, pressure from her editors, and interactions with her father and neighbors. Personally, she will find common ground with the plaintiffs, their lawyers, teachers, and evolution. Her writing will reflect how townspeople drift apart, and form new circles and friendships as Dover becomes the epicenter of a landmark legal decision.

Fire requires heat, air, fuel, and the right chemical combination. Alan Bonsell, creationist, and chairman of the local school board, Bill Buckingham, board member and also a born-again Christian, the Discovery Institute which promotes intelligent design (I. D.) which encourages teaching "the controversy," and Thomas Moore Law Center will provide all the elements for ignition that will divide a community like fire and water. The entire board will provide litiginous combustion by voting for a mention of I. D. and the controversy in the classroom. The science teachers and a number of parents rebel. The ACLU and counselors from Pepper Hamilton in Philadephia represent the plaintiffs pro bono.

The plaintiffs' lawyers will have to prove that I. D. is creationism, not science, and that the board is willfully attempting to bring what they knew to be creationism in the classroom. With the apparent perjury and ignorance of Bonsell, Buckingham, other board members, they prove their case easily.

During the trial, Bonsell and Buckingham will continue to prevaricate about what transpired at earlier meetings. Minutes from those meetings will go missing. They will accuse two local journalists, one a devout Christian, that they were lying when they reported what they had heard first hand. Judge Jones will refer these "Christian gentleman" to the local district attorney recommending charges of perjury for their contradictory depositions and testimony. Townspeople will not forget that those who accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, bore false witness against their neighbors time and again. The Discovery Institute, as predicted, will accuse Judge Jones, a Republican recommended by right wing Senator Santorum and appointed by George W. Bush, of judicial activism. With the new board, there will be no appeal. The issue is dead. Ann Coulter will claim that liberals found a court that would hand them their decision on a silver platter.

Lebo shows the strain the trial takes on the community. Friends and neighbors of old barely notice each other in supermarket aisles. Four days after the trial ends, the people of Dover vote out every member of the board except Buckingham who resigned months earlier. They bring in an entire new slate of "evolutionists," more to put the past behind them than for their scientific or religious inclinations.

The real sadness, Lebo notes is how the defense abandoned one of I. D.'s staunchest defenders--Bill Buckingham because he mentioned Jesus Christ and creation in one of the earlier board meetings. They will characterize him as a drug addict and renegade. No one will visit Buckingham when he is hospitalized after the trial, not members of his church, not one minister, not one of his fellow former board members, not even Bonsell. Christian compassion will die with intelligent design.

The author sees Bonsell and Buckingham as pathetic figures. Bonsell will insist that Lauri "doesn't get it," that evolution is a theory not fact, even though Bonsell sat through the entire trial listening to the overwhelming scientific evidence presented. The $2,000,000 cost to the community will not dissuade him from being disruptive at future board meetings, or from acting as if he was somehow vindicated. Buckingham will insist that Jones knows nothing about the Constitution because it does not mention "separation of church and state." He will remain adamant. Lebo will remember Bonsell for his tenderness to his wife who suffered from breast cancer, and Buckingham for his love of the Philadelphia Phillies and bluegrass music.

Intelligent Design will disappear from Dover and a number of other states and municipalities that were thinking of bringing it into the classroom. A new "Panda-style" book that once substituted creationism with I. D. is now being drafted substituting intelligent design with sudden emergence. The people of Dover will be left to mend their differences and animosities.

Lebo quotes Romans 1:22 at the start of Chapter 9: Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.

It looks like they will always be with us.





Coincidentally, it's April Fools Day-once again.

For Lauri Lebo, it was personal. She grew up in Dover, PA. Her father, whose radio station was on the brink of bankruptcy, became a born-again Christian when a local Christian group came in with cash to broadcast from the station. (This will cause a permanent rift between her and her father). She knew the people in the tightknit borough, as towns in the commonwealth are called. She is also a journalist, so her story of the trial is also professional. She will be vigilant about maintaining her journalistic integrity against the impulse of her personal convictions, pressure from her editors, and interactions with her father and neighbors. Personally, she will find common ground with the plaintiffs, their lawyers, teachers, and evolution. Her writing will reflect how townspeople drift apart, and form new circles and friendships as Dover becomes the epicenter of a landmark legal decision.

Fire requires heat, air, fuel, and the right chemical combination. Alan Bonsell, creationist, and chairman of the local school board, Bill Buckingham, board member and also a born-again Christian, the Discovery Institute which promotes intelligent design (I. D.) which encourages teaching "the controversy," and Thomas Moore Law Center will provide all the elements for ignition that will divide a community like fire and water. The entire board will provide litiginous combustion by voting for a mention of I. D. and the controversy in the classroom. The science teachers and a number of parents rebel. The ACLU and counselors from Pepper Hamilton in Philadephia represent the plaintiffs pro bono.

The plaintiffs' lawyers will have to prove that I. D. is creationism, not science, and that the board is willfully attempting to bring what they knew to be creationism in the classroom. With the apparent perjury and ignorance of Bonsell, Buckingham, other board members, they prove their case easily.

During the trial, Bonsell and Buckingham will continue to prevaricate about what transpired at earlier meetings. Minutes from those meetings will go missing. They will accuse two local journalists, one a devout Christian, that they were lying when they reported what they had heard first hand. Judge Jones will refer these "Christian gentleman" to the local district attorney recommending charges of perjury for their contradictory depositions and testimony. Townspeople will not forget that those who accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, bore false witness against their neighbors time and again. The Discovery Institute, as predicted, will accuse Judge Jones, a Republican recommended by right wing Senator Santorum and appointed by George W. Bush, of judicial activism. With the new board, there will be no appeal. The issue is dead. Ann Coulter will claim that liberals found a court that would hand them their decision on a silver platter.

Lebo shows the strain the trial takes on the community. Friends and neighbors of old barely notice each other in supermarket aisles. Four days after the trial ends, the people of Dover vote out every member of the board except Buckingham who resigned months earlier. They bring in an entire new slate of "evolutionists," more to put the past behind them than for their scientific or religious inclinations.

The real sadness, Lebo notes is how the defense abandoned one of I. D.'s staunchest defenders--Bill Buckingham because he mentioned Jesus Christ and creation in one of the earlier board meetings. They will characterize him as a drug addict and renegade. No one will visit Buckingham when he is hospitalized after the trial, not members of his church, not one minister, not one of his fellow former board members, not even Bonsell. Christian compassion will also be dead.

The author sees Bonsell and Buckingham as pathetic figures. Bonsell will insist that Lauri "doesn't get it," that evolution is a theory not fact, even though Bonsell sat through the entire trial listening to the overwhelming scientific evidence presented. The $2,000,000 cost to the community will not dissuade him from being disruptive at future board meetings, or from acting as if he was somehow vindicated. Buckingham will insist that Jones knows nothing about the Constitution because it does not mention "separation of church and state." He will remain adamant. Lebo will remember Bonsell for his tenderness to his wife who suffered from breast cancer, and Buckingham for his love of the Philadelphia Phillies and bluegrass music.

Intelligent Design will disappear from Dover and a number of other states and municipalities that were thinking of bringing it into the classroom. A new "Panda-style" book that once substituted creationism with I. D. is now being drafted substituting intelligent design with sudden emergence. The people of Dover will be left to mend their differences and animosities.

Lebo quotes Romans 1:22 at the start of Chapter 9: Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.

It looks like they will always be with us.





Coincidentally, it's April Fools Day-once again.

Great book. Reads like a mystery. If you've seen the movie or read 'Inherit the Wind' you will understand that the battle is not over. Free thinking is always under attack. Fanatics have no ethics and religious fundamentalist (read fanatics) have no idea what their religions actually teach. Fundamentalists are dangerous be they Muslim, Jewish or Christian. Ideology trumps both common sense and evidence. Your freedom is to believe as they believe or else. Friendly persuasion - what's that?

