Book Review: 40 Days and 40 Nights by Matthew Chapman

Scopes v Tennessee in 1925, Edwards v Aguillard in 1987, and Kitzmiller v Dover in 2005: Christians have made repeated attempts over the decades to give the Biblical account of creation a place in public school science education alongside or instead of the scientific theory of evolution. Kitzmiller v Dover, which pitted the townspeople of Dover, Pennsylvania, against each other in the courtroom, the classroom, the newspapers, and the streets, examined the degree to which the propositions of Intelligent Design are religious in nature and motivation, and the degree to which ID has been successful as a scientific theory. The implications of the trial and its ruling were national in scope, but the origins of the conflict lay in the personal convictions of a handful of small-town citizens.

Matthew Chapman, the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, is singularly suited to tell the story behind Kitzmiller v Dover. In Trials of the Monkey (2001) he told of his journey to Dayton, Tennessee, to investigate the site of his ancestor's first clash with the American education system with good humor and insight. His follow-up account, 40 Days and 40 Nights, is just as funny, sincere, and thought-provoking. The title is a reference not just to the days and nights of rain during Noah's flood, thought by some young-earth creationists to have laid down the fossil record and carved out the Grand Canyon, but also to the length of the trial: exactly 40 days.

Chapman has the gift of being generous in his dealings with people while remaining firm in his humanistic convictions, which must serve him well as a documentary filmmaker. Although he has definite feelings about which side is in the right, he treats all the principals of the trial with compassion and understanding. In fact, one of the most moving chapters of the book is the one titled "Buckingham," about Bill Buckingham, the school board member who was one of the prime movers in bringing ID to Dover. Buckingham is a fundamentalist of the most narrow kind, but he is also a man who has seen hardship and pain, culminating in an addiction to Oxycontin. Chapman treats Buckingham fairly, and also demonstrates his flair for capturing the voices of his interviewees with an apt phrase. Buckingham: "I was so low, I’m telling you I could have sat on a dime and my feet wouldn't have touched the floor."

Judge John Jones III released his opinion at the end of 2005. He found that Intelligent Design was religious in its motivations and effects and a failure as a scientific theory. Furthermore, he singled out some of the most loudly religious defendants for perjury and bad behavior. The efforts of the Dover School Board (which had already been unseated in the November 2005 election) to put Intelligent Design in the classroom were defeated. Some relationships and reputations were destroyed in the process; others were formed and strengthened. Kitzmiller v Dover is a turning point in the history of science education in America, but it’s also a personal story. We’re fortunate that Matthew Chapman was there to report it all.

Article Author: emccullough

I moved to Charlottesville, Va. a couple of years ago with my husband and kids. I love to read, I’m working on becoming a better writer, and I’m thrilled to be living in a community with so many bookstores, writing groups, exciting authors, and serious …

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