The book isn't what I was expecting, and didn't match what I was looking for, but is nevertheless a decent book for what it does set out to be.

It's fairly light on the actual arguments made for and against evolutionary origins of species, which was mainly what I was hoping for; instead, it primarily focuses on the individual lives, personalities, motivations, flaws and strengths of the various people on both sides of the conflict, and including herself.

She does do a good job of establishing the repeated dishonesty of the members of the Dover school board, all the more amazing that they seemed utterly unaware of having committed perjury, even when directly confronted with the proof of having lied under oath, and their ridiculous double-speak, insisting that intelligent design had no ties with religion while at the same time condemning its detractors (many of whom were deeply religious) as religion-intolerant atheists.

I can't help but think that the book would be much more effective if it were written to appeal more to those who needed to be persuaded that intelligent design is not in any way a scientific theory, which is in fact the case for a very large portion of the US populace. As it is, much of her text seems to assume that you already understand this, and so she is essentially "preaching to the choir".

"Devil" is about the famous Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board case, in which the court ruled that intelligent design was a religious theory, not a scientific theory, and therefore could not be taught as science in Dover's public high school science classes.

The book is intensely personal. Lebo grew up in the Dover area (as did I), and her book contains a lot of background information about the area and its inhabitants that isn't in the other books about the trial. She also provides a lot of specific, personal information about the local individuals and families involved in the trial; and the courage of the plaintiffs in standing up to the religious bigotry and bullying of the School Board and its supporters really comes through.

Lebo's discussion of the trial itself is a little on the short side, but the essence of both the plaintiffs' and the defendants' science arguments is summarized reasonably well. The bottom line is that ID was advertised to be a theory about the causal mechanisms behind biological origins, but the ID-iots' star witness, Michael Behe, despite spending three days on the witness stand, could not describe even a single one of the alleged mechanisms. Not even one!

In sharp contrast to Behe's futility on the science issues, the plaintiffs' witnesses, especially Barbara Forrest, had no trouble at all in exposing the religious motivations behind ID. And that's probably why the case was so easy for Judge Jones to rule on. A theory that does essentially no science but spends inordinate amounts of time on religious issues is probably a religious theory, not a scientific theory. Duh.

Some of the highlights of the book were Lebo's discussion of the strong possibility that the defendant's legal team, the Thomas More Law Center, induced several of their witnesses to lie under oath and the stunning ignorance of the School Board members, who couldn't even describe what "intelligent design" meant, even after they'd voted to make it a required part of the biology curriculum. Such ignorance, stupidity, and arrogance -- as well as the dishonesty -- seem to be par for the course in the ID movement.

Another interesting part of the book was Lebo's discussion of her own father's position. Lebo's father, recently deceased, was a staunch, Christian supporter of the Dover ID-iots, and his support did not waiver, even after their shocking dishonesty had been exposed. How sad, that supposedly moral Christians would simply ignore such rampant dishonesty. It's reminiscent of the recent scandal in the Catholic Church, where for decades bishops turned a blind eye to the sexual predators in their parishes and simply pretended that everything was alright.

I suggest that if Christians want to be taken seriously on moral issues, then they ought to do something about the rampant dishonesty associated with the Christian ID movement, just as Catholic bishops were finally forced to do something about the sexual predators they'd been coddling for so long.

Every week, one of the evangelical Christians who supported the teaching of Intelligent Design in Dover, PA schools drove to the nearest maximum security penitentiary to `bear witness' to the inmates. On their release, he would find them jobs and homes. One - not strong enough yet to live alone - lived with him for months after his release. They became `best buddies' as the Americans have it. This same man still supported the Dover Area School Board when its members - to a man and woman - perjured themselves in court, telling Judge John E Jones that they had never discussed creationism at Board meetings. This despite the fact that Fox News had television footage of one member doing just that. The man who supported the liars and visited the penitentiary was Lauri Lebo's father. He died there, in the midst of visiting an inmate who needed his help.

Lauri Lebo covered the Dover intelligent design case (Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District) and finished up so disenchanted with Christianity by the end of it she got a tattoo of the Flying Spaghetti Monster just above her butt. What set her apart from other journalists who converged on the Harrisburg, PA courtroom when the Area school board tried to insert Intelligent Design into the science curriculum was the fact that she was a local (she worked for the York Daily Record). She knew most of the plaintiffs and most of the defendants. Her father - the prison visitor - ran the local Christian Radio station, one of a plethora of `talk radio' outfits that blossomed across the US after 1987, when the Federal Communications Commission rolled the `Fairness Doctrine`.

Forced by geography to be scrupulously fair, her book on the case, The Devil in Dover, is one of the best lay accounts of a complex and controversial trial I've ever read. That apart, she doesn't write off people she knows as `wingnuts' and `nutjobs', because she knows they aren't. But she also doesn't let them off the hook when they lie for Jesus.

Somehow, this book manages to rise above politics, skewering the comfortable notions of `Red' and `Blue' that have become part of the world's political vocabulary thanks to the 2000-2004-2008 US election cycles. Her skill at noting the telling detail is particularly effective: one of the plaintiffs seems like a boiler-plate anti-affirmative action, gun-totin' small-town Republican who cheerfully drinks in a pub 20 feet over the county border because, ahem, Dover is a Dry County. But he's also a science teacher who knows the difference between science and religion. One of the defendants, an upstanding member of the Board and successful local businessman turns up and chews gum throughout both examination-in-chief and cross-examination (no, it doesn't bear thinking about. Lebo's description is both hilarious and nauseating). This is quite apart, of course, from lying under oath.

Then there's the George W. Bush appointed judge who the defendants are completely confidant they have in their pocket (they don't, and his judgment is both a model of judicial reasoning and a textbook account of just why we have the separation of powers).

Best of all are the pen-portraits of the various lawyers, from the ACLU and the Thomas More Law Centre, both circling for a test case. The image of a lawyer engaging in a version of champerty (Thomas More's counsel encouraging the Board to change the school curriculum `and we'll defend you when you get sued') or putting full-page ads in local papers in order to drag in potential plaintiffs (the ACLU) certainly gives one pause, especially for those lawyers trained in Australia or the UK.

Comics (and others) on all sides of politics have had great mileage out of portraying the other side as `liberal wieners' or `right-wing nut jobs', without imagining just what or who is behind those words. This is particularly the case in the creation v evolution battle. It is possible to make a strong case for some socially conservative positions (particularly on Roe v Wade, in part because the ruling took the decision away from the legislature, thereby producing serious democratic deficit). Creationism, by contrast (even in its muted `intelligent design' form) simply invites mockery. Not just `unscientific', it's a ludicrous form of anti-science. In fact, Charles Johnson memorably described the newly-opened `Creation Museum' in Kentucky as an `Anti-Museum'. Instead of disseminating information, it actively obfuscates it - a visual version of `if your baby does not like spinach, try boiling it in milk'.

Lebo's book is not particularly optimistic; at one point she laments `we're never going to fix this'. She then comments:

"My father will leave this world believing he will never again wrap his arms around his daughter, that despite eternal life (eternity? Oh God, what a concept), we will never be reunited. Rather, he believes that I will exist in a place `where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched'.

If you believe this, truly believe this, then how could anything else matter? The First Amendment, scientific reality, the truth? All this would mean nothing. I grasped this. And for those of us who don't believe, can't believe, we have to bear the weight of this fear."

Imagining our enemy's honour is likely the most difficult thing one has do, and yet liberal democracy demands it of us. In ages past, we fought against and killed those who disagreed with us. Now we contest alternative visions at the ballot box, and try to be gracious winners and honorable losers. Lauri Lebo's book is a fine exercise in that tradition. I cannot recommend it too highly.

As a person who abhors ignorance, especially that based upon religion this book was terrifying. The quote from the presiding judge is appropos.

The book is accurate and provides rich details concerning the lead up and the pitch-the play by play of what happened in Dover. And, most especially, how many Christians in that community were outraged by the high handed actions of the School Board.

Hint: Being a Christian, even one who professes to be fundamentalist, is not a priori evidence of one's being a brain dead zombie. Science is science and religion is religion and many of the devout can tell the difference ( and participated as plaintiffs in the case ).

So read the book if you want to understand what happened in Dover. Yes, many fundamentalist Christians don't see the line between religion and science and , indeed, most or at least many don't comprehend the intent of the first amendment.

But that first amendment gives them the right to speak their convicions openly. The Bill of Rights also gives them the right to organize and campaign politically to have their ( wrong ) ideas and objectives cast into law. That's what courts are for....to apply the Constitution to errant acts of both citizens and government.

So, let us not forget the inherent rights of the villians in this tale.

But I have a problem. I am not a true believer in the full platform of either the extreme right or left. I'm not partisan and don't belong to a political party. On some issues such as this one......the truth of evolution....I am hard left. On other issues I am hard right. So I have to watch my tongue lest I be attacked when among lefties or righties. Why argue? Most adults settle their core beliefs by age 18 anyway and most won't back down. It's a waste of time. Closedmindedness is, I firmly believe, a basic human trait. Not that I profess to be open minded. It's just that somehow my "core" beliefs are all over the map politically.

But, as Steven J. Gould frequently said, it's a sad thing that humans have to have it either all one way or all the other.....because, frequently the truth lies at neither extreme. ( to paraphrase his comments that humans naturally dichotomize issues-which, I think, is to save energy having to think for yourself.

I found the underlying tone in this accurate and insightful book to be partisan left. That's OK. The author tried to place this particular issue and the trial in the larger context of core beliefs of a portion of the populace ( of which I am not a part incidentally ). However, I think it's much more complicated than she comprehends.

I found highly partisan comments related to presidential elections, presidential politics, international affairs and other areas such as abortion rights that she believes are directly related to the mindset of the no nothing morons of the anti evolution crowd.

Hello, it's more complicated than your book makes it out to be and you would have been well advised to stick to the topic at hand. I suppose that these gratuitous comments add a certain luster to hard lefties ( Did I mention I am more intelligent to believe that one side or the other has a monopoly on the truth? ) view of this book. We can tell that the author is a true believer in the one side that has a 100% monopoly on the real facts.

But, aside from the partisan undertone, the book is excellent.

Remember, by definition, half the population has a less than average IQ. Most people in this literate nation or any other literate nation, could not even begin to form a coherent description of how the process of evolution works even if they cared in the least.

Remember also, that while Christian fundamentalists are capable and willing ( in the name of God of course as Christian soldiers etc ) to usurp the rights of others there are religions on this earth whose abuses of basic human rights are much worse. Anyone from New York City should be well aware of this as he nurtures his hatred of fundamentalist Christians on the grounds of their evil acts. It's a very bad thing to force your religious view upon others in the guise of science. However, this is a small thing compared to many other heinous acts humans commit in the name of their gods and religions.

If you've never met a true believer in intelligent design or creationism you have missed a illuminating experience. You ask them if they believe in evolution and they say of course not. You ask them if they have ever studied the subject of evolution or know anything about it. They tell you they would never study such godless lies and are proud they know nothing of that evil theory. They will tell you that there is no reason to study or understand something that they know to be totally wrong in advance. Yes, it's scary. To be ignorant is one thing but to be proud of it and offer it as a badge of honor and belief is quite another.

I remember in my childhood and youth being advised to check the first pages of any book I was interested in reading for the latin phrase "nihil obstat" . Pardon me if this is remembered incorrectly after 50 years. It means that the book has been reviewed by the keepers of the faith and that they find "no objection" to faith or morals in the pages within.

Keeping a faith pure from adulteration and change is important in the minds of the firmly orthodox. No doubt the fervent fundamentalist protestant would recoil at the idea of Latin words as a preface to their approved reading list. However, they would certainly agree with the idea. It was these two Latin words, though, that taught me one of life's most important lessons, think for yourself, and that drove me from the very religion that was trying to keep me safe from heresy.

Out of the handful of books written about the Dover "intelligent design" trial, "Devil in Dover" is the only one written by a local Dover resident. Lauri Lebo's book is different from the others in several ways, nonetheleast of which is the author's ability to give us a feeling for what Dover was like before intelligent design came to town, and an insider's view of what it will be like after it never shows its face again.

When the "theory" of intelligent design was first tossed around as a "supplement" to Dover High's biology curriculum, Lauri Lebo was there, and there she remained as a staff writer for the York Daily Record. She was there not only for the ensuing trial, but for all the local grumblings at cantankerous school board meetings. Her book is a reflection of this; she is an insider and is able to paint a picture as only an insider can.

Devil in Dover is not only a beautifully written account of Dover v. Kitzmiller et. al., but also a journalist's deep reflection on the nature of her craft. Lebo's dilemma through the whole trial, which she recounts here, was to balance the journalistic maxim of neutrality and impartiality with the idea of telling the truth. If the evolutionists had the stronger case (they did), then how does one produce a piece of journalism that professes neutrality towards both "sides?" If intelligent design is premised on disingenousness and/or ignorance (it is), then should one avoid saying so in journalism just to remain neutral?

In the end, Lebo took sides. While watching the trial unfold, Lebo concluded, quite rightly, that ID is a fraud, that the schoolboard lied in their intentions (which were religious rather than educational), and that and intelligent design is little more than a subterfuge. We the readers are able to watch Lebo's change from an impartial journalist who was uneducated about science, to an impassioned journalist who learned enough to know that ID is junk science. And she does a good job at expaining why.

While Lebo's book is not the best blow-by-blow JOURNALISTIC account of the trial (that may be Humes's "Monkey Girl," or Sack's "Battle Over the Meaning of Everything), it is probably the most thought-provoking. Lebo treats us not only to a first-hand account of the trial (though not in as much detail as the two aforementioned), but gives us a lot to think about: what is the nature and obligation of journalistic objectivity? what does it mean to be a Christian? Why did a school-board turn the author's home town into a laughing stock? etc.

As and end to the review, I have read all the books about Dover v. Kitzmiller by now (including the Discovery Institute's own "Traipsing Into Evolution"). Lebo's book is the first that really got me thinking that not only did ID deservedly lose, but that this trial was truly the worst possible thing that could happen to ID. It lost the case, was made to look duplicitous thanks to an inempt school-board, was lambasted by a REPUBLICAN judge in a 100+ page opinion, and was squarely trounced in EVERY DETAIL in the courtroom. This book, perhaps more than others, makes the reader very aware that not only did ID lose, but it got creamed.

Lauri Lebo was witness to a pivotal moment in American History, although most people still do not know how important that trial in Dover was. Her first hand knowledge of the people involved in the case since they were from the same small town of Dover gave her unique insight. She was able to follow the histories of the various participants and the relation of those people with the places and culture that defined that area since she herself was a part of it since her own childhood.

With her insight she was able to see how the national battle of the religious right to invade science education caused divisions among neighbors and within families that never existed before. She saw and documented these effects in a way that an outside journalist could not. Her story was able to tie in the motivations, strategies, and on going battles occurring at the national level between those who want to further the aims of the fundamentalist Christians and those who defend our civil rights as well as scientific integrity to the very tactics used by the foot soldiers in this war.

I highly recommend this book as it provides the reader up close and personal accounts of the battles going on to defend our rights. It provides the reader with a good description of the casualties resulting from this battle. And it provides inspiration to the readers to take a stand against those people who desire power over the way our country thinks, those who cloak themselves in false credentials, false patriotism, and false piety.

Written from an insider's perspective, this book exposes the emotional part of the Dover incident much better than Monkey Girl was able to. Both books need to be read to understand the dishonesty of the right-wing, anti-science crazies in our society. Why, when enjoying the benefits of science (antibiotics, microwave oven, cell phones, agriculture, just to name a few), they want to retreat to the Dark Ages is beyond understanding. Read this book and re-read it.

The Devil in Dover was one of at least half a dozen books to have been written after Judge Jones handed judgment to the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District. The plaintiffs there had sued the school to restrain it from pushing through Intelligent Design as an alternative theory of science. More specifically, to stop the school from compelling its biology teachers to recite a one minute statement to that effect. Of the books mentioned, many were written by journalists and science writers who covered the trial. Lebo was one of them. Gordy Slack who wrote "The Battle over the Meaning of Everything", Edward Humes who wrote "Monkey Girl", and Matthew Chapman, a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, wrote 40 Days and 40 Nights. In addition, two experts who testified for the plaintiffs, Barbara Forrest and Kenneth Miller also wrote. Forrest up-dated her book "Creationism's Trojan Horse", co-written with Paul Gross; and Miller wrote a scientic exposition in "Only a Theory" on Darwinian theory of evolution.

Of the books written about the trial, I personally prefer Gordy Slack's for his wit and style. Humes is a close second. Chapman appears voluminous (I was reading from the hardcover edition) and is organised differently from the other two. Lebo's book is the most concise. She also covered it from the human angle, setting out more interviews with the persons involved from both sides. She also related her own uneasy realtionship with her Christian father. Gordy Slack too had a Christian father who could not understand his son's atheism. I would recommend all these books and also the 139-page judgment of Judge Jones. The Kitzmiller case had exposed the attempt by the proponents of Intelligent Design to pass it off as a scientific theory in court while using it as a weapon of creationism outside the court. They duly fell between the two stools.

The Devil in Dover was one of at least half a dozen books to have been written after Judge Jones handed judgment to the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District. The plaintiffs there had sued the school to restrain it from pushing through Intelligent Design as an alternative theory of science. More specifically, to stop the school from compelling its biology teachers to recite a one minute statement to that effect. Of the books mentioned, many were written by journalists and science writers who covered the trial. Lebo was one of them. Gordy Slack who wrote "The Battle over the Meaning of Everything", Edward Humes who wrote "Monkey Girl", and Matthew Chapman, a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, wrote 40 Days and 40 Nights. In addition, two experts who testified for the plaintiffs, Barbara Forrest and Kenneth Miller also wrote. Forrest up-dated her book "Creationism's Trojan Horse", co-written with Paul Gross; and Miller wrote a scientic exposition in "Only a Theory" on Darwinian theory of evolution.

Of the books written about the trial, I personally prefer Gordy Slack's for his wit and style. Humes is a close second. Chapman is voluminous and a bit less organised and smooth flowing than the other two. Lebo's book is the most concise. She also covered it from the human angle, setting out more interviews with the persons involved from both sides. She also related her own uneasy realtionship with her Christian father. Gordy Slack too had a Christian father who could not understand his son's atheism. I would recommend all these books and also the 139 page judgment of Judge Jones. The Kitzmiller case had exposed the proponents of Intelligent Design attempt to pass it off as a scientific theory in court while using it as a weapon of creationism outside the court. They duly fell between the two stools.

Lebo's narrative both public and personal of Kitzmiller v. Dover has a polish that is rarely found in a book written by a journalist. While journalists by definition are writers and can make a short topical piece sing, it seems that many tend to have a rather leaden voice in a more complex and multilayered story.

Lebo is a rare exception. Her story of the clumsy machinations of the board members that ignore basic American legal and moral principles for religious reasons is well drawn and insightful. Not only does she act as the reporter, but shows the very human quality of all of the participants -- including herself.

Lebo's book is not only a gripping story, but can also serve as an example of superior writing. She is an ornament to the profession.

As would be expected with a story such as Kitzmiller v. Dover, there are a number of accounts that have been published. I've read several, including extensive magazine articles. With all due respect to the other authors, they were written by those who swept in to cover the story and then moved on to the next project. Lauri Lebo, on the other hand, lived in the area, covered the Dover school board and the trial for a local newspaper and knew many of the key individuals as well as their religious communities. The result is that you get the "human side" of the story.

The book doesn't go into much detail on the scientific issues. However, the reality is that you're not really dealing with scientific issues when discussing Intelligent Design. The real questions in the case involved the obvious First Amendment issue as well as press-related topics. Other reviews of this book have questioned Lebo's "objectivity", but the case caused tensions within her own family and complicated matters with other individuals and her employer. She is candid about all of this and it adds to the quality of the book.

In summary, if you have only enough time to read one book about the Dover incident, this is the one to read. Then go read Judge Jones' decision online.

Yet another book on the Dover Intelligent Design case, and this may be the best of breed. Edward Humes' Monkey Girl has more on the science and strategy, but this book is tops on the effect of the case on the town. It's also by far the most explicit in exploring the perjury of the fundamentalist faction and the weak-kneed school superintendent. They come off as immoral and wilfully ignorant, not a pretty sight. Recommended for everyone interested in either science education or the malign intent of the Religious Right.

I read this book over the weekend and was impressed with Lauri Lebo's storytelling ability, detailed research, and array of footnotes, but what impressed me most was her empathy for those about whom she wrote. She tried to understand what motivated different points of view, even if she didn't always agree with those viewpoints.

As another reviewer mentioned, Ms. Lebo's relationship with her father was "complicated," but her love and respect for him were clearly evident. (I don't know which book the reviewer called "Darwin Researcher" read, but it certainly wasn't this one.) My relationship with my 91-year-old, deeply religious mother is also "complicated"; I share Ms. Lebo's dilemma.

I can't thank Ms. Lebo enough for writing this book and helping me to understand what happened in Dover. Too often, I and other friends in the secular community are only too willing to write off profoundly religious people as "loonies," which is patently unfair. The world is big enough for all of us.

The lead attorney and the lead defendant appeared disinterested during the infamous Dover trial. Attorney Thompson didn't brighten up until his daily exit from the courtroom, when he became alive - playing to the press about how successful that day was. Defendant Bonsell just smirked most of the time - a higher power had already told him he was right. Thompson was willing to accept this defeat for the ultimate fight where his side would be vindicated - The Supreme Court. Unfortunately for him, the voters in Dover kicked out the defendant school board. There's no way the new board would appeal the decision.

The author, a journalist with a local newspaper, made friends with witnesses and participants on both sides. A Dover home town girl, her fundamentalist father's biggest worry was whether she was going to go to heaven. Several times each week, they managed superficial talk about the trial, each favoring a different side. Meanwhile, she was torn between an assumed journalist's creed - that both sides be presented - versus this situation, where one side carried all the logic and the other was full of deceit and misrepresentation. She asked herself whether a journalist should have to grant intelligent design equal status with evolution when only 1-2% of mainstream scientists consider ID to be a science. Was it fair for her boss at the newspaper to pressure her to change her daily news stories about the trial when the obvious truth was, the plantiffs had a convincing case and the defendants - those who weren't just deluded - were lying?

This is a gripping story about the modern version of the Scopes trial with a personal touch by the author. Her dad died while the trial played itself out, never getting the satisfaction of seeing his (mostly) agnostic children see the "truth."

DB

For those of you who like a quick and dirty review -- Excellent Book!

For those who like a little more, I'll get the praise out and then head more into the meat. I enjoyed Ms. Lebo's first hand account of the what happened in Dover. Not only is it well written, but it offered perspectives that you cannot get from reading trial transcripts or even reading the local papers before, during, and after the trial. The only way I think you could get any better picture is if you are a Dover resident and were in the middle of the action yourself. I recommend anyone interested in the Trial read this book. You will get a much more personal view of all that happened and a deeper appreciation for the personalities involved.

As you might be able to tell, I did enjoy this book. At times heart-rendering and at other times infuriating. Once the trial started I had trouble putting it down. I finished it at about 4AM, which might give you a clue how good it is!

It's not a very long book, only about 250 pages, but what she says doesn't require more. She dives briefly into the people involved, some personality and some education and background. She could have written so much more, but it wasn't really needed. She managed to give you a feeling for the personalities involved that went beyond the normal brief blurb in a newspaper. She get you insight into the workings of the Thomas More Law Center and the Discovery Institute, in addition to the obvious subject, the Dover Area School Board.

She also added a very human element, something you don't get in newspapers, how she herself felt and how the trial impacted her personally. It helped bring the story together on a level that nothing had for me previously. I mean there have been very good, factual books on the case, but this book made it personal.

She laid bare not only the actions of the school board members, but their motivations. She showed us some of the weaknesses journalistic coverage and also its strengths. When the two journalists were accused of lying! That part of the book had me riveted! They handled it with such professionalism, that she made me proud to know such people exist in a trade that doesn't get much positive press itself. Her own efforts against an editor trying to get her to 'balance' her coverage more was spot on! As was her recollection of the trial, it was fascinating without being as long winded as the trial itself certain was -- I did read the transcripts, all the transcripts! She also took us past the trial and saw some of the aftermath, for herself personally and also the others involved.

It's that understanding of character that has me place this book well above the other two I have read on the trial. I enjoyed the legal machinations in "40 days and 40 nights"by Matthew Chapman and the more extensive coverage of how Dover fits into the larger Evolution/Creationism debate in Edward Humes "Monkey Girl", but the personal nature of the characterizations Lebo describes really brought the trial home for me.

I recommend this book to anyone!

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town AmericaIf you wish to understand the effect of a fight between Creationists and Science Defenders all you have to do is read local journalists book The Devil in Dover. Then, if you haven't yet watch the DVD of Nova's report called JUDGEMENT DAY.

I have learnt from this book the emotional effects on all those in 2005, with the Lies for Jesus being used by so called Christians. Their behaviour was not Christian and they know it, yet they deny it. They cames so close to a separate charge from Judge Jones III, that I thought it may have continued.

Science is science and Religion is Religion. Under the US Constitution, any government body cannot install a religious subject into the curriculum of Science.

So read it and learn how fundamentalist evangelical christians wish to set up a Dominion just as al Quadia does in Arabia. Are they terrorists, not yet, but the mold is being set.

As a local Pennsylvanian reporter who covered the Dover trial, Lebo was an ideal person to write this book. She already knew many of the people involved in the trial (on both sides) and was able to give each "character" a personal background that made the story even more compelling. Equally important is the fact that Lebo considers in the book what it means to be objective, both in science and in journalism. She argues that in science objectivity is not simply "presenting both sides," and neither should it be in journalism. Presenting two sides of an issue is not balance if A) there are more sides than that, or B) it gives the impression that both sides are equally right, and equally represented. In the case of evolution, this mistake is made all of the time. The whole "teach the controversy" premise appeals to our sense of fair play by demanding that dissenting voices be heard-- no matter how wrong and rare those voices may be. But just like you can't vote on the sex of a rabbit, you can't vote on whether evolutionary theory is accurate or not. Lebo's editor put pressure on her to make the ID proponents look better when covering the trial for the sake of "objectivity," but in fact doing so would have required her to be dishonest about what was happening. In actual fact, members of the Dover school board lied on the stand. Their "expert" testimony was absolutely shredded by the prosecuting attorneys, and Judge Jones referred in his decision to the "breathtaking inanity" of the decision to try and insert Intelligent Design into a science class in the first place.

Of course it's interesting for journalists to record in their stories that there are people who think that evolution is wrong, and shouldn't be taught in schools. But there should be no requirement to present these people as having scientific authority, because they do not. The media is a great tug of war, but when it comes to science much reporting simply falls on its face because of the pretense of "presenting both sides." Lebo, thank goodness, does not fall for this trap, and she eloquently explains why-- even while playing out the story of the Dover trial, and making the reader fully understand what kind of people it took for this whole event to happen.

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America, was a easy read that at times tells much more about the author than the trial. It was more of an autobiographical account than an examination of the trial. She clearly does not like theists and relished making fun of them, partly, as she made clear, in reaction to her love-hate relationship with her father. She describes him as a very good man, generous to a fault, but yet seemed to resent him only because he was, in her words, very religious. When he died she said little more than "I woke up on New Years Day, realizing that I, along with the rest of my agnostic family, had inherited a fundamentalist Christian radio station" (p. 206). No kind words, regrets, or I miss him, he was a good father. Not even some words about his funeral. After all, most everyone when they die have good things said about them. This was surprising in that so much of the book was about him. She did, mocking Christians, thank the "Flying Spaghetti Monster, without whose spiritual guidance this book would not be possible" (p. 226). The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is an attempt to mock those who believe in God, an attempt that many people find beyond very offensive, but openly hateful. Having the "Flying Spaghetti Monster tattooed on her body in an embarrassing place hardly showed much professionalism. She had endless unkind words for, often mocking, theists who took their religion seriously, and endless kind words for most everyone else, especially ID opponents who could do no wrong according to her book. Her account of the trial testimony was very inaccurate, as anyone who takes the time to read the transcript will soon determine. One gets the impression that she believed people who need faith are weak, and those who don't are strong. Last, accusing people of things for which the evidence was flimsy was irresponsible.

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-town America, was a easy read that at times tells much more about the author than the trial. She clearly does not like theists and relished making fun of them, partly, as she made clear, in reaction to her love-hate relationship with her father. She describes him as a very good man, generous to a fault, but yet seemed to resent him only because he was, in her words, very religious. When he died she said little more than "I woke up on New Years Day, realizing that I, along with the rest of my agnostic family, had inherited a fundamentalist Christian radio station" (p. 206). No kind words, regrets, or I miss him, he was a good father. Not even some words about his funeral. After all, most everyone when they die have good things said about them. This was surprising in that so much of the book was about him. She did, mocking Christians, thank the "Flying Spaghetti Monster, without whose spiritual guidance this book would not be possible" (p. 226). Having the "Flying Spaghetti Monster tattooed on her body in an embarrassing place hardly showed much professionalism. She had endless unkind words for, often mocking, theists who took their religion seriously, and endless kind words for most everyone else, especially ID opponents who could do no wrong according to her book. Her account of the trial testimony was very inaccurate, as anyone who takes the time to read the transcript will soon determine. One gets the impression that she believed people who need faith are weak, and those who don't are strong. Last, accusing people of things for which the evidence was flimsy was irresponsible.

This is a powerful and wonderfully-told story--but in many ways it's a very sad story. Lebo points out that Pennsylvania has one of the strongest religious freedom constitutional guarantees in the country. This states (in part) "no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship." After the decision, the right and the Christian right--or rather, I should say, those who like to call themselves the Christian right--bitterly assailed the judge as an "activist" working against the constitution, and the plaintiffs and much of the media for being anti-God.

Lebo was a local person: she knew many of the people. She has integrity, which as she relates, often worked to her detriment in the trial. Her boss seemed very concerned at times: he wanted Lebo's reporting to make it seem as if the drama that was playing out in the courtroom was going equally well for both sides, when clearly such was not the case. Maybe the sports section would have had a headline "Penn State Slips Past Dover State 92-0", although the Dover trial was not quite that lopsided [63-3 is more realistic, perhaps]. Lebo describes her father, a fundamentalist, who often makes the same joke about the ACLU being the "American Communist Lawyers Union", a minister who believes that anyone who does not accept the entire Bible literally cannot ever be called a Christian, and others on both sides. Many of the plaintiffs showed great courage--vituperative attacks on their children at school, death threats, and the like. So what you get is a very personal view of the case--something virtually impossible for an outsider to achieve.

There's a lot of disillusionment for Lebo--seeing reporters she knows and respects accused of lying about what was said at school board meetings and threatened with jail--defamation by supposedly Christian people who claimed the Bible as their guide, but who showed no hesitation in committing perjury for their cause. Lebo remembers asking herself plaintively "How can they lie like that in Christ's name?" When videotape contradicts sworn testimony, you have a problem, as Judge Jones certainly did. There's a wealth of detail about the testimony on both sides, and the view of the community is compelling reading. A fine book, powerfully told!

Laurie Lebo's book is the best of the four recently (in the past year) published texts because she shares her personal struggles with her newspaper editors as well as with her father and other significant participants in the case involving the Dover School District and the plaintiffs over the issue of sharing with the students in 9th grade biology class alternative theories to evolution.
She submitted daily reports for the local (York) morning paper during the trial as well as covering major events leading up to the trial.
A most moving and educational experience!

It is indeed difficult to find words adequate to express my deep appreciation for Lauri Lebo's excellent account of the recent evolution vs Intelligent Design trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. In "The Devil in Dover" she leaves no doubt that the advocates of Intelligent Design, formally known as "Creation Science" (an oxymoron if ever there was one) are not scientist but fanatical Bible thumping evangelicals whose sole objective is the bootlegging of a literal interpretation of the Old Testament Book of Genesis into the legitimate science class room.

I'm especially grateful for her brief but comprehensive explanation of mutation and natural selection, the twin driving engines of evolution on pages 99 - 101. Everyone should read this book.

Louis W. Cable, Geologist (ret.)
Lufkin, Texas

This is a good book. But more than that, it's an important and necessary book.

As a journalist myself, I was particularly disturbed by the actions that Ms. Lebo describes on the part of her newspaper's management. According to her account, they pressured her to soft-pedal the defendants' obvious lies in her coverage, and to refrain from taking part in a conference dealing with the issue of evolution.

Their concern, apparently, was that she would appear too "partisan" in a case where one side was clearly lying. Ms. Lebo suggests that the real issue was a reluctance on the part of her newspaper's ownership to anger fundamentalist readers.

This kind of pandering is all too widespread in the modern news media, and has implications that go far beyond the teaching of evolution.

Think about the years in which tobacco companies tried to deny a link between smoking and cancer, bolstered by a handful of disreputable scientists-for-hire who vainly attempted to contradict a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Think of the parties who still insist that global warming doesn't exist, for purely financial and political reasons.

Scientific facts are not subjective opinions, which news stories are obliged to counterbalance with the views of somebody who simply feels differently. They are either supported by credible evidence, or they are not.

Too many news outlets don't acknowledge that distinction. At best, they simply don't understand it. At worst, they willfully ignore it out of sheer intimidation and call it "objectivity."

The irony, of course, is that intentionally distorting the truth is the very opposite of objectivity. Until newspaper owners understand that, they'll never effectively meet their obligations to keep members of the public informed and empowered.

Fortunately, some courageous journalists like Ms. Lebo are still around to point that out.

It was a very compelling read. That's particularly impressive when you consider the subject matter, and how easily a lesser writer could have become bogged down in legal and scientific descriptions that would baffle a layman like myself.

The issues in themselves are fascinating and important. But Ms. Lebo's ability to succinctly characterize the major players kept me reading. An affecting account of Ms. Lebo's attempts to connect with her fundamentalist father in the midst of the trial adds considerable emotional heft to the book.

In Ms. Lebo's writing, you can see a genuine kindness of spirit. She's appropriately forthright in calling out the liars and manipulators in the story. Yet she has an apparently sincere desire not only to out them, but to understand them as well -- to make a connection that will allow for actual communication.

At a time when so much public discourse consists of little more than shrill accusations and insults, that's good to see.

I had been steadily working on analysis of an experiment that I will be presenting later this month, but Sunday afternoon a line of thunderstorms blew through here, and somewhere in there the power went out. My work laptop runs out of juice quickly when running Avida, so that's closed up. There's only so much playing with the puppy that I can handle at a time, and somehow I feel a need to do something.

Several of my fellow bloggers at the Panda's Thumb have been talking about journalist Lauri Lebo's new book, "The Devil in Dover". There's about five who say that they are in various stages of writing reviews to be blogged here, there, or published in the mainstream media. And they all, to a man (yes, all of them are male), love it. About ten days ago, Lauri Lebo even gave me a personally inscribed copy (I contributed a photo for the front of the dust cover design and set up her personal website for the book). I hadn't gotten around to actually reading the book, though, until the lights and power went out, reducing my options. But I have to say that the book is good enough to wish for a power outage. I have remedied that piece of ignorance with the help of a flashlight and a couple of changes of battery and can now speak to the content in the about two hours that my personal laptop has available in its battery charge.

The first thing to say is that Lauri's book (and I do hope that I am not unjustly taking liberties in our acquaintance to say "Lauri") is not just a journalist's compilation of data, but rather an intensely personal book. There are several threads of personal involvement that Lauri takes up here. Perhaps the most touching is her relationship and estrangement from her father, who converted to fundamentalist Christianity several years ago and persistently searched for signs that Lauri would also be "born again" as he had been. But also there is the personal struggle with those in her profession who misconstrue journalistic "objectivity" perversely as a charge not to speak the truth when a situation indicates that a "side" is plainly in the wrong.

And that leads to the second thing to say about Lauri's book here, which is that as a local reporter and acquaintance of most of the principal dramatis personae of the Dover-area Kitzmiller v. DASD dustup, Lauri delivers what will likely stand as the closest approach to getting inside the shoes of not only the plaintiffs, but several of the defendants as well. In particular, Lauri was able to relate to Bill Buckingham, infamous as the school board member that even the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) repudiated, in a way that got beyond the blunt and confrontational style he was known for in the months leading up to the lawsuit. The TMLC betrayal led Buckingham to the brink of suicide, Lauri reports, and then to his early resignation from the Dover school board. Lauri's descriptions of Buckingham's frailties and foibles don't gloss over or diminish his truly monstrous behavior, but they do lend a humanizing touch to someone otherwise known primarily or only for his unswerving intolerance of the religious views of others.

The third thing to say about Lauri's book is that she has managed to pretty well linearize a complex storyline involving parallel actions by many players, and this is no mean task. One can have, in a few hours of reading, an excellent overview of the chronology of events going back to tension in 2002 over a student-painted mural depicting human evolution and displayed prominently in a science classroom at Dover High School, and up to the period around the filing of the decision by Judge Jones. The centerpiece of this is the condensation of the events in the courtroom during the trial itself, for which Lauri relates that she had a front-row jury-box seat. She relates here the testimony of the plaintiffs as they had to relate to the court what harm they had suffered as a result of the school district's "intelligent design" policy. In the cases of Fred Callahan and Cyndi Sneath, these are revealed as piquant moments of eloquence and directness in the courtroom, rebutting the defense contention that the policy's statement in the classroom was brief, modest, and without further issue.

The plaintiffs's expert witnesses awoke interest and respect from the journalists, while the defense's primary expert, Michael Behe, managed to turn off almost everyone present during his direct testimony. Lauri's description of the abrupt return from boredom as Eric Rothschild cross-examined Behe is worth the price of the book, laying bare the platitudes and sound bites Behe had come to rely upon as a facade resting upon, well, nothing. And here one encounters something that Lauri exposes through the book, and that is the obliviousness of the Dover school district's "intelligent design" advocates and their chosen defenders to how their statements and actions were taken by others. In Behe's case, Behe left the courtroom apparently well-convinced of having given a sterling performance, though later Lauri filed her story and was remonstrated with by her editor to lead with something positive for the defense's case that day. "No, they did nothing," she said, "Rothschild eviscerated them."

The courtroom provided the denouement for the tragi-comic story of the principal "intelligent design" advocates on the school board who chose to lie rather than expose their policy to a possible temporary restraining order. The depositions of those people taken in early January, 2005 provided clear evidence that Bill Buckingham and Alan Bonsell purposely concealed information pertaining to the purchase of 60 copies of the "intelligent design" textbook, "Of Pandas and People". Steven Harvey provided the courtroom confrontation between established fact and the defense witnesses' impossible prevarications. Lauri notes again the apparent obliviousness of the witnesses to their peril, though Alan Bonsell apparently came to some realization there in the witness stand under grilling from Judge Jones himself. I think Sheila Harkins dodged a bullet here, as Lauri's description of the school board president's testimony again documents that oblivious trait, but mercifully does not convey the full bizarre spectacle that Harkins conveyed as a witness. I happened to be there, am not that merciful, and was dumbfounded that any attorney could have so ill-prepared a witness for giving testimony. Harkins chewed gum throughout her time in the stand, fidgeted nearly constantly, and sometimes answered questions while holding her face in one or both hands.

The lawyers of the Thomas More Law Center did not go unobserved. Lauri provides descriptions of their part in the affair from fomenting the Dover school board's participation in a "revolution against evolution" through their sometimes lackluster courtroom performance. In particular, Richard Thompson is revealed as a man on a mission to whom all others are secondary considerations, including the people that his law firm agreed to "shield" from legal challenge. Thompson's sole concern, as related in the book, was putting a court record together to take to the Supreme Court. Given this view, it is perhaps understandable that TMLC did not take the same sort of care in preparing their witnesses that the plaintiffs' attorneys did. The witnesses weren't the real issue for Thompson, so poor posture and failure to enunciate were apparently simply not on the defense legal team radar as things to avoid. That's on the minor side; on the major side is what role, if any, did TMLC have in the concerted effort by the school board advocates for "intelligent design" to deny the plain truth that they had come to their position by first looking to incorporate creationism in the science classroom. Lauri's conclusion is unfortunately true, that we may never know what went on there, but the outcome was to propel Dover into the national spotlight.

A fourth thing to say about Lauri's book is that Lauri is a masterful wordsmith and constantly comes up with descriptive gems. Her verbal acumen coupled with her comprehensive knowledge of the local milieu gives us an account that is a pleasure to delve into.

"My mother taught me to love the smell of puppies' milk breath, and the feel of their bellies taut and round like hard-boiled eggs. She taught me to stretch out, my face pressed in the grass, the laundry snapping above me on the clothesline, to indulge the drowsy feeling of sunshine on the back of my head."

"My father pointed to the sky at night and taught me to dream of infinity. On hot summer evenings, he wrestled with his children, like kittens, in the grass until long after teh sun went down. Then we lay on our backs in the grass and watched the stars. I'd shine a flashlight into the sky, gazing at the beam of light disappearing into the dark. Millions and millions of years from now that light will reach those stars, my father told me. I'd try to follow the beam with my eyes and ponder this until I grew dizzy."

Are there errors in the book? Of course, any book length project will collect its share of those. Most of these fall into the category of quibbles, as in Lauri referring to the National Center for Science Education's "Project Steve" as "Project Steve Steve". The other class of error is one that follows from the fact that the book is short. There simply is not enough space here to recount the involvement of all the people who contributed in some way to the remarkable events in Dover and Harrisburg in 2004 and 2005, nor to fully document those who are mentioned in the book. Lauri's choices here play to her strengths in having the local background, and this combination of focus and brevity brings a cohesion to the book that balances the cost of excluding various actors from a chance at the stage. Those would include defense experts Scott Minnich and Steve Fuller, whose testimony goes unremarked in the book, or the various disappearing defense witnesses, who either get brief mentions in other contexts or who go wholly without notice here.

But the book was not intended to be an encyclopedia entry, and it brings home the human experience of having to confront religious intolerance when one cares deeply about the intolerant people. It is an easy path to demonize or villainize those who chose intolerance as their approach, and Lauri avoids this simplification. The book begins and ends with Lauri's prickly and ultimately unresolved relationship with her father, who died days after the decision in the case came down. The bond of love between the two is manifest, and in some way prepares us to see that even for the rest of the folks pushing things they shouldn't, that they have a reason in their unreason to take the course they do. Conceding to their demands for intolerance is not an option, and Lauri celebrates the resolve of those who challenged the Dover school board's "breathtaking inanity" while respecting the dignity of those who partook in the inanity. It's a deeply moving account, and if you haven't yet read it, it is time to put it on your list, buy it for a friend or loved one, and otherwise pass along the word that here is a read that is both challenging and rewarding.

Do it now. Don't wait, like me, for a power outage.

I received my copy of Lauri Lebo's "The Devil in Dover" last night, and I am sorry that I have finished it. It was a fast read. Lebo's work stands out among the other books written about the Dover Panda Trial for the strongly personal nature of the book. This stems from both her familiarity with all the Dover locals, but even more personally, agnostic Lebo uses the trial as a mirror to her personal relationship to her fundamentalist father and doing so illuminates both. After the trial was over and the news vans packed off to the next story, Lebo stayed because Dover is her home, and "The Devil in Dover" is as much her story as any other participants.

If you are more interested in a book that places intelligent design and the Dover trial in the context of America's struggle over creationism and science, Edward Humes, "Monkey Girl" (2007 New York: Harper Collins) will probably be more to your liking. And Matthew Chapman's 2007 book, "40 Days and 40 Nights" (New York: Harper Collins), has a clearer focus on the legal machinations. But neither of them can come close to Lebo's understanding of the Dover school board's character, the plaintiff parents or the citizens of Dover.

If Fundamentalist Protestant Christian religious zealots Alan Bonsell and Bill Buckingham had sought to introduce the teaching of Intelligent Design in the biology classrooms of New York City's Stuyvesant High School, then theirs would have been an utterly spectacular failure, recognized by many as a blatantly brazen attempt in injecting religion into science classrooms. Why? Though in recent years Stuyvesant High School may be better known as the high school where best-selling memoirist Frank McCourt taught English and creative writing for nearly two decades, the school itself has a nearly century-old reputation as America's foremost high school devoted to the sciences, mathematics and engineering; the prestigious alma mater of such distinguished alumni as the late Joshua Lederberg - one of the school's four Nobel Prize laureate alumni - former president of Rockefeller University and a leading pioneer of molecular biology, mathematician and University of Chicago president Robert Zimmer, political pundit Dick Morris, molecular biologist Eric Lander, leader of one of the two teams which sequenced successfully the human genome, and physicists Brian Greene and Lisa Randall. Neither its principal (who has vowed in public that Intelligent Design will never be taught there as long as he serves), nor its faculty, nor its parents would have permitted it. Furthermore, had sixty copies of Intelligent Design "textbook" "Of Pandas and People" appeared suddenly in the school's library, I am certain that some enterprising students might have used them in a "scientific experiment" testing their buoyancy in the briny waters of the Hudson River (For an insightful look at Stuyvesant High School itself, I strongly encourage readers to buy my friend Alec Klein's "A Class Apart", which is available for purchase here at Amazon.com. In the interest of full disclosure, both Klein and I are fellow alumni of Stuyvesant High School and Brown University.).

Located in the southeastern corner of the state of Pennsylvania, the small rural town of Dover is not New York City; its high school, Dover High School, probably doesn't come close to matching Stuyvesant's celebrated academic excellence. Nor does the town of Dover resemble, even remotely, New York City's cosmopolitan religious and ethnic diversity. Instead, Dover is located in Pennsylvanian Dutch country, and, like much of the United States, part of a Fundamentalist Protestant Christian "Bible Belt" in which most of its citizens are devout Christians who strongly believe in the Bible's literal truth, and they regard, with ample suspicion and hostility, an "atheistic" idea like Darwin's Theory of Evolution via Natural Selection. In such an environment, it isn't surprising that former Dover Area School District board members Bonsell and Buckingham succeeded in persuading the board to adopt a policy sympathetic to the teaching of Intelligent Design. However, it is surprising that they did so contrary to the wishes of Dover High School's science faculty, who clearly understood that theirs was a deceitful effort towards introducing a religious doctrine (Intelligent Design) into the high school's 9th grade biology classrooms. Indeed, much later, at the conclusion of the Kitzmiller vs. Dover trial, Judge John E. Jones III would harshly condemn the Dover Area School District board for ignoring the sound advice of these teachers and acting against their wishes.

Among the many reporters covering the six week-long Kitzmiller vs. Dover trial in the Fall of 2005, the finest included several local reporters, such as York Daily Record's education reporter Lauri Lebo, whose "beat" covered the First Amendment issues raised by the Dover Area School Board's advocacy of Intelligent Design. Now, in "The Devil in Dover", Lauri Lebo has written a terse, but quite compelling, personal account of the trial, told from the perspective of someone who knew many of those involved in the unfolding legal drama (For example, she mentions Bill Buckingham in the acknowledgements section of her book, still counting him as a friend simply because of their mutual admiration for bluegrass music and his excellence as a raconteur.). It is an intensely personal account, since Lebo had to wrestle with personal demons, both during and after the trial, hoping to reconcile herself to her father, a "Born Again" Fundamentalist Protestant Christian, and the owner of the local radio station devoted exclusively to "Christian" programming. It is also a splendidly written account, replete with a simple, almost poetic, prose style, that could remind readers of Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" in its sincerity. It is also the most riveting account I have read yet of the Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District trial, and one which deserves to take its place alongside Edward Humes' "Monkey Girl" and Matthew Chapman's "40 Days and 40 Nights" as the finest books published so far on the trial itself.

Lebo quickly introduces us to those on the Dover Area School District board like Bonsell and Buckingham, who were passionately advocating Intelligent Design, without making a serious effort in trying to understand it and in determining whether it was truly a "viable" scientific alternative to contemporary evolutionary theory. Indeed, I am delighted that Lebo also provides a remarkably complete summary of the origins of the Intelligent Design movement, mentioning briefly the now infamous "Wedge Document", whose crypto-Fascist objectives included the successful introduction of Intelligent Design "theory" into science classrooms throughout the United States; her coverage only lacks the ample detail and insightful analysis of the movement that is found in Edward Humes' "Monkey Girl". She suggests that the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks evoked a strong spiritual reawakening among many Americans, especially those in Dover, creating a political and cultural atmosphere which led inexorably to a school board quite sympathetic to the teaching of Intelligent Design in Dover High School's science classrooms, even if its members were only vaguely familiar with its principal tenets like the concept of "Irreducible Complexity". Hers is an appealing, quite compelling, argument, but one I am quite skeptical of, for several reasons, the least of which is recognizing that Intelligent Design creationism and other kinds of creationism had enjoyed ample support among Fundamentalist Protestant Christians long before the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks. I had known people like Alan Bonsell and Bill Buckingham many years before, as a Brown University undergraduate, within its Campus Crusade for Christ campus chapter membership; many of its leaders were friends, with whom I had much in common politically, while ignoring our radically divergent interests in science and religion. Indeed, I became the "token" "Darwinist" on an "Ad Hoc Committee on Origins" which sponsored a "Creation Science vs. Evolution" debate held at Brown's hockey rink, between Henry Morris, the president of the San Diego-based Institute for Creation Research, and Ken Miller, a young assistant professor of biology, who had recently returned to his undergraduate alma mater (The debate resembled a religious revival meeting of the kind described so vividly by Lebo, since most of those present were from Fundamentalist Protestant Christian churches in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.).

It is clear from Lebo's compelling saga that the Dover Area School District board, led by the likes of Bonsell and Buckingham, was "boldly going" where no other school board had gone before, in its blatant effort at injecting Christianity into Dover High School science classrooms during the summer and fall of 2004. A board that was ignoring not only the educational guidance provided by veteran teacher Berta Spahr and her Dover High School science colleagues, but also defying the wishes of its own attorneys, who recognized the potentially perilous course that the board was undertaking towards a potential First Amendment lawsuit against itself. Not only a potential First Amendment lawsuit, but also potential charges of perjury loomed, after several board members, including Bonsell and Buckingham, denied under oath that "creationism" was discussed at several acrimonious board meetings, which were covered by two of Lebo's York Daily Record colleagues and another journalist from a local television station. They also refused to admit, again under oath, how sixty copies of the Intelligent Design textbook "Of Pandas and People" were purchased from money raised via a "private" church donation. Lebo deftly switches back and forth between the board's shenanigans to the potential interest shown in its activities from the National Center for Science Education, the Discovery Institute, and the Thomas More Law Center, whose attorneys would serve as the board's principal defense attorneys during the Kitzmiller vs. Dover trial.

Without question, the most riveting portions of "The Devil in Dover" are Lebo's extensive recollections of the trial testimony itself. Reading her version of events during Ken Miller's cross examination by defense attorney Patrick Gillen and Intelligent Design advocate Michael Behe's bizarre exchanges with lead plaintiff attorney Eric Rothschild over the very definition of science and the evolutionary implications of immunology, one is left indelibly with a strong impression of how important these testimonies were in Judge Jones' well-reasoned, and well-stated, decision; a decision that was not replete with instances of "plagiarism" and "judicial activism" - as many Intelligent Design creationists and other creationists have contended frequently here at Amazon.com, their own websites like Bill Dembski's Uncommon Descent, and elsewhere - but instead, a brilliant legal document which underscored Jones' keen understanding of what constituted valid science - contemporary evolutionary theory - and why Intelligent Design was really a fraudulent idea whose primary aim was to inject "Christian" religious values into science classrooms. Yet the "missing link" that tied Intelligent Design to religion, was unearthed by philosopher Barbara Forrest in a brilliant piece of detective work; her courtroom testimony may be the most compelling that I have read from any of the books devoted to this trial.

In "The Devil in Dover", Lauri Lebo demonstrates how she became a committed journalist interested in reporting only the truth, ignoring the pleas from her editors to offer "balance" between the opposing sides. A commitment for which she paid dearly in losing the trust and respect of her father, and then, finally, her decades-old job as a local newspaper reporter. But a superb commitment in support of the truth that we, the public, should salute Lauri Lebo for her ample courage and determination in putting an end to "The Devil in Dover". Hers is a book which deserves a wide readership, especially since the Discovery Institute is still aggressively pursuing its crypto-Fascist Wedge Strategy, as though it was some latter day group of Visigoths, Vandals and Huns, seeking to destroy all that is noble and just in Western Civilization. Oddly enough, by mere coincidence, not by "Intelligent Design", it is being published mere weeks after the debut of Ben Stein's pathetic cinematic mendacious intellectual pornography, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed", which contends that there is a virulent mainstream scientific "witch hunt" against Intelligent Design advocates, and equates most odiously, "Darwinism" with Nazism. "The Devil in Dover" also deserves ample critical acclaim as one of the best books published this year; it is truly a spellbinding affirmation of my apt description of Intelligent Design as mendacious intellectual pornography.